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The following rules are related to the page you were just viewing (Home >>):
04. Stable diaryYour stable diary can be accessed from within the Stables Menu. It shows a running record of all the actions and events that go on in your stable each day.
This provides a valuable tool to catch up on what has happened since you last visited Track King. The diary shows the latest 50 events by default, but you can use the link at the bottom of the list to view older events (if any exist!). The diary also keeps a record of your activity in the Auctions over the past fortnight, showing you all the bids that you placed or received, and also any times that you were outbid. A canny Track King will use this tool to ensure they stay on top of the latest action!
Your Stable diary is only visible to you - so no other Track Kings can see your secrets of success! It displays the date and time that an event took place, gives you a description of the event, and in some cases provides you a link to the event. Where no link is provided, you might be able to guess what caused the event by looking at the date and time.
Some of the things that might appear in your Stable diary are:
There are two types of finances in Track King - your Stable finances and your Personal finances
You need money to run your stable and to house and train your horses. Each week there is a financial update where the monies owed to you are collected and the monies that you are due to pay debited from your account - all transactions that take place during the week are added to the income/expense account shown and the balance figure is updated accordingly.(See Daily/weekly timetable). So when you look at your stables' finances, the 'Carryover balance' is the amount you started the week with, and all income/expenses listed are then the transactions that will be totalled to create the 'carryover balance' for the next week.
The income you receive comes from:
The expenses you may have to pay are split into:
There's nothing to keep you from spending your stable's money even if your balance is zero. As stable manager you have access to a line of credit at the bank, but you're going to have to pay some heavy interest on this borrowed money. The bank is prepared to allow you free reign on spending until you reach $250,000 debit - but after that things start to get tight. You'll still be allowed entry into league races, and to hire apprentice jockeys, and to auction your horses, but that's about the extent of it. You won't be able to resize your stable facilities, or purchase any new horses, and signing a new jockey contract is right out! Also, and most importantly, your bank will put a stop on any staff drawing a wage from your stables' funds once a 'closing balance' of -$250k has been registered. This means that your vets and trainers will be unpaid! They're prepared to ride it out for a week due to sheer loyalty to you, but at the start of the second week without pay they will all walk out, leaving you with zero training and vet capacity. The bank will then continue to finance your stable, even if the debt continues to grow, but you'll be without those valuable stable hands.
Should you grow tired of being broke, your Stable Finances page will offer a "Liquidate stable" link for anyone who has closed the week at -$250k. This process is not reversable! If you enter liquidation, your stable will effectively be reset to a 'new' stable, with 4 completely novice horses and minimum sized agistment. You will still be in the same Class as you were before, but you might find it hard to remain competitive!
At the end of every season the sponsors hand out a bonus if your stable has done well enough. Trophies and money are handed out to the top 5 places in each racing Class. How much depends on your place and how high up you are in the league system:
| Class | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,200,000 | $1,020,000 | $840,000 | $660,000 | $480,000 |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | $850,000 | $700,000 | $550,000 | $400,000 |
| 3 | $800,000 | $680,000 | $560,000 | $440,000 | $320,000 |
| 4 | $600,000 | $510,000 | $420,000 | $330,000 | $240,000 |
| 5 | $400,000 | $340,000 | $280,000 | $220,000 | $160,000 |
| 6 | $200,000 | $170,000 | $140,000 | $110,000 | $80,000 |
70% of the League Bonus is paid at the end of the season, and the other 30% is paid on accepting promotion to a higher league. As an additional bonus all stables that promote will be given a FREE week of Owners Club!!
Your personal finances are totally separate to your Stable Finances. This money is your personal money, as a manager of a Stable, to use however you see fit.
As you don't have a team of Administrative assistants looking after this money, you won't earn any interest on it - so you may as well spend it! And what better way to spend it than at the track, betting on the horses that you know best?! (See Betting)
During the off-season, each Owner will have the opportunity to donate up to 10% of their Personal Finances - to a maximum of $500k - to their Stable. Of course, a stable that accepts charity like this would no doubt have to expect a loss of prestige...but it does provide another way to utilise your Personal Finances if your stable struggles. These donations can only be made once a season, during the Promotion/Relegation window.
