Strategic European Horse Racing is a little bit different from other horse Racing Sims you might know, of course there are races and horses, but the special thing is the training, plus there is no breeding like you might know, but there is something like breeding, but let's start with the basics.

There will be between 50 players allowed in the game, at the moment we have 40 stables, new stables from now on will start at a trial base, they will receive 5 horses and have to be active and show their interest in the game, to become full member.
If a stable quits the game, its horses will be sold in an auction.
There is a new way like horses will be sold, if a stable quits, they will be priced up on the Message Board, the first to answer the
ad can claim the horse for the price given on the Board, each stable can only buy one horse of a leaving stable.

The Forum is an important place in this sim, each member should be registered, in order to benefit from all features.
Betting, The Pick 7 and some auctions are forum only features.

Each season consists of 15 weeks, all races are run on European Tracks, and are representing the major European Races as well as Maidens, Listed races and allowances. We also introduce Handicaps as a part of Season 3. Further there will be Invitation races in Dubai and Honkong plus the Melbourne Cup(Qualification system) (For exact explanations of these races see further down the page)

The first Season will consist of only 10 weeks, as there will be only 2yos in the game, to compensate that, horses will be given 5 extra training chances.

Each owner will get 5 2yos to start with, they will be given away in a lottery.

There are usually 3-5 cards with 6-10 races per week(end). Races will usualy be run Sunday afternoons.

Deadline for Entries will be Thursday, 20:00 CET, which is 2:00 p.m. EST for all Americans.

Purses are paid in the sims currency, which is BP.

BPs can be used to buy horses at auctions or via the sale system.

Purses will be spread 50%, 20%, 15%, 10%, 5% for first to fifth.

The Horses:
So, as you know the basics, here is the most important thing, the horses, each horse has 16 abilitys, in each ability 100 is the maximum, except for the 5 distance abilitys, where 120 is the maximum, all abilitys influence the performance of the horse in a race, distance and ground abilities can however be trained above their maximum, the maximum is only a maximum for the creation process. let's explain the abiltys:

Running Style:  This is simple, where and how will the horse run in the race:
                       1- front runner
                       2- stalker
                       3- mid pack
                       4- from the back

The effects are like in real races, a lone front runner, that runs his own pace, will get better results, than a front runner in a race, where two or three horses are duelling for the lead. A stalker will need a front runner, to give him a good pace, if there is no front runner, he will not be able to stalk a pace.
A mid pack horse, will have problems, if there are too many mid pack horses, that affect his running, a horse from the back, will have trouble, if there are either too many mid pack and from the back horses, so he will not have the chance to get through them, or if there is a lone front runner, that he can't catch.

Consistency:   How likely a horse will produce a good effort, given in %, as to what his lowest performance can be, this means, a horse with  a 70, will run between 70 and 100% of his level. All horses start with 50, 100 is the maximum, the 10% he can produce better, are kind of a daily form.

Recovery:       How fast a horse will recover from a race, and will be able to race again, a horse with 50 will need 3 weeks of rest to run again, with 65 2 weeks, with 80 1 week, and with 90 he can run every week All horses start with 50. All horses with 90 and above however have a recovery stipulation, to prevent
your horse from being overraced, they will only be able to run two consecutive races, if they want to run for a third week in a row, the injury risk will
increase by 5%, for a fourth race in a row by 10% and so on.

Injury:             How likely a horse will be injured, an injured horse can't train or race, the number gives the % a horse will end a race without an injury. injuries can only happen during races. 100 is the maximum, also there will remain a 5% injury chance.

Firm, Good, Soft, Heavy: Ability of a horse to run on a certain ground, remember, grounds can be of 2 types, this means, if the going is good to soft, both abilities will be needed, so if you create a horse, think of it, a horse with 70 at firm and 70 at heavy, while being only 20 at good and soft, will not be a succesful as a horse with 70 at firm and good, and 20 at soft and heavy.

Sprint, Mile, Middle, Long, Stay: Ability of a horse at a certain distance, Sprint is 6f or less, Mile is 8f, Middle is 10f, Long is 12f, Stay is 2miles plus.
Remember, there are certain in between race distances, at 7f, both sprint and mile abilities will be needed, at 9f Mile and Middle, and so on.

Aging: This is a very important criteria, which is at 0 for all horses in the beginning, this will tell, how long a horse will keep his other abilities, if he turns 4.
all horses can only train until they turn 4, from then on, they can loose abilities. About the maximum loss of ratings related to aging points, please look at the table further down in this rules document.

Status: A horse can have three different statuses, race, train and injury.

race - the horse can either be entered into a race, or train the next week, without any disadvantages.

race(x) - the horse has a recovery of 90+, number in brackts gives the races it has run consecutive, at race(1) no disadvantage, from race(2) on, 5% injury increase for each race it ran in consecutive weeks afterwards.

train(x) - the horse can only train without a disadvantage, the numer in bracket gives the week, his status will change to race again(when he can run next), this depends on his recovery ability. If a horse with status train is entered into a race, his injury ability will be reduced to 50%, regardless of his real injury ability.

injury - this horse was injured in a race the week before, it will change to train after one week.

