What Is An Insta-Tournament?
An Insta-Tournament is a one-race trainer tournament. Insta-Tournaments, from start to finish, take three days – with only 1 day for jockey/trainer instructions. There are no pool horses in Insta-Tournaments and these tournaments require a minimum of 4 entries for the Insta-Tournament to occur.
Every single Insta-Tournament is also a claiming race. In other words, any person who enters their horse in an Insta-Tournament is doing so with the knowledge that any player in the game could purchase their horse at the end of the Insta-Tournament. There are two types of insta-tournaments - those that are restricted to birth speed ratings and those that are open for all horses. In restricted insta-tournaments, there is a correlation between the birth speed rating and the claiming price. The lower the birth speed rating of a horse, the lower restricted insta-tournament he is eligible for.
Who Is Eligible for an Insta-Tournament?
All horses marked with the initials PN (Partially-Nominated), FN (Fully-Nominated) or NN (Non-Nominated) are eligible for Insta-Tournaments. If your horse does not have one of these three initials after his name, then your horse was born prior to the implementation of this program and, therefore, is not eligible.
There are different types of Insta-Tournaments – restricted and non-restricted. Restricted insta-tournaments have a direct correlation to a horse's birth speed rating. Simply put, you cannot enter a restricted insta-tournament if your horse's birth speed rating exceeds the maximum birth speed rating designated on the signup page for that insta-tournament. Insta-tournaments can run with scale weights and handicap weights. Insta-Tournaments with scale weights mean that all horses by gender carry the same weight no matter what their ability. Insta-Tournaments that used handicap weights means that the computer automatically assigns a variation of weights to each horse based on their ability. The better the horse, the greater probability that that horse will carry additional weight. In assessing how much weight a horse will carry in an Insta-Tournament, the computer also considers other factors such as the race condition and how certain horses adapt to it. Therefore, the best horse in the race may not carry the most weight because another horse(s) find today’s racing conditions more favorable. NN (Non-Nominated), PN (Partially-Nominated) and FN (Fully-Nominated) horses can run in three Insta-Tournament races a year but are not required to do so. Players may want to skip Insta-Tournaments in order to avoid the possibility that their horse can be purchased out of the Insta-Tournament race. You cannot enter an Insta-Tournament if your horse is already entered in the last general tournament of that racing year. Players who are interested in participating in Insta-Tournaments should do so prior to entering the last general tournament of a horse’s given year. If you have not completed three Insta-Tournaments and enter a final general tournament for your horse’s current age, your horse will no longer be eligible for his remaining Insta-Tournaments for that year. Players who want to skip Insta-Tournaments can skip a maximum of 3 at a time during the horse’s current racing year. In other words, if your horse is 2, you can skip all of his allowed Insta-Tournaments for age 2 at one time, but cannot skip the allowed Insta-Tournaments for age 3 until he begins his 3-year-old racing year. Horses cannot be running simultaneously in an Insta-Tournament and a regular Trainer Tournament at the same time. A horse can run his allowed 3 Insta-Tournaments per year at any time during that racing year. In other words, the player can run the 3 allowed Insta-Tournaments before he even runs his first normal trainer tournament. Remember, your horses are not required to run in Insta-Tournaments and can skip those tournaments at any time. You cannot enter a horse into two Insta-Tournaments simultaneously. A horse cannot be entered in an Insta-Tournament and in a horse auction at the same time.
Insta-Tournament Jackpots & Super Jackpots
FN and PN horses entered in Insta-Tournaments are eligible for Insta-Tournament Jackpots and Insta-Tournament Super Jackpots. The amount of the jackpot depends on whether your horse is a PN (Partially-Nominated) horse or an FN (Fully-Nominated) horse. NN (Non-Nominated) horses under no circumstances will receive Jackpot or Super Jackpot payouts in Insta-Tournaments.
Jackpot and Super Jackpot Insta-Tournaments are tournaments that are not identified accordingly until the Insta-Tournament is closed and ready to begin. Players never know if their horse has entered a Jackpot or Super Jackpot Insta-Tournament until the tournament starts. In order for your horse to win the jackpot or super jackpot, your horse must win that Insta-Tournament. It’s that simple. Jackpot and Super Jackpot prizes are only awarded to the winner. It is possible to have the same Insta-Tournament be classified as a Jackpot and a Super Jackpot Insta -Tournament. In this instance, both jackpots will be awarded to the winner.
The Jackpot and Super Jackpot Insta-Tournament race identification is determined randomly by the computer. Approximately one in Ten Insta-Tournament races is a Jackpot or Super Jackpot Insta-Tournament.
Your horse is eligible to win as many Jackpot and Super Jackpot Insta-Tournament races as they enter. These bonuses are paid in addition to the normal purse prize distributed among the winners.
Insta-Tournament Jackpot & Super Jackpot Payouts
A Partially-Nominated horse that wins a Jackpot Insta-Tournament race receives a bonus of an additional 10,000 game points.
A Partially-Nominated horse that wins a Super Jackpot Insta-Tournament race receives a bonus of an additional 25,000 game points.