Clearly horses are your stables main asset! You must have a minimum of 4 horses in your stable at all times.
Each horse has attributes and skills that determine their overall racing ability, while there are also some additional factors that will affect their performance in different race situations. The horses also have an 'Overall Rating' which is a quick way to compare horses, as well as having experience at different Distances and Track Conditions.
Every horse can run any distance on any track condition - but some attributes will make them perform better/worse under certain conditions. It's your job to consider all these factors and decide who is the best horse for the race. These attributes are:
Aside from racing your horses, you'll also need to take care of their training needs and their veterinary care to make sure you always get the most out of them. (See Vet services, and also Training). After racing and training you'll notice the physical condition of the horse will decrease. Medical condition decreasing is often a sign that your horse has picked up an injury - in races, this is reported in the Form Guide after the race.
If your horse is getting repeatedly injured, or if your horse has a lower 'Vet Assessment' than you would expect, then maybe you might consider giving your horse a spell (rest) to allow the horse time to heal naturally? This can be a very effective tool to continue to get the best from your horses.
Injury Profiling, commonly referred to as IP, is a measure of how likely your horse is to sustain an injury next time it races or trains. There is no direct display of this stat, but you can estimate this by looking at the Vet Assessment. If it seems much lower than the average of Medical/Physical condition, then the horse is at a high risk of injury from being too active recently, or because of a recent injury that might be made worse. The best way to help your horse recover if it has a poor Vet Assessment is to give it a spell (ie a rest) from training and racing. A spell of 3-4 weeks is enough for any horse to recover, but your horse might not need that much of a rest? It's your decision!
As you'll notice, a horses week can get very busy! Be sure to keep an eye on the Upcoming Schedule for each of your horses, to make sure that they don't have any conflicts. Where there is a conflict in schedule, the horse will simply take the earliest thing that you have told it to do and go with it - even if that means missing out on training or missing out on a race, or even missing travel arrangements to another track. Of course, if a horse misses its travel, it might not make the next race or get home in time for training etc.....so it can have quite a big flow-on effect. Any Schedule conflicts are highlighted in the horses' Upcoming Schedule, so they shouldn't be hard to notice! If you see any, you can remove the conflicting item/s by going into the "Schedule & Transport" page for that horse, and cancelling them directly from the schedule.
It's also possible to rename your 2yo horses, any 3yo's that were bought within the past 3 weeks, or any horses with career earnings of less than $1,000,000. It costs 1 'Game Credit' for each time you want to rename a horse. The number of Game Credits you have is displayed on the 'Home' page, and Game Credits can be bought through the Shop, or are provided free with purchases of Owners Club (See Owners Club). To rename a horse, simply select the colt/filly that you want to rename, and then select the Rename a Horse link from the Page Menu. A member of staff from Track King will approve or reject the renaming as appropriate within 24-48 hours at most!
Last of all, the life and death of your horses. Each season, on the first day of January/April/July/October, horses will be considered as one year older - regardless of their actual date of birth. As a general rule, horses may only race from the age of 3yo up to and including 10yo. After 10yo, stallions may continue to be used for Stud until (and including) the age of 12yo. After age 12yo (or age 10yo for geldings or mares), there isn't really anything useful for your horses to do around your stable. It might break your heart to part with these virtual champions, but in the interest of your stable it should probably be done. You can either organise to give them away, or if you are an Owners Club member you can retire them into the Hall of Fame, so that we can all look back at their stats and achievements. (See Owners Club)
Jockeys are the ones responsible for getting the best out of your horse in race. Track King features a form of Artificial Intelligence for the jockeys, allowing them to actually make decisions about how to respond to different situations that they might find themselves in during a race. (See The Race!) It's fair to say that the horses are just the engine, and the jockeys are the drivers.
