Post by Cavallo on Dec 17, 2013 9:59:30 GMT -5
Here is the skeleton that everyone on both GHF and TW should follow:
These are the regulations that everyone should go by for judging. Now for topics that have recently sprouted up, I will now address these.
Racing Two Weeks back to back - a horse can't be penalized for this. We ALL do this, otherwise our horses couldn't as near as many reps as we'd like them to build up in the levels. This is a SIM game, not real life, though we do try to be realistic as possible, this is one of the areas we are not.
Workouts - it is the owner's own prerogative how many workouts a horse should get. FOR EXAMPLE: Ripley and I do a lot of rping together (though not as much cuz someone has been lazy :
) I put those threads on my horse's page because it gives the horse added character, depth and exposure. When judging for races, this should NOT penalize a horse. More workouts is simply more workouts and it should not count against the horse in question. The workout rule was actually made to make things more fair. You can write as many workouts as you like, and the judge can take them into account, but only one can actually be marked as a workout for a specific race. The rule was made so that two or three or more workouts can't be posted for one race to practically guarantee a win, because that wasn't fair on the rest of us. Workouts are not necessary for every race, but if the person wants too that is their choice, but workouts for certain races must be indicated and only ONE workout may be credited to that race.
Judging Variety - EACH JUDGE IS DIFFERENT. They will put emphasis on different things and that's okay as long as they can logically support their decisions and reasoning with the rules and guidelines posted above. Diversity in judges is what gives all horses a chance when it comes to the races and keeps things from being biased.
Conflict in Judging - DON'T ATTACK THE JUDGE. there that should explain itself, but for those hairy situations that seem to pop up, here is how you deal with a problem. Kindly post in the thread, please don't pm - we're an open site here and we will politely and nicely work out any problems. That being said - choose your battles wisely. If you complain about everything you will loose your voice and will deal solely with an admin.
(we still love you all).
1. Eligibility
First of all, a judge must check to see that all horses are eligible for the race. The restrictions for horses eligible to enter a race are located next to the race title, like this:
Turn Up The Heat Stakes - 2Y0 C 9F D G5
Now, as you can plainly see, this race is open for two year old colts only, who are grade five only. The judge must determine whether each horse is eligible to run the race before commencing with the actual judging.
2. Preferences
Secondly, you need to consider the race distance and surface in accordance to the horse's preferences. If a race was on dirt, and the horse ran only good on dirt and great on turf, he would have to be placed behind all horses with better preferences than this, like a horse who ran great on the dirt and only okay on turf. As for distance, each horse has a range of distance he is able to run well in. A horse who is primarily a sprinter and can only run up to eight furlongs will most likely run last in a race of nine furlongs or more.
You may find the horses preferences anywhere on his page, as everyone does their horses pages a little differently, but usually they will be somewhere underneath a heading like 'Racing Career'. Preferences look something like this:
Dirt: Great
Turf: Okay
Distance: 9-12 Furlongs
As you can see, this horse runs better on the dirt than he does on the turf, and only from nine to twelve furlongs. On GHF, our races are between five and twelve furlongs in length. As for surface, there are four words used to describe how well a horse runs on each surface.
Great - The best.
Good - Second best. He will always be beaten by a horse who is Great.
Okay - The horse is only Okay running on this surface, and therefore will always be beaten by Good and Great horses. He should as a rule not be run on this surface at all to avoid preventable losses.
Bad - The horse basically hates the surface, and there is no way he will beat any Okay, Good or Great horses.
The surface preferences in above indicate that the horse is best running on dirt. He can run well on turf, but it would be advised that he only run on dirt.
3. Record
This is probably the most obvious part when judging a race. You judge on consistency, the *HOTY Selection races, and the record itself.
When judging on the record, check the horse's grade and his experience. See how many wins he has, and whether they are *HOTY selection race wins or not. (*HOTY Selection Races are the biggest races on the calendar - these practically decide who wins the the yearly awards. The biggest of these are spelled in capitals, such as *KENTUCKY DERBY, or *BREEDER'S CUP ). Also check the distance and surface of recent races. Horses who are run on both surfaces (dual) may show a preference for one surface in their race results, or a horse who runs 7-10 furlongs may do best at a mile. If a horse has been raced hard recently, perhaps they are tired and won't do as well as a horse who has had a week or two off.
Working out the consistency of a horse's record is easy enough. Add all the wins, seconds and thirds and divide by the number of races they have run in total. For example:
69-28-13-9
= 28 + 13 + 9
= 50
50 / 69
= 72%
This horse is quite consistent, and as you can see by the number of wins, this horse likes to win alot. He would usually do better than a horse with 50% consistency, but this is not always the case. If the 50% horse has been worked a few times for the races and the 72% horse has not been worked recently, the 50% horse should do better in the race.
