Playtesters:

• Daniel 'Shifty' K., IL
• George Hill, LA
• Jeremy 'Night Hawk' Hatfield, MI
• Tony Cheval, GA
• BBKing, WA
• Matthew March (Voltec), FL
• Kris N, WA
• Ollie, Belgium
• Ron L., OH
• Jerron K.
• John S., Australia
• Adrian P., SC
• Carly P., OH
• Joyce P.
• Bobbie H, NC
• Sherwin C, BC, Canada
• Ben Fischer, MA
• Dan Elrod, CA
• Judy McCall, OH
• Glen McL, CA
• Mauricio Bolso, Uraguay

Horse Status:

•  FARM - catchall for none of the below
•  RACER -- currently racing, though not always in a race
• RESTING -- racer taking a break; stress reduced faster
•  BREEDER -- retired from racing, actively breeding
•  INJURED -- horse was hurt while racing, and will be inactive until healed (Healing takes place automatically)
•  RETIRED - end of career -- lower maintenance costs, still gains prestige
• GLUE -- deceased, kept solely for genealogical purposes
• GELDING -- Any male horse less than 6 yrs old can be gelded. Geldings cannot breed, but get a 30% boost in racing performance

  Players can move racers to breeders and retire either racers or breeders.. You can't go back, so once a horse starts breeding, it can no longer race. (The one exception, handled automatically, is that injured horses go to the farm until they recover, then return to racing.)

Injured horses become RESTING when cured, so they have an additional non-racing turn, allowing players to retire them, or set them to breeders without risking another race.

Trading

Owners may set the claim price for a horse. Usually this is close to the estimated value shown in the reports. There is a minimum claim price determined by the TC Bank (as a percentage of the current value) to prevent market manipulators from buying and selling too far below value. There is no maximum. Bids are processed after each race. If there is a tie, the first bid received buys the horse.

To bid on a horse, enter a price in the box next to the horse's name.

You can't trade an injured horse, but must keep it until it recovers. Retired horses can't be sold to other players. The only way to get rid of retired horses is if you restart your position.

If you buy a horse from another member of your faction, you receive a discount, paid by your faction. If you sell a horse to a member of another faction, a commission is taken from your sale price and added to your faction's holdings.

Costs & Payoffs

• Race entry fee -- varies based on race type (matched by additional purse from the horse owner's faction)

·        $1000 Maiden

·        $2000 Maiden Gelding

·        $2000 Intermediate

·        $3000 Intermediate Gelding

·        $3500 Champion

·        $4000 Champion Gelding

·        or 20% of claim price, whichever is greater

• Owner bet (required) -- minimum of $100
• Interest collected on loans at the end of each year. Factions waive the annual interest if a player with < $20,000 and no horses bets at least $5000 during that year. This is to help players learning the game.
• Faction dues (either minimum or based on % of cash). Factions charge based on cash holdings to encourage ownership of horses and participation in the game.
• Annual food and trainer costs (variable, adjustable by owner, and with faction surcharge)
• Approximately $1500-2000/horse (All pay stables)
• Farm and Racers -- pay food and trainer
• Resting -- pay 2x food and trainer
• Breeders -- pay food and 1/2 trainer
• Retired -- pay 1/2 food only
•  Prizes:
• 1st place gets 50% of total purse
• 2nd place gets 25%
• 3rd place gets 13%
• 4th place gets 8%
• 5th place gets 4%
• Only first 3 places earn race points
• Betting Pool
• First place shares 45% of pool
• Second place shares 25%
• Third place shares 15%

Horses

Generic horse names are assigned when the horse is born. The owner then gets to assign a real name to the horse. Once named, a horse cannot be renamed.

Genes

Each horse has a number of genes, for Vigor, Nerve, Muscle, etc. View these values with the offline reader. They vary from 0 to 100, and they are used to determine how a horse runs in a race, and what is passed on to its children. For example, a high speed gene is better than a low one. Each gene is present twice, one from the horse's dam, the other from its sire. For calculations for races, the higher value is always used. For breeding, either gene may be passed on.

Thus a speedy horse may not always pass that speed to its offspring, since it may also carry a slower speed gene. If a horse carries high values in both genes then all its offspring will reflect that.

Stress

Various activities add stress to a horse, including running a race, stumbling, breeding. Stress increases the chance that a horse will be injured in a race, or die. The genes for BONE and MUSCLE reduce the effects of stress.

(A horse that seems prone to stumble and be injured is not a good bet to keep racing)

Owners can remove horses from races for rest. Resting horses can later be returned to racing, or converted to breeders.

Aging

As a horse ages, its chances to win races are reduced. Age also increases the chance of injury and death.

Player Status:

NOVICE new players:
Stage 1 Status: HANDICAPPER
  Goal: stay alive long enough to learn the game requirements: have cash $20K

challenge: learn betting and racing rules and strategies

Stage 2 Status: OWNER

Goal: start a stable requirements: own 1 horse, with cash $10K
challenge: learn costs of keeping and racing a horse

Stage 3 Status: BREEDER

Goal: produce at least one foal requirements: breed one mare, with cash $10K
challenge: learn breeding rules, and costs

Stage 4 Status: VETERAN

Goal: live long and prosper
requirements: 3 horses and cash $30K

Stage 5 Status: ELITE

Goal: gather prestige
 requirements: 5 horses and cash $100K

You can restart if you own no horses or if your loan exceeds your worth. You receive a new loan of $10K and a starting cash position based on your highest status. You return to Novice status, but keep any prestige awards, race points, etc previously earned.

Factions

These are the organizing units of the game. Players are assigned to factions randomly when they start the game. The top 3 players of each faction at the end of a game year become the council for the next year. They set the policies and rates of the faction. Faction names are colors: YELLOW RED GREEN BLUE

Council Votes:

Each faction's council sets the following rates & fees:

• % of factional earnings paid to council: 1-50%
• $ dues charged to members 100-500
• % discount for transactions between members 1-50%
• % commission charged for non-member transactions 1-50%
• % surcharge for stable, food, training 1-50%
• % interest on loans to members 2-30
• % of faction cash paid as stipend to Council members

You can switch factions, but 30% of your cash is paid to your former faction. This payment is waived if you cash < $50,000

Council members set the rates to either attract new members or to reward existing members.

Prestige

Prestige is used to rank players, and to assign council members for the factions. It is based mostly on the quality of horses owned, with some contribution from cash and loans. Some special acheivements result in prestige bonuses. Each turn, a player's previous prestige decays, and a new amount is calculated and added to it. This means that a player that loses many of their horses will see a gradual decline in prestige, rather than a sudden drop.

Breeding

Any horse over 3 years old can be moved from racing to breeding. For stallions, the owner sets a stud price. This price is posted and used whenever a mare's owner requests stud service. The owner may change the price before year end, but the earlier stud fee remains in effect for orders up to that time.

Races

Horses are randomly assigned within races. Horses with no wins race in maiden races. The results of the race are calculated from the horse's basic race value, modified for effects of food and training, and with a small random component. Weather effects are also important:

Dry weather -- favors horses with high speed, nerve, temper

Rain -- favors muscle, endurance, nerve

Mud -- favors muscle, endurance, heart

Each horse pays an entry fee -- horses with claiming prices pay a percent of the claim price; those without pay a standard fee. The faction of the owner contributes either a standard fee.

When a horse finishes in the top 3 positions, it receives racepoints which then increase its chances in future races. The number of race points varies by difficulty of the race and position. Thus a horse coming in second in a champion race receives more points than for winning a maiden race. Race points are tracked for individual horses, for prestige of their parents, and for prestige of their owners.