Da Furry Rodent (nibbles at ya)

Q. Sorry if this has been answered before however just wondering roughly what proportion of horses from the ring are A, B, C and D graded racers.

A. The sales ring is comprised of 30 000 horses every time an owner purchases a horse it is replaced immediately with same horse. We would not be able to provide you with an accurate number of how many 2YO from the sales ring are A,B,C or D rated horses it is total luck of the draw. (15 Jan 2008 @ 02:08)

A. My apologies you are correct I am wrong 100 000 horses in the sales ring this has not been changed. Every time one is purchased exactly the same horse is replaced. (15 Jan 2008 @ 02:20)

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Q. Wins obtained in RR are still being counted in the monthly award table, should this be happening?

A. At this present time the rated races do not count toward the Monthly Awards [edited]. (14 Jan 2008 @ 23:00)

A. I have confirmed that this is being addressed. (18 Jan 2008 @ 12:41)

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Q. im reading alot about RC [means RF as stated in title of thread] in G2 racing,does this mean that any horse can beat anyone ,regardless of what tt`s its doing ????

A. On many occasions a GR2 race horse has beaten a GR1 race horse in a non graded race. This does not mean that in every race a GR2 race horse is capable of beating a GR1 horse, it is indeed possible if a GR2 race horse has the right innate ability to beat a GR1 race horse. (4 Mar 2008 @ 20:20)

Q. yes but what about just in G2 races,i believe from what ive read its any horse at random,hence RF.

A. I do not understand what your point is above. It is only possible for a GR2 race horse regardless to its age to compete against GR1 race horses in non graded stakes races.

The random factor has a small part of any races outcome. If you believe that your GR2 race horse has the capability of beating a GR1 race horse then we will not stop you from entering non graded stakes races. (4 Mar 2008 @ 20:31)

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Q. When a horse is purchased from the Sales Ring is it already predetermined that it will have good or bad age changes at the start of it's 3 and 4 year old campaigns or is it a case of pot luck?

A. Age changes are not predetermined on the purchase of the horse from the sales ring but is rather randomly generated during it`s age change period. (13 Feb 2008 @ 17:39)

A. Apologies the correct statement would be 'A horses age change is part of its ‘innate characteristics’ and is hence pre-determined or set prior to the horse leaving the sales ring'. (13 Feb 2008 @ 18:02)

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Q. Are there any plans to intorduce races restrcited to b grades only next season , if so can you outline exactly what please... (ps i'm talking outside of rated racing)?

A. The b division are G2 horses which are catered for in the G2 races and restricted for any G1 horses nominated in these cartegories. (17 Mar 2008 @ 15:30)

A. I apologize if my response did not answer your question. Please can you clarify if you are referring to seperate class B rated races for G1 & G2`s? As I am not exactly sure what you meant by B grades out of rated racing, as I understood it as G2`s. (18 Mar 2008 @ 15:59)

B grade horses are of course (as we all know) G1s!

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Q. I have a horse entered in a B that is to go off at 21:15. It is still a pending race. Don't rated races close 1 hr. before race time?

A. Rated races do close an hour before but we see that the race ran correctly and that your horse placed. (1 Apr 2008 @ 22:15)

A. Apologies, just double checked and [edited] you are right. Rated Races close for nominations 10 minutes before the race runs, unlike Graded Races which close 1 hour before the race runs. (1 Apr 2008 @ 22:25)

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‡. In response to a post pointing out that Rated Racing has not been implemented correctly in that horses are able to drop more than the intended maximum of 15 ratings points fro their initial rating the following replies were received:

A. GR1 horses are not supposed to be racing with GR2 horses in rated races as per the rated racing rules. You are correct a horse is only allowed to shift up or move down one class. (12 May 2008 @ 16:00)

Q. your not quite there yet but your getting closer. GR1 horses can run against Gr2 horses i.e. B (GR1) can run against C(GR2) but there rating should only be able to go down to 113 at the moment their ratings are going down well below this which should not be possible according to the rules.

A. Thank you for brining this to our attention I suspect that it has something to do with the points rating which I will notify the technicians of accordingly. (12 May 2008 @ 16:20)

Priceless!