As you might expect, there are good jockeys and not-as-good jockeys. All of them make decisions to the best of their ability, and sometimes those decisions might be ideal for the horse and race situation. As a general rule, the higher a jockeys' base salary, the higher his potential to make good choices. It's up to you, as an astute Stable Manager, to research the jockeys and find out a bit about them. You can check their career stats to get an idea of what type of track and distance they are most experienced at. Also keep an eye out for their riding style, which shows the things that are most important to that jockey. Watching some of their old races to see how they handled different race situations is often handy to see whether you think they might be suitable for your horses. (See Owners Club)
When jockeys use their Artificial Intelligence to make decisions, they consider the following things - although each jockey has their own ideas about which are most important (as shown in their Racing Style).
Of course, in a race, they jockey does also consider your wishes. You have the opportunity to enter Race Instructions for each of your horses, which will be followed (to a degree!) by every jockey that rides the horse - even apprentices.
During the race, the jockey continually assesses their surroundings, making several "mini-decisions" using their 'riding styles' which all fall into the categories above.. Each one of those mini-decisions are then combined, to try and find which instruction they should give the horse that will satisfy as many of their 'styles' as possible. (See The Race)
Jockeys like to feel good about themselves, and their morale influences how well they will communicate with the horse during a race - and how much attention they pay when you give race instructions for your horse! To keep a jockey feeling good, it's important to allow them many opportunities to race. It's also important to give them a good chance at winning. If you keep putting them on the old gray mare that ain't what she used to be...well....the jockey isn't likely to stay happy long! Jockey morale will start at a higher level if you don't drive their wage down at the start of a contract - it costs more but it could well be worth it?
There are 3 different 'grades' of jockey in Track King:
Contracted jockeys are the 'real deal' - the main sort of jockey you'll find in Track King. They have a name, and can be contracted to many different stables over their career, and will age by one year on the first day of January/April/July/October, just like the horses!
To contract a new jockey to your stable, follow the link named 'Hire a jockey' from the right-hand Page Menu of any 'Stable' page. You will then be able to search the pool of jockeys in Track King, and select from those that would be prepared to race for your Stable (based on the prestige of your stable!), and from there it's just a matter of picking the one you want and organising a contract. Bear in mind that you may only hire jockeys of your own Race Class, and within about 5-6 levels of Prestige to your stable. For example, a highly prestigious jockey is not going to want to negotiate with a 'lowly' stable with a lot lower prestige. The jockey may agree to negotiate with stables of slightly lower prestige, but you can be sure they won't accept much haggling! Negotiate carefully - you can only complete one set of jockey negotiations every 24 hours - whether you managed to successfully sign the jockey or not. Keep an eye on the status of negotiations with the jockey to get an idea how far you can drive their wage down! As a general rule, a jockey with more prestige than your stable are more likely to treat you harshly.
While a jockey is signed to your stable, they are not available to race for any other stable, and will draw a wage from you (in advance) once every week excepting the last week of their contract. On completion of their contract, they will go On Holiday for an indeterminate period - maybe a day, maybe a week....maybe longer?! When they leave your stable, if they're inclined to race with you again, they'll give you an idea of when they intend to return. The better their morale at the termination of the contract, the more likely that they'll make sure they are back on time!
If a jockey employed by your stable has less than 28 days remaining on their contract and you are a member of the Owners Club (See Owners Club), you can negotiate to end the contract early. The jockey will tell you the amount that they want to be paid to finish their contract early, and then it's all up to you! It's not a very prestigious thing to be firing jockeys though...
The Conference Room Specialist Facility will make it possible to attempt to negotiate to extend the jockeys' contract as it epproaches the final few weeks - although the jockey is likely to be asking for a wage increase!
Jockeys will retire from racing on their 33rd birthday, and will only compete in races of their own Class - which means that generally the jockeys available to the "Upper Classes" (sic!) are better than those of the lower. There will be some exceptions - can you find a bargain?!
A Stable Apprentice is basically a jockey in training, and can be identified by the '(A)' to the right of their name. Each stable can have up to 2 Stable Apprentices in the stable at any time. To hire a stable apprentice, go to the "Hire a jockey" page, as described above with a real jockey. At the top of that page is the link to hire a Stable Apprentice.
Hiring a Stable Apprentice is done through an independent agency called the Jockey Recruitment Agency. When you visit, they'll ask how many candidates you would like to interview. You pay them a flat fee per candidate just to interview them, and can then choose which of the candidates you want to recruit. These candidates will be aged 19-22 years old, and have a few basic differences. It's up to you to pick which one looks the most likely prospect for your stable.