A Fully-Nominated horse that wins a Jackpot Insta-Tournament race receives a bonus of an additional 25,000 game points.
A Fully-Nominated horse that wins a Super Jackpot Insta-Tournament race receives a bonus of an additional 50,000 game points.
Claiming Price for Insta-Tournaments
Each Insta-Tournament is identified with a claiming price. The claiming price represents the number of game points that your horse could be sold for during the Insta-Tournament. If your horse was claimed during an Insta-Tournament, you would receive the equivalency of the claiming price less a percent of the claiming fee. This percentage for VIP members is 10% for fully nominated horses, 20% for partially nominated horses and 30% for non nominated horses. For example, if your horse was in a 100,000 Insta-Tournament, you would receive 70,000 game points at the end of the Insta-Tournament if he was a non nominated horse. For Non VIP members the claiming fee is 20% higher at each level.
Please note that PN and FN horses that enter Insta-Tournaments earn a claiming fee of 200% and 400%, respectively, when running in an Insta-Tournament. For example, if the Insta-Tournament claiming price is 100,000 game points and you have a Fully-Nominated (FN) horse, then any player wishing to claim your horse out of that 100,000 game point Insta-Tournament claiming race will have to pay a premium of 300,000 game points, or a total of 400,000 game points, to purchase your horse. If you have a Partially-Nominated (PN) horse, then a player wishing to claim your horse out of that 100,000 game point Insta-Tournament claiming race will have to pay a premium of 100,000 game points, or a total of 200,000 game points. Once you enter your horse into an Insta-Tournament, he cannot be withdrawn and is eligible to be claimed. If the Insta-Tournament does not meet a minimum of 4 entries, then the tournament entry fees are returned. No claims can occur in an Insta-Tournament that is cancelled. You cannot enter your horse in an Insta-Tournament if your horse is in his 7-day grace period for the payment of stable fees. Every Insta-Tournament requires an entry fee. Entry fees usually correlate in some proportion with the claiming price. For example, the higher the claiming price, the higher the entry fee into that tournament.
Insta-Tournament Timelines
Insta-Tournaments are available for entry three days before the start of the Insta-Tournament. Once the Insta-Tournament starts, the post positions are automatically drawn and you will be sent both a private message and email notification indicating that you have 24 hours to provide jockey and training instructions prior to the closing of this Insta-Tournament. If you do not provide jockey and training instructions, the computer will assign them for you. At the end of jockey and training instructions, there will be a 48-hour time period before the actual Insta-Tournament race is run and the results posted in the community. Insta-Tournament races are automatically sent to your game for your viewing pleasure and can be found in your Trainer Tournament file under the Prebuilt Race tab, just like general trainer tournament races. From start to finish, an Insta-Tournament takes approximately 3 days.
How the Claiming Portion Works
Once a horse is entered in an Insta-Tournament, a claiming price is assigned to that horse based on the Insta-Tournament description. The claiming price is always identified in the description of the Insta-Tournament and is always geared toward the NN (Non-Nominated) horse. PN or FN horses entered in Insta-Tournaments can only be claimed for additional fees. All horses in that Insta-Tournament are eligible to be claimed for a set claiming price and adhere to the following formula:
NN (Non-Nominated) Horses are eligible to be claimed for the exact claiming price identified in the Insta-Tournament.
PN (Partially-Nominated) Horses are eligible to be claimed at a 100% premium above (in addition to) the listed claiming price.
FN (Fully-Nominated) Horses are eligible to be claimed at a 300% premium above (in addition to) the listed claiming price.
Once you enter an Insta-Tournament, there is no option to scratch or quit the tournament. As long as the Insta-Tournament meets the minimum number of required entries and runs, any horse entered can be claimed. There is no exception. If you enter an Insta-Tournament and someone does claim your horse, you will be notified of the claim at the end of the Insta-Tournament. Any purse money earned during the Insta-Tournament, including Jackpots and Super Jackpots go to the horse’s owner-of-record at the time of entry into the Insta-Tournament. This also includes any badges or awards associated with the win. Once the Insta-Tournament is final and the results posted, both the new owner and previous owner will be sent the proper notification alerting them that the horse has been claimed. An exact copy of the horse will automatically be sent to the new owner’s game under the same procedure as if he had just purchased a horse from the breeding program. The new owner will also have a notified through the in-game messaging system. His new horse can be accessed like all his other trainer horses through the Trainer Horse file. Simultaneously, the horse will be added to the new owner’s stable page in the community. The horse’s entire racing record will be transferred except any of the awards associated with any trainer tournament or Insta-Tournaments wins. The owner at the time of entry into the Insta-Tournament will be able to retain the horse in his game but for practice races only. The horse will be automatically transferred in your game from your active trainer horse file to your inactive trainer horse file. The horse will also be removed from his stable page and will no longer be allowed to enter any type of community events. All of the monthly stable fees associated with the horse will now become the responsibility of the new owner and the deduction for those stable fees will occur in accordance with that horse’s stable fee cycle. It is possible that the new owner may have stable fees due immediately or it could be a full month away. If you claim a horse out of an Insta-Tournament and that horse is an FN or PN horse that was in the middle of a Super Jackpot win streak during general Trainer tournaments, transferring the FN or PN horse to the new owner also passes the win streak as well.
