Horse Racing Fantasy Community

Over the last week, I've had discussions with some 15 trainers on several conference calls and individual calls. We've also spent quite a bit of time internally discussing how we can implement some sort of classification system and still utilize the current tournament stuctures we have. Our trainer game has only been out some 16 months and during that time we have been constantly learning. Some of the things we've noticed are the following:

We have over 5 times as many active horses today as we did a year ago and are publishing 5 times as many tournaments to provide ample racing opportunities, yet we're still running at a 30-40% tournament abandon rate.

Players are smarter today and are demanding very specific tournaments for their horses. When you think about all the possible tournament variations, it's mind-boggling. If you look at a variation of 10 different track surfaces, which is on the low end, multiple distances for finals (at least 8), restricted tournaments and general tournaments and now the blue restricted tournaments along with insta-tournaments, the racing simulation date for the Breeders' Cup final, and of course, the age classification - now if this was the extent of it, this wouldn't be so bad. Now we have to add on a whole other group of factors, specifically the entry fee range and type of tournament (flat fee, no fee, or step-up fee) and under the restricted tournaments, there are a whole slew of variations for speed rating restrictions - whether birth speed ratings (the new blue restricted tournaments) or the red restricted tournaments which restrict on past tournament race history - we're now adding another possible 6 to 8 ranges. Well, if we do the math, you can see the problems we are facing. The possibilities go to over 300,000 possible tournament setups, which means we would need about 10 million active horses in the game to satisfy everyone's requests. That is just not going to happen.

So, with this said, we're dealing with two issues. All the variations of required tournaments based on all the combinations we offer and the fact that the trainers are finding the exact perfect conditon for their horse and what their finances allow them to enter, add this to the problem of not really having a classification system truly separating the best horses from the mediocre or lower-grade horses and here is where we are today.

We are going to use the blue and red restricted tournaments in a very unique way. Blue and red restricted tournaments are going to have a very narrow range of tournament opportunities. For example, let's first look at red restricted tournaments.

Red restricted tournament finals will only be run at 6, 8 and 10 furlongs. They will only have one qualifier race for each horse and then the final. Red restricted tournaments will be run only on Fast Dirt. All red restricted tournaments will have an entry fee of 2,000 community points and there will be no race fee. They will be separated in age categories - 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds. Red restricted tournaments will carry speed rating limitations or classifications of 120, 110, 100, 90 and 80. So, what we're saying here, per age group, there are 15 possible red restricted tournament combinations. This system works because even if your horse's best surface is not on Dirt Fast, his limitations are based on his ability to perform, so the restriction is tied to performance and not birth speed rating. So, moving up in class in a red restricted tournament simply means moving up to the different speed rating limit. If your horse is running under 80 and in one race finally runs an 84, well guess what? If you want to stay in the red restricted tournaments, you're going to have to put him in the 90 and below group. Here are some other factors. The minimum number of entries in a red restricted tournament is 10. The maximum number of entries is 16. Each race will consist of a minimum of 6 horses and a maximum of 8 horses and the final will consist of 8 horses, which is basically the top 4 finishers from each of the preliminary races. All the preliminary races in red restricted tournaments are classified as ungraded. There are other factors affecting this, but I'm painting the broad strokes here. The good news is, there will be plenty of red restricted tournaments and they will automatically be generated, so even if you have 6 or 7 horses that fit the same class, you'll have plenty of opportunity. If your horse exceeds the red restricted limitations (120 speed rating), you'll still have other opportunities to race him in either general or blue restricted tournaments.