Once you recruit a Stable Apprentice, they must remain an apprentice in your stable for a minimum of 4 weeks, and up to a year (4 seasons) from the date they are recruited. It is totally your decision about when they should be granted their full jockey license.
Each week that the Stable Apprentice remains in your stable they will earn 5 'training credits' (more if you have the Apprentice Classroom Specialist Facility), which you may spend on improving their skills and experience, which will in turn improve their prestige. Stable Apprentices will also earn some extra Training Credits for each race in which they can beat AT LEAST 4 other opponents. Of course, they'll also earn experience and have morale just like a normal jockey. You can apply any Training Credits that your apprentice has earned at any time, and see the results immediately.
When training an Apprentice using the Training Credits they have earned, think carefully. Imagine that the levels of each stat are an indication of "how carefully" the jockey should consider it. You should have a definite plan of what things you want this jockey to pay attention to most of all. If you simply add training credits to make all of the skills the maximum, then the jockey is very likely to get confused, because everything going on around them is important, and so they won't be able to think clearly and plan a strategy. If the jockey has only a couple of "main" skills, then at least they (and you!) will know what is most important and therefore have an idea of how they will react. (See The Race for more information on Riding Considerations and how they apply to a race)
While they are an apprentice, you cannot expect them to perform as well as if they were a fully licensed jockey - they're still learning. However once you grant them a full license, they'll suddenly improve and realise their hidden potential and go on to be the best they can be. And in thanks for your help and nurturing they will return 5% of their wages to you any time they are contracted by a stable! On top of that, you will also gain prestige for your stable based on the length & success of their apprenticeship.
When you grant a Stable Apprentice their full jockey license (after at least 4 weeks, or automatically after a year), you can choose which Race Class of license you will give them, which they may improve on over their career. Of course, they will charge a higher weekly wage in the higher Classes, but maybe there will be a bigger demand for their services in the lower Classes? Gauge their prestige against the available jockeys of similar prestige in each racing class to decide where they are likely to be hired the most - therefore returning a more regularly wage to you!!
Every track in the world of Track King has a swag of unknown Apprentice jockeys who are just dying to get a ride. They don't charge much comparatively....but then they don't have any experience, and only limited ability! If for any reason one of your contracted jockeys can't make it to a race, an apprentice will step in automatically to ride for you, and will charge you for his services at the end of the day.
Apprentices, being the dumbest of all jockeys, should probably be prevented from riding in any races that you really want to excel in! One day, maybe one of these youngsters will be a candidate for someone as a Stable Apprentice....who knows. Hardly likely though!
Horse racing is an exhilarating sport, and it's no different here at Track King!
There are 3 different types of races within the game:
These contests are held over varying distances, categorised as follows:
League races will always consist of one race of each distance type, while Stakes and Cup races may cover longer distances. The exact race distance changes regularly to ensure all horses have the same opportunity to prosper over time. It's up to you to select the right combination of race distance, jockey, horse, race instructions and opposition to give your horse the best shot at winning! (See Entering a Race)
Some races will have eligibility criteria in place that your horse will need to meet, such as gender or age restrictions, or that the parent stable must be racing to an appropriate local Track or Region. You'll need to check the eligibility criteria of the race you want to enter to be sure. Class races will only impose loose restrictions - namely that you must be part of that Racing Class at that Track, and that the horse must be between 3 and 10 years old. The eligibility criteria are:
In order for your horse to be able to race, it must of course be located at the appropriate track at the designated race time, and it must also have completed 3 hours of Race Preparation immediately prior to the race. Never fear, this preparation will be booked in for you automatically when you enter a race - you just need to make sure your horse can get there!
At the end of the Race Meet (See Continents), prestige, purses, and Class league placings are all updated. Horses placed in the Top 5 will share the purse, while prestige is awarded to the top 7 runners - of course, the higher you place and the more 'real jockeys' in the race, the better the reward!
There are so many races available to enter in Track King - Stakes races twice a week, Class League racing, plus many Cups during the season. The big question is - which races will you enter, and which will you decide to miss? A stable would need to be very large to compete on all fronts...but be warned, the cost of maintaining a large stable is quite high!