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Q. u keep sayin b grades can conpete with a grades ok is a few b grades arnd that can to a limit ..but maybe ud like to post sum fact to back this up id like to see the numbers

A. I have one example at this present time where a B class horse beat 2 A class horses in the same race. The confirmation can be found on the following RacID=324289 (16 May 2008 @ 10:55)

To save you looking here's the 'confirmation':
            May 15th 2008 : 5 runners (UK 22200 Yld)
                                1st - Class A horse
                                2nd - Class A horse
                                3rd - Class B horse
                                4th - Class B horse
                                5th - Class A horse

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Q. Where is the fanfare? Where is the over-hyped news item? Where is the special sponsored D-rated race in honour of an outstanding achievement on Raceclubs? What am I on about?

Newbie Farms 216, one of the forgotten heroes of raceclubs, has had his 1000th race !!! Come on, an achievement worthy of celebration, surely?

Ok, he's only won 2 of those races, but hey, 1000 races !!! Come on, you can do much better than ignore such outstanding loyalty. Get that class D sponsorship going...

A. We already have the 500 run award bonus that is in place. This award compensates those members for racing 500 times. We would not consider compensating members further than the current run award that is in place. 
[edited]
Member Support (14 Jul 2008 @ 09:51)

For those of you not in the know (like Member Support) Newbie Farms 216 is of course a low-class site-controlled horse used purely to make up the numbers in Newbie races.

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‡. In response to a post pointing out that an Inbox message had been received without that stable being designated as a recipient the following 'conversation' took place:

A. We suspect that what has happened here is that the owner who sent this mail to you done so by accident. After investigating the inbox feature we can confirm that we have found no problem with intended recipients receiving mails. (15 Jul 2008 @ 10:57)

Q. My stable name does not appear as a recipient for the mail and my stable name is very different to [edited] so I doubt that it would have been sent by accident even if I was a named recipient.

A. Maybe the owner who sent you this mail by mistake had you in mind whilst wanting to send the mail to another owner. (15 Jul 2008 @ 11:06)

Q. Would you not agree that in that case I would show as a NAMED recipient as I do on every other inbox message sent to me ?

A. Yes that is correct the names do appear in the (to) line. We suspect that either the member sent this mail by accident or did not know how to delete your name in the (to) line.  (15 Jul 2008 @ 11:50)

Q. I see no mention of [edited] anywhere, please let me know where you can see this as you seem convinced this message was correctly routed.

This stable has never before communicated with me, nor have they afterwards.

I'm sure you guys must have an audit trail for this system so I respectfully suggest that it is inspected around the date/time that this message was sent with particular attention paid to this message (entitled: FW: Ratio Mania!). 

A. We do not get involved with what mails various members send to one another. If you or the stable in question do not want to communicate with each other then it is entirely your or their prerogative. (15 Jul 2008 @ 12:00)

Q. Please can you communicate that I would like Edward or Brandon to take a look at this post as I fear this is whizzing over the crossbar

A. I have confirmed that this was sent to your inbox in error. It is currently being attended to and we should have an update in this regard during the course of next week.  (15 Jul 2008 @ 12:12)

Another classic!

Q. Rated Racing and older horses: any idea when this will be rolled-out for older horses ????

A. The Support Team has not been advised of any time-frames for the roll-out of rated races for older horses. As soon as current suggestions have been accommodated the developers will launch the final version of rated for the older horses.

Ideally, you will still keep your weaker horses, albeit suspended, until the final version of rated is uploaded. (30 Jan 2008 @ 07:02)

Of course a 'vote' was taken and Rated Racing never was rolled-out for older horses.

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Q. Has the rule been relaxed with regards the scheduling of races by owner request ???

A. The goings are random but you may find that some races already show the goings this is caused due to races being moved. (19 Feb 2008 @ 23:43)

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Q. Can anyone explain how the prizes structure breaks down for conso races? Also, is it all bonus credits or any cash ones?

A. Will get confirmation on this and get back to you. All I know is that it is bc`s and that the instances are proportionate. (26 Feb 2008 @ 17:13)

A. I have confirmed that it the sponsorship should be in Cash. (27 Feb 2008 @ 00:19)

A. I have definitely confirmed that they will be in Bonus credits as below. I apologise for any previous misinformation. (28 Feb 2008 @ 14:24)

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Q. What is the rationale behind the Race Program?

