Horse Racing Fantasy Community

I don't think you can...

As of now, this game, you can't whip your horse. I'm not sure, but maybe it will be possible in the new version that's coming out soon. Possibly before Thanksgiving, so say the game developers in a recent post. Fingers crossed.

Probably a good thing, not being able to initiate the whip, given the recent controversy of whether or not they should even be used in racing

We have seen a lot of horse racing games where whipping the horse makes the horse go faster or gives the horse a turbo-boost. We've spent so much time with jockeys and trainers and have talked this issue over extensively. Some jockeys feel that the whip does absolutely nothing except piss off the horse. Some horses shy away from the whip or sulk with it. They will even swish their tails. In our game, every horse has been built with various traits. That is why you'll even see a horse in the stretch with plenty of energy left who may have the lead by a neck but even when you push the up arrow key, which would be the equivalency of the whip, as you ask the horse for more effort, the energy never maximizes. It could be because the horse only gets so much of a lead and then no longer tries. It could be because the horse is programmed for his best speed early in a race and he can only provide a consistent pace the last quarter-mile, even though he has some energy left.

We try to make the game as realistic as possible and follow the quirks or traits that real horses have. It's your job as a player to identify these quirks by practicing with all of your horses just like real jockeys. Some horses may give you full effort around the turn, but yet in the straightaway, they only give you 95%, or vice-versa. Some horses will give you their fastest speed the first quarter-mile. Others will only give you their fastest speed in the stretch if they are on the outside of another horse. The concept of just hitting the whip button and making the horse go faster is as far away as the truth in real racing as you can get. In fact, one of the top jockeys in the world told me that what makes a great jockey rather than a good jockey is remembering all the little unique attributes that each horse has so they ride them correctly the next time.

I read recently ( Thoroughbred Times ) that they're experimenting in real races with different types of whips, with the emphases on loud popping sounds, rather than stinging the horse.
The problem that I've seen with conventional whips is the misuse of them by some jockeys. In-other-words, they reach the final furlong and the front runner finally quits and drops back to last, or almost last place and the boy is still whipping repeatedly, as if he/she still has a chance. There's no need for that kind of abuse of a horse in any race.