For a small cost, you can take any of your own horses to the Training Track, using the banner link on the Home page.
The Training Track is the perfect way to experiment with various jockey instructions and horse/jockey combinations. Of course there's no race purse to be won, but the bonus is some instant knowledge about your horse - and a little bit of experience to boot!
Also located at the Training Track is the 'Arcade Mile', which is an arcade game featuring your very own horses! Coming soon - high score tables featuring your name and all of the best horses in Track King!
Your Local track is the home of your stable (and many others), and is the venue for your weekly Class league races. (See Race Classes) Up to 150 human-owned stables can call each track home, with 25 stables competing against one another in each of the 6 classes of racing at each track. On entering Track King as a Stable Manager, your stable will have been assigned to a Local track. At the end of each 11-week racing season, and prior to the start of the next racing season, you'll have the opportunity to relocate to any other Local track in the world that has an opening at your Class level. Of course, there will be a cost associated with the move, as well as needing to re-establish your Training and Veterinary staff. (See the end of section Class Races)
The track is also home to a resident tipster, an virtual equine expert who doesn't mind a bet or two - sometimes he'll offer his choices for race favouritism in the betting stakes. Check each individual race page before the event to check his early mail! Maybe he knows something you don't?
Weather
Each track has it's own weather, which is updated every day. On each Track page you can see what the weather is like today, and a weather forecast for the next 7 days. As we all know, the weather forecast isn't always entirely accurate, but they get it right quite often. The weather isn't selected completely at random every day. It's connected to what the weather was like the day before. If there was rain today, there's a greater probability of rain tomorrow as well, compared to other types of weather.
The chances are exactly the same for rain, sunshine or anything else regardless of which track you choose. No tracks have better weather than others. You may also notice that each continent has its' own "Weather patterns", with each real-time month marking the start of a new Weather pattern. Pay a little attention and over time you may be able to predict where the wet and dry tracks are likely to be at any time of the year. There are three different Weather patterns - Hot, Wet, and Average - and they always follow each other in that order. The only thing that isn't known is which of those Weather Patterns that each Continent will start with at the beginning of each new racing season.
The weather affects track conditions, which in turn affects the performance of your horses and jockeys on race day. To be a truly successful Track King, you'll need to be able to predict how the track will respond to the coming weather so that you can be sure to enter your horse into races where the track condition is likely to suit your steed.
Track condition
As most horse trainers and keen punters know, a stretch of hot sunny weather or a spell of rainy days can really affect the condition of a racetrack. The horse racing tracks in the game reflect this, with subtle changes the result from the weather conditions.
Some horses perform better in heavy going, some horses prefer faster track conditions. Some horse skills are more useful on heavier or drier tracks, and some qualities of a horse are consumed faster in heavier conditions than on good and fast tracks.
Track conditions (from fastest to slowest)
Each continent within Track King contains one or more regions.
There is no difference between the regions within a continent - they are all equal and experience similar racing conditions over time, as well as similar Cup competitions. Additional regions may be added to a continent if the existing regions have reached their capacity.
Regional tracks are only used for Cup racing. Each Regional track is the 'hub' for 15 Local tracks, with each Local track hosting 150 stables that participate throughout the 6 different racing classes. (See Tracks and weather)
Although the other stable managers at your local track are your direct opponents, don't forget that you may sometimes need to band together as track representatives to compete against other tracks - or even other regions or continents - in very prestigious Cup competitions. After all, when a horse makes a name for itself on the big stage, the punters and media are bound to want to know about the place it came from.
There are five (5) continents represented in Track King.
The main difference between the continents within the game is the cutoff and start/end times of races:
Your horses are able to travel to other continents to participate in Stakes and Cup races, however there is a small transport cost associated. (See Travelling)
If racing times in another continent are more convenient for you, you are free to move your stable to any local track in that continent that has a vacancy. Moves can be made during the break between the end of the 11 week Class racing season and the start of the next Class racing season. (See Tracks and weather)
There are 6 classes of racing in Track King - from the dizzying heights of Class 1 racing down to the less glamourous gallopers of Class 6.