A. As the RP has informed us there are 8 distances on [edited] one being 1000M and eight being 3200M therefore if you are seeking to place your horse in a race over its best distance you will only find this distance every 9 days. The same method applies for all the distances. The RP will not consider changing this as they have to rotate the distances and allow every horse on [edited] an equal opportunity to enter a race that is the horses ideal distance every 9 days. (20 Jan 2008 @ 10:25)

A. Hi there are in-fact 9 distances, hence the 9 day rotation. (21 Jan 2008 @ 10:13)

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Q. I see that the weight penalty for wins for 2 yo has increased from 2lbs to 3lbs. Is this something that has been requested by members, or a decision that RC has decided on internally?

A. This may have been a decision that was made by the RP alone. (28 Mar 2008 @ 13:02)

Q. 3yo finals are described as WFA handicaps. Could you elaborate on this? Will all the horses not be the same age?

A. The new challenge series will be a WFA event so therefore it will not be designated to one specific age group. At this present time we do not have the weight penalties per age group and minimum requirement into this challenge series.

We will update the community once the rules for this challenge series become available. (28 Mar 2008 @ 13:02)

The 3lbs is a perennial error and as for WFAs for 3yo Championship races...well

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Q. Please can you tell me why there is no filly classic final or stayer final at age 2?

A. Last seasons Classic and stayer challenge series for juvenile fillies did not take off as the RP expected, therefore he is reluctant to program this challange series for this season. (2 Apr 2008 @ 19:06)

A. You are correct, in reviewing the current RP I have came across that there is actually a Stayer and Classic challange series for juvenile fillies. My apologies for initially providing the community with the incorrect answer. (2 Apr 2008 @ 19:19)

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Q. If I have a horse that is initially graded G1 and allocated a Class of B with a Rating of 128 what is the lowest Rating that same horse is legitimately able to drop down to in Rated Racing ?

A. As per the rules it can not drop down less than 15 points in its demoted class therefore 105 is the lowest point of this horses GR1 initially B class rated racing career. (13 May 2008 @ 14:13)

‡. The rules clearly state:
• There will be no limit by how much the rating of a horse can increase but the lowest rating a horse may achieve will be equivalent to the mid point of the next lower Class. This equates to a maximum negative move of 15 points given a Class rating range of 15.

A. Yes I understand the word midpoint however you need to take into cognizant of the wording "maximum negative move of 15 points".  (13 May 2008 @ 14:26)

‡. Ok, fair enough.....
Horse starts at B 128.
128 - 15 ("maximum negative move of 15 points") = 113

A. 'mid point of the next lower class' and 'this equates to a maximum negative move of 15 points' in the above or next class. You are correct it is not a math flaw of mine I based my initial response on the wording maximum negative move of 15 points' of the next lower class' that confused the symbols above.

If the horse is only capable of moving in points to 'mid point of the next lower class' then indeed it is only capable of being at 113 lowest point. (13 May 2008 @ 14:56)

Hallelujah - almost as good as winning the Lottery!

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Q. On the run awards non-graded stakes races are valued at 1 price and A grade RR at another, should they not be of the same value at least?

A. Rated races do not count toward the 500 run award bonus [edited]. Over and above this only stakes races are taken into account for the monthly awards. (4 Oct 2008 @ 18:23)

Q. "Rated races do not count toward the 500 run award bonus [edited]." - are you sure about that?

A. I see what you mean now [edited]. You mean when filtering the game stats page that GR1 and non graded runners come up in one tab.

The rated races stats have their own categories due to the fact that this is a separate platform from stakes racing. (4 Oct 2008 @ 18:57)

A. Contrary to popular belief, all races, regardless if stakes or rated, count towards the 500Runs Awards. On the surface, it looks as though both non-graded stakes races and class A rated races should receive the same runs bonus. Not true.

The 500Runs Awards Bonus is partly based upon the average nomination fee. All A class rated races are $10 whereas non-graded races vary from $4 to $10. You are never going to get a $1 rewards for running a $4 race.

One could also argue, that better caliber horse run in the A class races whereas the non-graded races cater for the less competitive horses. (5 Oct 2008 @ 00:32)

I think it shows that the final response was from a different member of Support staff!