Blue Restricted Tournaments - These tournaments will represent the middle-tier horses. The blue restricted tournaments will have more variations than the red restricted tournaments, but will still have limitations. Again, we're not here to fill a quarter-of-a-million potential variations of tournaments. The blue restricted tournaments will be run on Dirt Fast and Turf Firm. The finals will occur at 6, 8 and 10 furlongs. All blue restricted tournaments will have five races associated with them. Each entrant in a blue restricted tournament will be eligible for three preliminaries and if he qualifies, the final as well. The birth speed rating restrictions will be as follows: 124 and less, 117 and less, 110 and less, 100 and less, and 90 and less. It doesn't matter what your horse's speed ratings show in races. These tournaments are restricting him by his birth speed rating. All blue restricted tournaments will have entry fees of 3,000 community points and 1,000 community points for each preliminary race (up to 3) that you decide to enter. Just like the red restricted tournaments, the finals are also scale weights and will not be handicapped. The minmum number of horses in a blue restricted tournament is 10 and the maximum number of entries is 20. Each race will consist of a minimum of 6 horses and a maximum of 10 and the top 8 money earners will make it to the Breedes' Cup final. There will be no variation from this structure. In addition, all the preliminary races in these tournaments will be classified as ungraded except the 124 and 117 blue birth speed restricted tournaments. In that case, all the preliminary races are classified as Grade 3.

The blue and red restricted tournaments will fill constantly. The finals will only have a maximum of 8 horses, so traffic issues will be less of a factor. The churn on these tournaments will be very quick, allowing you to move your horses through their racing careers much faster. PLEASE NOTE: THERE WILL BE SEVERAL MONTHLY BLUE OR RED RESTRICTED TOURNAMENTS THAT WILL ALLOW A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF ENTRIES FOR VERY BIG PURSES. THOSE WILL CONTINUE, BUT THEY WILL BE LIMITED AND WILL BE PUBLISHED AT LEAST 6 WEEKS IN ADVANCE GIVING PLAYERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAN FOR THEM.

The concept here is to create a classification system along with giving guidelines to players to help manage their horses through their racing career. Based on the above scenarios, whether your horse has a birth speed rating of 80 or 123.9, you have plenty of opportunity to choose from. Also, it's important that you are not tied to the red or blue restricted tournaments. You may have a horse with a birth speed rating of 115 who can beat 125s all day long. In that case, the following information referring to our general or top-tier tournaments is probably where you will want to go.

General Tournaments - The general tournaments are not really going to change. They will still be handicapped Breeders' Cup final races but under the new weight classifications I just published today. These tournaments will run on all surfaces, like they do now, including sloppy, soft turf, dirt fast, dirt good, synthetic, sand, etc. Here are some of the changes you will notice. All general tournament preliminary races will carry at least a Grade 2 or Grade 1 classification. No general tournaments will carry ungraded or Grade 3 races - NONE.

The minimum entry fee for a general tournament is 7,500 community points going all the way up to what the players request (200,000 community points).

All general tournaments will have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 preliminary races. As I said, they wall be Grade 2 or Grade 1.

The time window from when you request a general tournament and it gets voted on until the time it gets published will be shortened by at least one week.

We will lower the required number of votes to approve a general tournament from 10 to probably 8, but we will prevent players with multiple accounts from the same IP address to log in and vote on their own tournaments through alternate IDs.

The house will still publish some general tournaments, but very few. This way, there is no overlap. Because we're shortening the time period and because the majority of the horses will find themselves in the blue and red restricted tournaments, we want to make sure these general tournaments fill and fill with the maximum number of horses generating the largest possible payouts.

As far as the leader boards go, we'll have two leader boards - one that shows just the general tournament leaders and one that shows all tournaments.

I am sure this program will have adjustments as it moves forward. Everything is a work in progress. But, what it does do, is force players to classify their horses properly and limit the amount of tournament variation, thus ensuring more tournaments will fill. At the same time, it assures a home (racing level) for every single horse in the game, or at least 85% of them. With every new program, we know that we're not going to satisfy the requests of everyone. But, we're not about a single player or a small group of players. We're about the majority, and under these structures mentioned, the majority benefits. We're looking for comments, but in a constructive manner. Any belligerent or sarcastic remarks, do me a favor, keep them to yourself. If you have some additional ideas or general comments or want to ask about a specific scenario, please feel free to do so.

Another note, this will be a slow transition. We have to do it in a way that makes sense or we can leave a lot of good horses hanging in the wind. The program is already under development and we're targeting the first week of July for full execution. During this time frame, you will see a slow transition. There will be updates and there might even be a few changes, but the general path has been laid down.

One last thing - there is a lot of information in this post. Please read it a couple of times before posting a comment to make sure your question or concern hasn't already been addressed. We have spent a ton of time putting this together and for the most part, the answers to your questions are here.

- Puddles