Your stable's racing class represents your racing 'league' at your local track, and the group of direct opponents you'll be racing against to get promoted to the class above. In Class league races, you will only compete against other stables located at your track in the same racing class as your stable. Your stable can occassionally race against stables in a higher/lower class, but only in Stakes and Cup races.
Class league races are held during the week, depending on which racing class your stable is in:
Race entrants (horses and jockeys) must be nominated before 23:00 on the day prior to the race. You may withdraw (scratch) your horse from a race voluntarily up to 1hr prior to the start of the racing in that continent. (See Continents)
There are 25 stables per racing class at each track, competing over the course of 11 Race Days in a fixed 3-month season. The seasons in Track King happen within the following months, with the first week of racing starting from the first Monday of the month:
Week 1 of racing within each Class will begin from the first Monday of the opening month. For example, in the January to March season of 2008, the first Class 1 Race Day will be on Tuesday the 8th of January, as the first Monday of the month was on the 7th of January.
For each of the 11 weeks of the season, you will be offered the opportunity to enter into two of the four Class League races (one for each of the 'common' distance categories) for your Race Class at your Local Track. These invitations will be presented to you on your Stable page in the section titled 'Important Information and Events'. Alternatively, you can look at your Invitations in the Races Homepage and enter from there. However you do it, don't leave it too late to enter, as your choices of which race to enter will become more limited as other horses enter. Class League races are restricted to a maximum of 15 horses in the field.
On completion of each Class League race meet all runners will receive a payment for competing, based on the following formula:
Automatic League Entry payment = (7 - Racing Class) x $5000, scaled based on the number of Named Jockeys in the race
This automatic payment means there is a clear incentive to compete in your League Races each week.
League Points are also awarded to the horses that competed based on their finishing order. These points are then tallied up to work out the stables' standing within the Class League Table. Points will be awarded as follows:
Tiebreakers: Where the total points earned is equal between Stables, league position is decided by the number of 1st place finishes, then 2nd places and so on, down to the number of races competed. If everything else is equal, then the stable which held the lead on the table the week prior will continue in the higher position. In the event of a tie for any position after the last round of the season, league position will be determined by the stable which had their horse finish in the highest position in the longest distance Week 11 race contested by either/both of the tied stables.
At the end of the 11 week Class League season, prizemoney will be awarded (See Finances), the top stable of each Class (except Class 1!) will automatically promote to a higher racing class where prestige, race purses, and often stakes are higher and the competition is tougher. The 2nd to 5th placed stables of each Class will be given an offer to promote to a higher Class if they wish. If this offer is not accepted within 5 days of the season end, then the offer to promote will be withdrawn. So, if you have an unsuccessful racing season and finish in the bottom five positions of your League, don't despair! There's always a chance that the people racing in the Class below you might not take up the offer to promote, and you'll hang on to your prestige!
At the end of the season, aside from prizemoney being paid, all stables will have a small window of opportunity to relocate from one Local Track to another.
Cup races are more prestigious than other races within Track King, as entry is via invitation only! If you are qualified for a forthcoming Cup race, the invitation will appear on your Stable page, and any races that you are qualified for will become visible when you enter your horse into a race. (See Entering a Race)
There are a variety of different Cup competitions that are run throughout the course of a season. Some of the more regular Cup styles are:
Cup races are generally held at Regional tracks (See Regions), which means that you're very likely to need to book travel. Don't leave your travel bookings until the last minute! In many cases all Regional tracks across the world will play host to an equivalent Cup - some being more prestigious than others, and some offering a larger race purse, or demanding higher stakes to enter. Check out the description of any Cups you are invited to - there may be a good alternative away from your Regional track....although bear in mind that travel times will be longer!
Cup races are held on weekends - Saturday and Sunday - throughout the racing season. Race entrants (horses and jockeys) must be nominated by 23:00 on the day prior to the race time. You may withdraw (scratch) your horse from a race voluntarily up to 1hr prior to the start of the racing in that continent. (See Continents)
Who goes through each round?