Experience - We introduce a new rating called experience, for the first 6 races with each race it gains 5% of performance, for any race from the 7th on, it gains 1%. That means, a horse with no experience can only run a max of 100% percent like now, after the sixth race, a horse can run 130%. This would also help increase non favourite wins, as at the moment there are not enough upsets in my point of view. Experience can only be gained as a 2 or 3yr old, encourages people to enter their horses already as 3yr olds, instead of training them forever. Experience can only be gained if a horse is run at a distance, he has a rating of at least 50 in, to prevent stayers to gain experience early in shorter races
The standard 20% randomness will no longer be enforced, which means a horse runs between consistency and 100+experience, this should bring more reward to training, the ratings and experience.
 
 
 

Training:
As said earlier, a horse can either run a race, or train, if he trains, he can train two abilities(chosen from all abilities, except expirience and form), he will improve 5 to 10 points in those abilities.
It is still possible to train distance and ground ratings as high as you want, but if a distance rating is higher 120 or a ground rating is higher then 100, the effect in training will only be 1 to 6 points. The higher the rating already is, the less likely it is, the horse will gain a lot of points.
Read the column "training tips" for more info.

Races:
Races will be simulated, using a computer program, that I programmed myself, it takes into consideration all abilities responsible for that race, which means depending on ground and distance 1 to 2 grounds and race distances, plus consitency, and running style of the horses.
also it will be determined if a horse gets injured. Injured horses finish last, and receive no purse.
Let's make an example:

A race on firm to good ground and at 7f, for that race, the abilities on firm and good ground, as well as sprint and mile are taken into consideration,
those numbers give a basic speed number, for each horse, then it will be determined how consistent the horses are, also the weight they carry will influence their speed and depending on their running styles,
the result will be determined.
 
 

On Monday a chance of rain % will be given, this will indicate how the going will be: (less likely)
0%   - 10% Firm (Firm to Good)
11% - 30% Firm, Firm to Good, Good
31% - 40% Good (Firm to Good),(Good to Soft)
41% - 60% Good,Good to Soft, Soft
61% - 70% Soft (Soft to Good), (Soft to Heavy)
71% - 90% Soft, Soft to Heavy, Heavy
91% - 100% Heavy (Soft to Heavy)

Rain is more likely early and late Season.

Weight system:
All colts and horses carry a basic weight of 60kg, fillies and mares 57kg.
In 3yo+ races, there is a weight allowance given to 3yos:
In week 1-5 3yos receive 3kg,
in week 6-10 3yos receive 2kg,
in week 11-14 3yos receive 1kg.

Handicaps - with the start of Season 3 there will be 3 Handicap races each week, the weights in those races will be based on each
horses distance rating(and only the distance rating), for each 2 rating points horses recive 1kg. The horse with the highest rating is given 65kg,
all other horses are given weights based on their distance rating, down to 50kg.
which means, for example, if there is a race over 1m 4f, only the long distance rating matters for the weights,
if the highest rating is 120, that horse is given 65kg, a horse with 100 would receive 55kg, with 92 it would receive 51kg,
with 90, 50kg, and with everything lower than 90, also 50kg.
Only horses that have not won a Group Race within the current Season and the last season, in other words, which could run a
Listed race penalty free, can participate in handicaps.

Listed and Group races are run with penalties for winners of higher class races, this always count for 1 season plus.
After a season, the horses penalties are dropped, if it had not won at that level again.
Meaning a horse winning a Group 1 at 2, but not winning a race, or only a lower race at 3, will no longer be penalized for the Group 1 win, once it is 4.

Listed races have a 3kg penalty for Group 3 winners, 6kg for Group 2 and 9kg for Group 1 winners.
In Group 3 races, winners of a Group 2 carry 3kg and winners of a Group 1 carry 6kg. extra
In Group 2 Races winners of a Group 1 carry 3kg more.

This shall prevent horses from dropping in class without reason.

Maiden races and certain Listed Races(when announced on Pre-Race Card) will be joined,
if there are less than 4 runners in both races.

Every week on Thurday night a pre race card.

On Sunday Afternoon race results will be given.
A Live Chat will happen usually at 19:30 CET, 1:30 pm EST with Live reports.

Pre-Race Entries for Group 1 Races:
Group 1 Races from now on will have a pre-entry phase, when the pre-race card goes online 3 weeks before the race,
You will have until the next Deadline to enter your horses into Group 1 Races.
This is just a pre-entry, your horse is not forced to run, you can still decide the week before the race,
However ante-post betting now can start for Group 1’s 2 weeks in advance.
Horses can be supplemented the week before the race for 10% of the Purse.