If there are multiple community members who are trying to claim the same horse, at the end of the Insta-Tournament, the computer generates a random decision on which player wins the claim and will receive the horse. The other player(s) who put the claim in for the same horse will be notified that their claim was not accepted. If multiple players claim the same horse and one of them is a VIP, he will get the horse. If there is more than one VIP member putting in a claim for the same horse, then the computer will make a random drawing between VIP players to determine who receives the horse.
If you are going to claim a horse out of an Insta-Tournament, you must have all the available game points at the time you enter the claim including the premiums associated with claiming PN and FN horses. The game points will be taken from your account once the claim is entered and transferred to the previous owner at the end of the Insta-Tournament less claiming commission fee mentioned above. If you lose the claim to another player who was claiming the same horse, your game points will be returned in full at the end of the Insta-Tournament. Players can claim multiple horses out of the same Insta-Tournament. A player who has a horse in an Insta-Tournament cannot enter a claim for his own horse to try to stop a claim from someone else. All claiming transactions are final and under no circumstances can they be cancelled. Claims can only be entered when an Insta-Tournament reaches the minimum number of required players and the tournament starts.
Game Point Distribution in Insta-Tournaments
Insta-Tournaments can have a minimum of 4 entries in order for the Insta-Tournament to run. If there are less than 4 entries, the Insta-Tournament will be canceled and entry fees returned. In Insta-Tournaments where there are 4 horses entered, the prize pool is determined by the following formula:
100% of the entry fee for each horse totaled - Less 25% withheld by management and the remaining amount is distributed solely to the winner. For example, if 4 horses are entered and there is a 2,000 point entry fee, the total is 8,000 game points, less 2,000 (or 25%) commission for management and 6,000 paid to the winner.
If there are 5, 6 or 7 horses entered in an Insta-Tournament, 75% of the total amount of the entry fees will be divided in the following way:
70% to the winner
30% to the second-place horse
If there are 8 or more horses entered in the Insta-Tournament, the game point pool will be divided in the following manner:
60% to the winner
30% to the second-place horse
10% for the third-place horse
Insta-Tournament Schedules
Insta-Tournaments are scheduled differently than normal trainer tournaments. Insta-Tournaments are more predictable and run in trends. There will be significantly more Insta-Tournaments than general tournaments. Insta-Tournaments will be scheduled to run every day. Insta-Tournaments with the exact same conditions (entry fee, race distance, claiming price, racetrack, etc.) will tend to run at the same time every week, every other week, or every three to four weeks depending upon the popularity of that Insta-Tournament. The only exception to this is if an Insta-Tournament is designated as a Jackpot or Super Jackpot tournament one week, there is absolutely no correlation to that same tournament running the next week or thereafter to also be a Jackpot or Super Jackpot Insta-Tournament. As mentioned earlier, Insta-Tournaments classified as Jackpot and Super Jackpot races are done so randomly. Insta-Tournaments will be run at very traditional distances. Standard – 5 furlongs, 6 furlongs, 1 mile, 1-1/8 mile, 1-1/4 mile and occasionally 1-1/2 mile. Insta-Tournaments will be run on either a fast dirt track or a firm turf course with some exceptions. Inside the community, you will find the Insta-Tournament schedule in our Tournament Schedule Calendar and through the special link called Insta-Tournament Schedule.
General Points on Insta-Tournaments
If an Insta-Tournament does not fill, then the race will not count toward a horse’s maximum number of Insta-Tournaments (3) during his racing year. Any entry fees paid will be returned and the horse will still be eligible to enter the minimum number of Insta-Tournaments.
If your horse is in an auction, he cannot be entered in an Insta-Tournament. If your horse is in an Insta-Tournament, he cannot be entered into an auction until the Insta-Tournament is complete. If your horse is entered in an Insta-Tournament, he can be entered in a general trainer tournament that is scheduled at some point in time after the end of the Insta-Tournament. Please note that if you have your horse entered in a general tournament that starts after this Insta-Tournament and your horse is claimed, the horse transfers to the new owner and the new owner benefits from any entry fees you have already paid to enter that upcoming trainer tournament. The new owner will be responsible for any per-race fees, if applicable, but the initial entry fees that were paid by the owner prior to the claim in the Insta-Tournament benefit the new owner.
No future tournament entry fees are returned if your horse is claimed out of an Insta-Tournament.
If there are multiple claims in an Insta-Tournament for the same horse, though the draw is random on deciding who gets the horse, if one of the members if a VIP and one is not, the VIP will get the horse.
When a new horse transfers to a new owner due to a claim in an Insta-Tournament, the allowed number of Insta-Tournament races for that horse for that year is transferred as well. For example, if a horse is entered in an Insta-Tournament that has already run 2 Insta-Tournament races or skipped two Insta-Tournament races, then when the new owner inherits the horse, the horse is still eligible for the remaining Insta-Tournaments, no more/no less , for that current year.