When working out which Stables have earned entry to the following round, all results are sorted by:
If you check the Information about the Cup (you'll find a link from every Cup race to the Cup Information pages, as well as a link from your Races homepage, and also a "General Cup info" link from the Home page), you'll notice a table detailing how many runners/races there will be at each Round of the Cup. With that information in your possession, you can then calculate whether your Stable has made the cut to get through! Of course, if you wait until after Race Meets on the Sunday in your Continent, you'll know for certain as the invitations will arrive within an hour of the end of the racing day....but if you're inclined to work it out yourself, the following example may help.
Example: Round 1 of a Cup event has a maximum of 75 runners, spread over 3 races of 25. Round 2 of a Cup features 25 runners total, in one race, as follows:
On completion of Round 1, the 25 places would be awarded as follows:
Of course, quite often there are more races and more variation of race distance to sort through, but the same basic principles apply. Hope that helps!
Cup Finals, Trophies, and Prize Money
So the big day has come and gone, and the big question of course is 'Where's my shiny trophy?!'. The results of Cup racing are updated as follows
Cup Finals also offer a special bonus to all entrants that finish inside the top half of the field. These runners will also receive a payment equal to 5% of the total race purse. This payment will be made during Trophy presentations.
Community Cups are a chance for the Track King Community to help build their own racing calendar! A Community Cup can be "proposed" by any individual player for a fee in Game Credits. Then, the "proposed cup" is made visible to everyone, allowing the community to donate Game Credits to support the idea. You can see a list of who proposed the Cup, and also a list of who has donated towards it presented near the heading of the Cups description page.
Once enough credits have been received then this Cup is scheduled! On a Thursday night at 22:00, any Community Cups that have received enough support are automatically scheduled to take place for the weekend beginning in 30 days time, and Invitations will be available as per the standard Cup processes.
After a Community Cup has begun, it will again open for Support from the general public, so that it can be re-run every season if you like!
Rivalry Cups are a special form of Community Cup, where all stables from two Local Tracks are invited to compete at a neutral venue in an elimination Cup. Aside from the winning stable getting their personal glory, there is also an award for the winning Track. The winning Track is the one that has the highest total number of placings in the Top 5 over every race of the series. No extra score is given for 1st or 2nd - all placings are equal. Every stable from the winning Track that competed at least once in that Cup series will receive a bonus payment equal to 25% of the final race purse! In the unlikely event of a tie, then all competing stables will receive a bonus payment equal to 5% of the final race purse.
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)
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 are similar to Stakes races in most ways, except for a couple of major points:
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!
Prestige equates to your stable's overall 'score' in Track King, an indicator of the success you've had as a stable manager and sometimes gambler! Prestige can make your facilities more attractive for public lease, can open doorways into higher stake (and purse!) Cup racing, and help persuade better jockeys to sign with your stable.
You can gain prestige to a greater or lesser extent by:
Horses are (well, in all the cases I know of anyway!) the result of breeding. As is the case with most things living, they inherit traits from their parents, which in horse circles are called their Sire (father) and their Dam (mother). Any horse aged 4years and older is eligible to enter the realm of parenthood.
When breeding, one of the best ways to start on the right hoof is to find a good stallion, set him up with a good mare....do a little bit of Cupids work for him...set the mood with some candlelight and maybe a little red wine...and voila! You have a foal! This whole process is not guaranteed to breed a future champion, it just gives you a better chance at a good youngster than just buying yearlings. Of course, like everything in Track King, there's a bit of science behind what makes two horses a "good choice" for breeding, and it may be that at the moment your mare or stallion would be better off racing? If you are a member of the Owners Club (See Owners Club) you will also be able to use the Family Tree to explore potential studs and quickly check the traits of their foals.
OK, so you've brought your stallion and mare together. The deed is done. After the big occasion, Sire is likely to be a little tired, and Dam, well, she'll be out of racing action for 3-4 weeks, and won't be as focussed on any training as the new life grows within. The healthier the mare at the time of birth, the better headstart that the new foal will have in life. Similarly, ensuring that you have a vet (or more?) on the payroll at the time of the birth will help the new foal be in as good health as possible. The Broodmare Paddock Specialist Facility may help the process run a little more smoothly - but regardless, the mare may just need a rest and a bit of vet attention after the foaling, before she contemplates any more babies...
