* Stakes races happen every Monday and Friday at every Local Track around the world.
* You can search each
Track manually to find the best races for your horses - or if you purchase Owners Club you can use the 'Search for a Race' feature.
* If you haven't been sent an Invitation to enter a Stakes race, you'll still be able to enter during the 3 days before the Race as long as it is not full!
Stakes races and Invitational races are 'friendly' races, some created by unowned stables and some created by other Track Kings like yourself. You can use these races to hone your horse's skills or to test your horses against those from other stables in a little bit of friendly competition. There is little or no prestige for this racing type - especially when racing at your own track - but the racing is just as exciting and you may get to learn more about your horse and jockey, track conditions, and other Track Kings from across the globe, under differing race conditions. And of course, there's the purse!
Stakes racing occurs on Mondays and Fridays during the racing season. Race entrants (horses and jockeys) must be nominated by 23:00 on the day prior to the race time. Don't forget, if you're travelling to another track to compete in a Stakes race, you will need to make your travel booking the day before race entry cuts off at the latest - check the Schedule and Transport page for your horse to get a quote on how long the travel will take, and plan ahead!. You may withdraw (scratch) your horse from a race voluntarily up to 1hr prior to the start of the racing in that continent, although beware, entry stakes are not refunded. (See Continents)
Stakes Races
Anyone can compete in a Stakes race, but they can only be created by Owners Club members (See Owners Club). Stakes races can be held at any track on any Monday or Friday. If you create a Stakes race, you offer up the purse out of your own Stable Finances, and then your sponsors will kick in an extra amount up to 50% - the stricter the entry criteria the less they will contribute. You'll earn prestige based on how generous the purse is, so don't be too stingy! There's no limit to the amount of Stakes races you can sponsor, and you're able to have them run at any Racetrack around the world.
For each Stakes race you sponsor, you'll receive 15 Invitations to issue to whichever Stables you want. You might give them all to one stable, or share them around...or maybe even not invite anyone at all! The choice is yours - but once you've sent an Invitation, you can't take it back!
Each Stakes race is open to a maximum of 25 runners, and at 00:00 gametime 3 days before the race all remaining Gates will be made available for entry to the general public - so if you get an invitation, be sure to respond in enough time to guarantee your place. This might seem a bit inconvenient, but it does help to ensure fairly competed races for Stables and Punters alike.
Invitationals
Invitationals are similar to Stakes races in most ways, except for a couple of major points:
- Any stable can create an Invitational by first purchasing Game Credits from the Shop;
- You will get all 25 Invitations to hand out - but can only send 2 invitations to any stable;
- When sending Invitations, you have the option to invite the stable, or to pick individual horses from that stable!
- The first 3 horses win a FREE Week of Owners Club!
The purse for Invitationals does not come out of your Stable finances at all - instead, the starting purse is decided based on how many Game Credits you spend, and then the rest of the purse is made up from Stakes from the entrants.
Also, in the 3-day window prior to the race, 'uninvited stables' may only enter the race if there are less than 10 runners entered. So if you create an Invitational, and all of your friends enter the race early enough, then nobody will be able to gate-crash your party! Invitationals must be paid for and booked at least 7 days prior to the event, and Invitationals must be run at the Regional Tracks. Why not buy a Credit now and invite your mates!
