Glossary

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The Steward
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Glossary

Post by The Steward »

A guide to various terms and abbreviations used on the SIM.

Alexandra Jaysman (AJ) - The name given to the SIM computer. AJ will sometimes recycle horses that are sent to Greener Pastures, and put them on the newbie sales list for 1k. AJ will also sometimes distribute horses to players in various ways, such as making new, unpedigreed mixed breed horses available to purchase. AJ will also sometimes run "filler" horses in races with less than four entries.

All Weather (AW) - A third surface for Thoroughbreds in SIM, in addition to dirt and turf. Only four tracks have AW races, and the surface is still considered to be in its fledgling stages. Just as with real life, some horses greatly prefer AW to the other two surfaces.

Also Eligible (AE) - Since races in SIM have a maximum of twelve starters, a 13th, and then 14th, horse entered is an also eligible, which can't start in the race unless one of the original twelve horses is scratched. Also eligibles are signified by being shown in gray at the bottom of the entries and on the player's own entry page. (If a fifteenth horse is entered, then the race splits into two races, and all horses entered are able to compete. However, stakes and sponsored races do not split) For allowance races and stakes races, a point system determines which horses make up the twelve starters, and which are also eligibles; therefore, in such races, a late entry can be a starter in the race, via booting a less accomplished horse to AE status.

Black Type - Refers to stakes level horses; ie, those that have won or placed in stakes. (The term stems from stakes level horses having their names in bold black type in auction catalogs.) Though stakes can vary greatly in the level of competition, stakes races are generally considered superior to all other types of races.

Break - The period of time between SIM game years when there isn't any racing activity. The break is usually two weeks long between race days, but every third year it is three weeks long. The most important thing to know about break is that it's the players that are getting a respite from the game, not the horses. When the next game year begins, it's like a Week 17 for the horses, right up after Week 16 of the prior game year.

Bred - The location of where a horse originated from. Unlike real life, in SIM the "bred" is where the horse's sire stood at stud at the time of conception/birth (which happens simultaneously in SIM). The only real purpose of knowing, eg, that a horse is a Florida-bred is that a few states and countries have races that are restricted to horses bred in that region. When sponsoring a race, players always have the option of restricting the race to horses bred in the region where the race is being run. Any created horses are Kentucky-breds.

Bred Mare - In SIM, the official status of a mare that has had a foal in the current game year. She therefore can't have another foal until the next game year, when her status changes to "unbred". Bred mares can be sold privately or given away, but they cannot be sold via the sales list or be put up for auction. At the beginning of each game year, the computer randomly selects a certain number of mares to be temporarily sterile for that game year, and such mares will show "bred" status until the following game year.

Breeders Award - An amount of money given to the breeder of each winning horse in SIM, regardless of who owns the horse at the time of victory. The breeders award is always equivalent to 9% of the purse. (When players use game points to Create a Horse, they are considered the breeder of that horse and will earn a breeders award whenever that horse wins a race.)

Breeding Season - In SIM, mares can be bred at any time. However, the bulk of activity generally happens from around Week 15 through the first week of break, after which the current game year ends.

Broodmare - A female horse that is used for breeding.

Carded Race - A term I use to refer to regularly scheduled races in SIM, as opposed to additional races sponsored by players.

Color Breed - A breed most easily identifiable because of its color. In SIM, the color breeds are Appaloosas and Paints, and they are structured exactly the same, in terms of number of races, available distances, etc. In real life, Appaloosas and Paints sometimes compete against each other.

Colt - An intact male horse under five years of age.

Conditions - The criteria that horses must meet to be eligible to enter a race. Standard conditions include breed, age, gender, distance, and type of race. Claiming and allowance races can have additional conditions such as NW2 (non-winners of two), NW3, NW4, or NW5. With the exception of Standardbreds, there's very few races in SIM carded for NW4 or NW5. Therefore, I consider any non-Standardbred horse that has won three races to be "out of conditions", in that it now must race in open company.

