This section of the rules has been contributed by players of Track King. The tips are in no particular order, so a quick skim of the bold 'subject' headings might help identify the items of interest to you.
Newer players might like to read Frequently Asked Questions first. For more information, read CBCs guide for newcomers or check some of the Helpful WebSites.
- Help, I'm going broke! - Most common mistakes people who are losing money make are:
- Too many vets. You don't necessarily need as many as you may think. 1-2 hours per horse is more than enough for most purposes.
- Growing too much to quickly. People seem to think that they need to get to 60 trainings as soon as possible, when the better idea is to grow proportionately. Only hire as many trainers as your horse winnings can pay for. If you have tried for max trainers, I'd suggest leasing out as many as you can
- Spending on specialist facilities - you don't really need them early on, and are probably the easiest extravagance to cut back on. Don't demolish them for now, just drop the investment to zero, which will still give you some benefits, but cost nothing each week.
- Starting a stable Financial advice and general strategy
It is quite hard to figure out at the beginning, but I think the point is (and has been put forward a number of times in help and tips for beginners etc) to go very slowly early and see what hiring people will do to your bottom line each week. The trap is that you find a new game and get really excited and try try try buy buy buy early on and realise that things cost more than you think. Personally I started off in Adelaide and had to go up against the devs (and others that had played the dev version) and basically had to be pretty stingy right from the beginning or die a slow death.
I was here from the beginning almost and have slowly built up to a stage were i am financially sound. But for the first 8 weeks or so, I had to bank on the fact that all i would bring in in a week would be whatever i won for entering a league race. I made sure the difference b/w my expenses and earnings each week was not much more than $15000 (i.e what I was assured of winning each week at least). Maybe that was less than an hour of vets for each horse, and at absolute most 2 hours of training per horse.
What it comes down to is that I now have a steady bank balance of $500K odd, but I personally have never won a league race, only placed in 1 cup race (round 1) and did not get top 5 in my league. And i have never been able to afford to give any of my horses more than 4 hours training.
This is my advice to new players, don't expand till you know where you are. I won a race for $40k today against all bots by travelling within my continent (Buying Owners Club helps cos you can search for high paying stakes races) so the races are out there.
Just build slowly and learn what you can from the forums and you will be fine. Thanks for listening
Contributed by mattblack of Dazed and Confused. - Training: General strategy
Train like a madman! Identify your best horses, and pour the trianing into them. Try and sell the others, don't waste a cent on donkeys... Contributed by Carlosa of Carlosa Lodge - Training: Choosing a training type.
Keep in mind which stats to train based on the distance that your horse is running. e.g. if your horse is a sprinter, it's probably important for it to have good acceleration/gate speed, but not as important for it to have good stamina. The description of the training on the Help pages will give you a good idea of what stats that training will improve or decrease(See Training). If you want to know more, ask on the forums or keep a log of the results, or check out some of the External Websites.Contributed by RhiaAryx of Rhia's Cavalry - Training: Early training recommendations
Starting stables should train horses in swimming or conditioning. I trained 3hrs per horse for the first month, and then 5hrs per horse when I could afford it. Increasing stamina, muscle tone and heart allows your horses to last the distance, and you'll be regularly winning and placing in the longer distances quite quickly. Contributed by ashario of Relegation Material - Entering races: Target the right races
Try and work out a horses preferred distances and focus on them...dont be afraid to travel with a horse for an easier race, although prob not at the expense of missing training at this (early) stage...Contributed by Carlosa of Carlosa Lodge - Finances: Looking for some money ideas?
I have my horses set to 4 hours of training (combined) I have 2 hours left over that are sold to the public, making some money. You can also do the same with spare stalls. Good luck! Contributed by gemic of The Vineyards - Travelling: Organising travel
You can organise travel in one of two ways - either by selecting the Horse or Jockey and then using the "Schedule and Transport" link in the Page Menu, or by finding a race/track that you want to visit and then using the "Arrange travel to this track" link in the Page Menu. Don't forget to bring them home. Contributed by CBC1 of Lonestar Inc - Jockeys: Hiring a jockey
(When searching for a jockey) make sure the top 3 boxes read - prestige-dire -ordinary . (jockey prestige)...dont try for top jockeys (straight away) wages are too dear..... Contributed by zeromatrix of Zeromatrix - Breeding: Setting up your stable
Get yourself a mare, of course the better mare stats the better but if not don't worry, start breeding it, if you have a stallion in your stables great the breeding is then free but if not go for a nice stat-ted stallion off the auctions and you might end up with a nice little future racer OR something to sell for a bit of dosh.Contributed by kimmerz of DivinityLane Stables - Offseason: Tactics to get through the break between seasons
Theres lots of tactics you can use during the off season to gain an advantage over those at your local track. - During the off seasons there are a LOT of desperate TK's out there who auction reasonable horses at really cheap prices.Wait till the very last week of the offseason to purchase your new recruits when their desperation levels are at their maximum.
- Try not to buy horses off people who are also at your local track in your class...I cant stress this enough...let them choke...they are your opposition and if they recover its YOUR purses that will suffer in the long run.It may seem mean but this is business!
- If you are desperate for cash try this...buy a horse not more than $5000 max...$1000 preferably..theres tons...race it once...if it wins keep it...if it runs a place auction it for 3 times what you paid for it...if it fails give it away straight away (dont tie up the stall) and buy another $1000 horse...do you realise if just one "thousand dollar horse" wins you say even $20000 that enables you to buy and discard 20 more..do the math..you get $ for up to 5th place dont forget.
Contributed by Cerberus of Skank Town Stables - Horses: Having a competitive stable
You need 4 horses custom designed for each distance that can effectively compete at class level.One for 800-1200...one for 1300-1600...one for 1700-1950 and one for 2000+.Train your 4 horses for that exclusively.Long distance horses for example should get beach gallops till they are sick of the beach...sprinters should get starting stalls and short sprints training...the ones in the mid ranges need variety...they need to be competant in a variety of skills....never ever under any circumstances cut back on training...you get behind on quality it will be hard to catch back up...3 hours per week per horse! Also, have a back up plan...What are you going to do with these wicked horses in your class races if it keeps raining and you have no mudlarks? What will you do if one of your "big 4 " gets injured...you need some 3yo and older that can fill in for when "it hits the fan". Contributed by Cerberus of Skank Town Stables