4. Workouts
While workouts are important in all races, they are most important in the big ones. Everyone has different writing styles, and some are capable of writing super long workouts of 2000+ words while others may only manage 400 words. Don't penalize those who can't manage to put out a lengthy workout. A workout is a workout, and they all take some time and effort. Workouts should be done once every year and then for the list of major races that require them (like legs of the TC, TTT....etc).
5. Bloodlines
Bloodlines are not particularly important, but if a horse is related to many good runners, he is far more likely to do well than a horse that is not. Take Bank On Silver and Merry Bay King offspring, for example. These two, the first and second horses to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame have produced no bad runners so far. They have been crossed together once to produce a Triple Crown and Breeder's Cup Classic Winner, who is Impressario. Bank On Silver has produced four grade ones so far (as of Y8), with one grade four two year old, and one filly foal that hasn't yet begun to race (obviously). Bank On Silver is notorious for producing top quality dirt runners. Merry Bay King is as famous for producing excellent turf runners, with the likes of Simply A Flyer, winner of over fourteen *HOTY Selection Races, and two time winner of the prestigious *Melbourne Cup. Not to mention various others.
Contrary to the belief, however, great runners don't always produce great runners. I'll use my own Vindictive Fury for example, who has recently run an absolutely crap 2yo season. Her dam, Rising Fury, is the single best horse currently in the HOF (in my opinion, that is) in the way of record and awards and achievements, while her sire is also in the Hall Of Fame for his great heart and talent. She should have been a top notch runner, right? but she's not. Yet. (As of Y11 she is xD)
So there you can see that great bloodlines don't always guarantee a great horse, and bloodlines should never be judged on heavily.
6. Class
Consider the level each horse in the field is at. Some horses may have been racing well at a high level (HOTY*) for some time, whereas others may have raced in undercard races for much of their career. Undercard races are easier to win due to the top competition generally running only in special HOTY* races. Therefore a horse that has been racing at a high level should be more highly regarded than a horse that has not.
7. Age
Age is important because with age comes maturity and experience. A fresh two year old for example should not be run in a field of three year olds. The three year olds are by now more physically mature and probably have several races experience. At the other end of the scale, is when three year olds are nearing the age of four and are facing four and five year olds for the first time. Consider what the three year old has achieved this season. If they have been running in the Triple series, they are likely to be very capable of beating a four or five year old now. After the majority of three year old races are finished for the season, three year olds should not be penalized for age and experience against older horses. Experience is not really important after about ten or twenty starts anyway, depending on the horse's age.
First of all, a judge must check to see that all horses are eligible for the race. The restrictions for horses eligible to enter a race are located next to the race title, like this:
Turn Up The Heat Stakes - 2Y0 C 9F D G5
Now, as you can plainly see, this race is open for two year old colts only, who are grade five only. The judge must determine whether each horse is eligible to run the race before commencing with the actual judging.
2. Preferences
Secondly, you need to consider the race distance and surface in accordance to the horse's preferences. If a race was on dirt, and the horse ran only good on dirt and great on turf, he would have to be placed behind all horses with better preferences than this, like a horse who ran great on the dirt and only okay on turf. As for distance, each horse has a range of distance he is able to run well in. A horse who is primarily a sprinter and can only run up to eight furlongs will most likely run last in a race of nine furlongs or more.
You may find the horses preferences anywhere on his page, as everyone does their horses pages a little differently, but usually they will be somewhere underneath a heading like 'Racing Career'. Preferences look something like this:
Dirt: Great
Turf: Okay
Distance: 9-12 Furlongs
As you can see, this horse runs better on the dirt than he does on the turf, and only from nine to twelve furlongs. On GHF, our races are between five and twelve furlongs in length. As for surface, there are four words used to describe how well a horse runs on each surface.
Great - The best.
Good - Second best. He will always be beaten by a horse who is Great.
Okay - The horse is only Okay running on this surface, and therefore will always be beaten by Good and Great horses. He should as a rule not be run on this surface at all to avoid preventable losses.
Bad - The horse basically hates the surface, and there is no way he will beat any Okay, Good or Great horses.
The surface preferences in above indicate that the horse is best running on dirt. He can run well on turf, but it would be advised that he only run on dirt.
3. Record
This is probably the most obvious part when judging a race. You judge on consistency, the *HOTY Selection races, and the record itself.
When judging on the record, check the horse's grade and his experience. See how many wins he has, and whether they are *HOTY selection race wins or not. (*HOTY Selection Races are the biggest races on the calendar - these practically decide who wins the the yearly awards. The biggest of these are spelled in capitals, such as *KENTUCKY DERBY, or *BREEDER'S CUP ). Also check the distance and surface of recent races. Horses who are run on both surfaces (dual) may show a preference for one surface in their race results, or a horse who runs 7-10 furlongs may do best at a mile. If a horse has been raced hard recently, perhaps they are tired and won't do as well as a horse who has had a week or two off.
