Horse Racing Fantasy Community

One of the first areas I want to focus on is basic riding tips inside our simulation horse racing game. A lot of people are just jumping into this horse game thinking they can get on a horse and win a race. What makes our 3D horse race game so exciting is that it requires skill, practice. You can probably get lucky once in a while, but just like the real world of horse racing, the best jockeys are the best jockeys because they're prepared before they jump into the race. So, how do I get prepared to be a jockey in our horse racing game?

There are several things you should do if you haven't done them already. You should first just run a few races without jockeying and get an idea of how the game plays. Then, before actually jockeying the horse, inside our online horse racing game on one of the screens called Field of Horses, there is a Help button. Click on Help and somewhere in that section there are literally 40 or 50 jockey tips. This is a must-read . After you read that section, take a few more minutes and in our horse racing community, there is a section on the left navigation called Game & Community Info. To be a jockey in our horse racing game, you have to understand the basic of horse racing, both virtual racing and the real world of horse racing. There is a beautifully-written section called Handicapper's Guide to Horse Racing Fantasy. This will give you a detailed overview of how to get insight on playing as both a bettor or a jockey.

Horses are animals - they are not NASCAR or Indie cars. You don't just hit the gas and they go. Every race horse has his own horse racing style or running style. That running style is a major factor on how you need to ride your horse. Don't just take your race horse to the front. If he is a front runner (if that's his racing style), when you get to the front, try to conserve energy. Back the pace and speed down.

Horse racing is all about time. It's times associated with the overall race, but more importantly, time or speed for a particular portion of the race - like 2 furlongs that is otherwise known as a quarter of a mile, or 1 furlong that is known as an eighth of a mile. In our horse racing game, we replicate real world horse racing as much as we can. We follow the attributes and traits of real race horses. You need to consider those when being the jockey.

Once you start to get the general feel of controlling the horse and once you start finishing in the middle of the pack and begin to win a few races, then you can start getting into more detail to perfect your skill. Those details are going to involve not only how to play the game by using the arrow keys correctly, but understanding not only your race horse's ability (the horse you're riding), but also the expected ability and actions of the other horses in the race.

Let me put it to you in pretty simplistic terms. When I take my 10-year-old son to a baseball game, his focus (besides the hot dogs) is if our team is going to score. The game is as simple as whoever has the most runs, wins. That, in itself, is fun. Compare this to just basic play in our horse racing game. You ride or bet. If the horse wins, you win. But, in our game, just like in baseball, there is an entire strategy going on behind the scenes. Strategies that only the more knowledgeable fans can truly appreciate. Back to the baseball scenario - what pitcher is pitching? How are the fielders' position compared to the particular batters? Who is available in the bull pen if they are needed? And many other factors that determine the actions taken by the managers. Most of those actions occur based on actions of the other team and their players. In our fantasy racing game, the same thing applies. What are the abilities of the other horses in the race? How do I expect them to move? If my horse is a front runner, are there going to be a lot of other front runners that will challenge me early and tire my horse out? If that's the case, do I have to employ a different strategy?

A lot of the information about each horse is summarized on the Field of Horses page giving a brief overview or description of the horse's running style. Examples: likes the front, closer, stalker (likes to be near the pace), mid-pack. Those are simplistic terms for our beginning players on how their horse should be position during the race. But, for our better players who truly get engaged in our skill-based game and want to take this to the highest level of fantasy sports and really have some great fun while challenging themselves, they get more in-depth. You get in-depth by understanding the Past Performance (PPs) lines of each horse you're competing against. If you read that handicapping section I suggested, you will get a basic overview of the PPs and why they are crucial and how they will make a huge difference in your win percentage as a jockey or bettor in our action sports game.

Do your reading, practice, but one thing is for sure. No matter what level of play - whether you just want to watch the races or simply bet or really get engaged in the game - there are a lot of fun things going on here, both in our horse racing game and our horse racing community. Questions, comments? Throw them at me.

Your truly,
The Fantasy Handicaper (otherwise know as Johnny Gaga)