Now here's where the mystery comes about. Horses in the Track King world seem to have invented some sort of magical growth formula for their young. After their incredibly short pregnancy, the foal emerges from the Dam and *pooof*! It's suddenly 2 years old! That's probably a good thing, because horses can't race in Class League Races in Track King until they are 3 years old...so you won't have to wait too long to try out your new little prodigy on the track!
This wondrous new foal will be the property of the stable that owns the Dam at the time of birth. As the expectant owner of a new foal, be sure that you have room in your stable for the new baby, or you'll overcrowd your horses! (See Agistment).
Line-breeding, the practice of breeding related horses, is a possibility - you're the boss! - but be wary. Breeding two horses that are too closely related might just give you unexpected results a little more frequently....but then again, maybe you'll guarantee that the trait you hoped for becomes dominant?
So if you are the owner of a stallion that has the characteristics and the racing history to make it a successful super stud, you can advertise its' services in the Stud Auctions and maybe turn a profit! (See Horse Auctions)
Each horse in Track King has DNA, which decides what traits a horse carries, and what traits it is likely to pass onto its foals. You can view a Genetic Report for any of your horses, or for any horses on Auctions, for a small fee - or even for free if you own the Specialist Facility called 'Genetics Laboratory' (See Specialist Facilities).
With some research into the DNA of your horses, you can (with some certainty) decide whether two horses are likely to be a good pairing, and whether the foals that they produce might contain the traits that you most want to breed. Detailed information on how to interpret a Genetic Report is available within a 'mini help file' within each Genetics Report.
Each week, you'll have the opportunity to attend yearling sales - hoping to find that young gem that you can nurture and train into a genuine champion! You can visit at any time you have the money and the urge, as long as it has been 7 full days since your last search. Also, it should be mentioned that although these horses are "yearlings", in the world of Track King horses are 'born' as a 2 year old.
So, when it's time to search for a (two)-yearling, you firstly select which of the 15 Local tracks you want to scour to find the best yearling you can. No matter how many tracks you travel to, you'll only bring home the best one you could find - but the more places you travel to the better the chance of a skilful foal. The quality of horse that you find when searching for a Yearling is also noticeably improved by one of the Specialist Facilities - the Yearling Scout Network. (See Specialist Facilities)
As with everything, there is a small cost involved to travel to each track which must be paid before you can head off for your search. And of course, you must have spare room in your stable to agist this horse! (See Stable agistment). This page also contains an Owners Club feature (See Owners Club)
We all know Track King is FREE to play for all players - one of the most important things in the world of Track King is a fair community. However, should you wish to support the development of the game and purchase Owners Club, many bonus features will be made available to you to improve your gaming experience.
Some of the main features made available to Owners Club members are
To purchase Owners Club, navigate to the "Shop" menu in the Main (top) Menu. From there, you'll be able to check out the current price and make a secure online payment via Paypal. If you still have some Owners Club credit remaining, any additional membership that you purchase will be added to the end-date, so you'll always get what you pay for.
As a BONUS, every time you purchase more than one season of Owners Club, you can nominate one Track King (not yourself!) to receive one FREE week of Owners Club, effective immediately. If the person you nominate already has Owners Club, their membership will be extended by the bonus week.
SPECIAL BONUS!! - Any non-member that wins a race will be given a special one-time bonus of 1 week Owners Club! FREE! (Note: This only applies to players who have not had Owners Club within the past 110 days, and the player must logon and visit their Stable homepage within 48 hours of the race result to claim their prize).
Refund and sales policy - Payments are preferred through Paypal but may also be made via Cheque or money order. Owners Club will be activated immediately upon successful clearance of moneys. If you are not satisfied with Owners Club, you may contact a GM within 3 days of the purchase with a full description of why you are dissatisfied, and request a refund. Fair consideration will be given to your request based on the circumstances, and refunds will be made at the discretion of Track King, based on the circumstances of the refund. Any breach of the Track King Terms & Conditions which results in suspension/closure of your Track King stable may also result in forfeit of remaining Owners Club credit.