Working out the consistency of a horse's record is easy enough. Add all the wins, seconds and thirds and divide by the number of races they have run in total. For example:
69-28-13-9
= 28 + 13 + 9
= 50
50 / 69
= 72%
This horse is quite consistent, and as you can see by the number of wins, this horse likes to win alot. He would usually do better than a horse with 50% consistency, but this is not always the case. If the 50% horse has been worked a few times for the races and the 72% horse has not been worked recently, the 50% horse should do better in the race.
4. Workouts
While workouts are important in all races, they are most important in the big ones. Everyone has different writing styles, and some are capable of writing super long workouts of 2000+ words while others may only manage 400 words. Don't penalize those who can't manage to put out a lengthy workout. A workout is a workout, and they all take some time and effort. Workouts should be done once every year and then for the list of major races that require them (like legs of the TC, TTT....etc).
5. Bloodlines
Bloodlines are not particularly important, but if a horse is related to many good runners, he is far more likely to do well than a horse that is not. Take Bank On Silver and Merry Bay King offspring, for example. These two, the first and second horses to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame have produced no bad runners so far. They have been crossed together once to produce a Triple Crown and Breeder's Cup Classic Winner, who is Impressario. Bank On Silver has produced four grade ones so far (as of Y8), with one grade four two year old, and one filly foal that hasn't yet begun to race (obviously). Bank On Silver is notorious for producing top quality dirt runners. Merry Bay King is as famous for producing excellent turf runners, with the likes of Simply A Flyer, winner of over fourteen *HOTY Selection Races, and two time winner of the prestigious *Melbourne Cup. Not to mention various others.
Contrary to the belief, however, great runners don't always produce great runners. I'll use my own Vindictive Fury for example, who has recently run an absolutely crap 2yo season. Her dam, Rising Fury, is the single best horse currently in the HOF (in my opinion, that is) in the way of record and awards and achievements, while her sire is also in the Hall Of Fame for his great heart and talent. She should have been a top notch runner, right? but she's not. Yet. (As of Y11 she is xD)
So there you can see that great bloodlines don't always guarantee a great horse, and bloodlines should never be judged on heavily.
6. Class
Consider the level each horse in the field is at. Some horses may have been racing well at a high level (HOTY*) for some time, whereas others may have raced in undercard races for much of their career. Undercard races are easier to win due to the top competition generally running only in special HOTY* races. Therefore a horse that has been racing at a high level should be more highly regarded than a horse that has not.
7. Age
Age is important because with age comes maturity and experience. A fresh two year old for example should not be run in a field of three year olds. The three year olds are by now more physically mature and probably have several races experience. At the other end of the scale, is when three year olds are nearing the age of four and are facing four and five year olds for the first time. Consider what the three year old has achieved this season. If they have been running in the Triple series, they are likely to be very capable of beating a four or five year old now. After the majority of three year old races are finished for the season, three year olds should not be penalized for age and experience against older horses. Experience is not really important after about ten or twenty starts anyway, depending on the horse's age.
These are the regulations that everyone should go by for judging. Now for topics that have recently sprouted up, I will now address these.
Racing Two Weeks back to back - a horse can't be penalized for this. We ALL do this, otherwise our horses couldn't as near as many reps as we'd like them to build up in the levels. This is a SIM game, not real life, though we do try to be realistic as possible, this is one of the areas we are not.
Workouts - it is the owner's own prerogative how many workouts a horse should get. FOR EXAMPLE: Ripley and I do a lot of rping together (though not as much cuz someone has been lazy :
) I put those threads on my horse's page because it gives the horse added character, depth and exposure. When judging for races, this should NOT penalize a horse. More workouts is simply more workouts and it should not count against the horse in question. The workout rule was actually made to make things more fair. You can write as many workouts as you like, and the judge can take them into account, but only one can actually be marked as a workout for a specific race. The rule was made so that two or three or more workouts can't be posted for one race to practically guarantee a win, because that wasn't fair on the rest of us. Workouts are not necessary for every race, but if the person wants too that is their choice, but workouts for certain races must be indicated and only ONE workout may be credited to that race.Judging Variety - EACH JUDGE IS DIFFERENT. They will put emphasis on different things and that's okay as long as they can logically support their decisions and reasoning with the rules and guidelines posted above. Diversity in judges is what gives all horses a chance when it comes to the races and keeps things from being biased.
Conflict in Judging - DON'T ATTACK THE JUDGE. there that should explain itself, but for those hairy situations that seem to pop up, here is how you deal with a problem. Kindly post in the thread, please don't pm - we're an open site here and we will politely and nicely work out any problems. That being said - choose your battles wisely. If you complain about everything you will loose your voice and will deal solely with an admin.
(we still love you all).