Each owner should make a schedule for his horses, where he wants to aim them, because of unknown ground conditions early on,
this should feature all possible races, so he knows, when he enters them, very improtant is to keep the recovery time and
its effects in eye.

Betting:
Every week, Andy will post odds for feature races in the Betting Forum, from Season 2 on, you can bet BP,
you can only bet 100 BP per week, all known forms of bets, that Andy accepts are ok. Those 100 BP are given for free.

Pick 7 Contest:
Every Thursday, when the Pre Race Card is posted, 7 races will be decided on, where you can pick winners in the Racing Discussion forum,
the winner(s) of the contest receive 600 BP, if more than one person picks most winners, the BP will be split.

Horse Distribution before a new season and BP system:

All horses will be created by the administrator, after each season 2 yr olds will be given to the stables,
each stable will receive 5 horses in the Basic Lottery.

Further horses will be added via an auction, there will be 3 major yearling auctions each season, where about 30 horses or more will be sold.
The Auctions can either be silent bid or Deadline Auctions in the forum, more on that when auctions start.

Training Orders and Race Entries:

Each week every stable will have to submit, what abilities he wants his 2 and 3yo to train, and what races he wants to enter,
this shall look like:

Example:
Stable:   (Name)
Week:   (Number)
Horse 1(Name):      (age)         (race) or (train)         (race number)  or (2 abilities to train)
Horse 2(Name):      (age)         (race) or (train)         (race number)  or (2 abilities to train)
Horse 3(Name):      (age)         (race) or (train)         (race number)  or (2 abilities to train)
Horse 4(Name):      (age)         (race) or (train)         (race number)  or (2 abilities to train)
etc.
Plus: Pre-Race Entries for Group 1:
Week x+2:
Horse 2(Name):      (age)         (race)

The numbers for the races can be seen on the Pre-Race Cards.

Retiring horses:
All horses retire automaticly at the end of their 6yo season, so horses are active from 2yo - 6yo,
and only 2yo and 3yo horses can be trained.
Aging:
100-75, the horse looses no points until the age of 6,
50-74, the horse looses no points until the age of 5,
0-49, the horse looses no points until the age of 4, at4,

Exact Table about losses per week:
 

Points	at 4	at5	at6
0-9	20	25	30
10-19	15	20	25
20-29	10	17	20
30-39	7	15	20
40-49	4	12	20
50-59	0	10	17
60-74	0	5	12
75-90	0	0	10
91-100	0	0	5

Horses can be retired at any point, if the owner wishes the horse to do,
further discussions will be made, if horses can be send to a brreding pool, or if any form of breeding will be introduced.

Special Races:

With Season 3, there are certain invitational races scheduled for 4yo+ horses:

Week 1 sees an additional Dubai Card with 4 races:

Dubai Sprint, 6f, Group 1 5000 BP
Dubai Mile, 1m, Group 1 5000 BP
Dubai Middle, 1m 2f, Group 1 5000 BP
Dubai Classic, 1m 4f, Group 1 5000 BP.

This races are invitational only, the COR is 20% for the card, to transfer the Dubai conditions.
Horses would be invited based on the conditions, for each race 10-15 horses are invited, with all horses being 4yo+ OPEN races.

The invitations will be made following the Championships the season before, this year, i would make invitations, with the target to make an invitation comitee for the following years consisting of major sim players.

Melbourne Cup:
The Melbourne Cup would be run to give stayers another Group 1 race, it is run over 2 miles,
Ground Conditions will be random, and it will be for 10000 BP and run week 12.
There is a special qualifier style for that race. There will be 4 qualifiers during the progress of the season, the top 3 horses qualify
for the Melbourne Cup, once a horse has qualified, it can no longer take part in Qualifiers.
The Qualifiers are 2m races, which are uncategorized and for 1000 BP, which means, that all horses carry basic weight, and they don't count as
Championship Races.
The Melbourne Cup itself will be Group 1, and count for the Championship, but like IRL, it will be run as a Handicap race.

Honkong Festival:

Another extravaganza for 4yo+, will be run week 9,
as there are 1m 2f Group 1s in Europe in this week, it includes:

Honkong Sprint, 6f 5000 BP
Honkong Mile, 1m 5000 BP
Honkong Classic 1m 4f 5000 BP
Honkong Stayers 2m 5000 BP,

to make it contrary to the Dubai festival, COR is 80%, with the races also being 4yo+ OPEN races, invitations the same style as in Dubai.
 

Inactivity:
As the game already has a waiting list, inactivity will not be tolerated, each time you forget to sent entries and training instructions,
it will be counted as inactivity, two inactivities in a row, or 3 inactivities during one season, will lead to disqualification,
and the stable will be given to someone from the waiting list.