Create a Horse (CAH) - Having the computer create a horse by spending 3000 game points. Players can designate the age (1 to 4 years), gender, color, and name of the horse, from an available list of stallions for the breed desired. If a 2yo is created, it must have two works before it can race (which is the case for all 2yos in SIM).

Create a Mare (CAM) - Having the computer create an unraced, retired 6yo broodmare by spending 5000 game points. Players can choose the sire and maternal grandsire from a list of available stallions for the breed desired. They can also choose the color and the name.

Dare to Dream (DTD) - This is a program run by prominent player Eric Nalbone, and named after his Dare to Dream farm in New York. Various veteran players donate well bred yearlings to the program, which are then distributed to the winners of the first two races at Trial Park each Monday night. Since Trial Park is where only new players race, the program is restricted to new players, and the purpose is to help newbies obtain high quality youngsters that would otherwise be beyond their means. Each new player is limited to winning a maximum of two yearlings.

Derby - A name given to various stakes races that are for three year olds. In SIM, the most famous Derby is the Louisville Derby, which is the equivalent of the real life Kentucky Derby.

Distaff - In horse racing, refers to a horse that is a filly or mare; or a race that is for females.

Entry Fee - In SIM, entry fees are only paid for running in stakes races, and the fee is always 1% of the purse. The fee is not deducted from the player's account until the race is run. Therefore, a player can enter a stakes, and then scratch, without losing the entry fee.

Filled Race - In SIM, a race with at least five horses, since purse money goes back to fifth place.

Filler - A horse entered in a race (usually a stakes) with a small field, in order to pick up part of the purse money, which goes back to fifth place. The intent isn't to win (though it can happen) since fillers are usually of inferior quality, but to earn the lesser money, since there otherwise aren't enough horses running to receive all the available purse money.

Filly - A female horse under five years of age.

Full Field - In SIM, a full or maximum field is twelve horses. There are a few prestigious races, such as the Stewards Cup and Triple Crown events, that allow more than twelve horses to enter.

Game Points - Points purchased by players, using real money. (One U.S. dollar buys 1,000 game points.) Game points can be used for various "perks", including creating horses, subscribing to SIMperior, and sponsoring races.

Game Year - A 16-week period that comprises a full year within the game. (As opposed to a calendar year.)

Gelding - A castrated male of any age. In SIM, players receive two encouragements to geld: $1,000 for doing the gelding, and the horse's performance always improves, however minimally.

Gift Horse - Players can give any horse they own to another player at any time. Most often, gifting happens when veteran players want to welcome a new player by giving them free horses.

Graded Stakes - The highest level of stakes race, broken down further with the designations of Grade 1, Grade 2, or Grade 3. A Grade 1 stakes is the highest level of race.

Greener Pastures (GP) - A way for players to remove unwanted horses from their stable, if they can't sell them or don't want to try to sell them. Sometimes, horses that are GP'd end up on the sales list for new players, priced at 1k. Sometimes horses that are GP'd end up deceased. Players neither pay nor earn any money for sending a horse to Greener Pastures.

Horse - A gender that refers to an intact male horse, 5yo or older, that is still racing.

Horse Whisperer - In SIM, a character that tells the owning player, via a mild riddle, what type of track condition the horse prefers. Only SIMperior players have access to the horse whisperer. The fee to use the horse whisperer is $500 for new players, $700 for Juniors, and $1000 for veterans.

HTT - A common abbreviation in SIM for referring to Mary Weather's "Hard to Tell" comment when a horse gallops.

Junior Player - Players in their 21st through 40th weeks in SIM. Though they don't have near as many benefits as newbie players, they have their own racetrack in Junior High, and also have some reduced expenses.

Juvenile - In horse racing, a horse that is two years of age; in other words, in its first season of racing. The term can also refer to a stakes race that is for 2yos.

Listed Stakes - A non-graded stakes race. In other words, the less prestigious (and most common) subset of stakes races.

Marathons - An unofficial distance category. For Thoroughbreds, I would consider a marathon any race over 12 furlongs (1.5 miles). For Quarter Horses, it would be 870yds. There is some thought that Arabians have marathons, which would presumably be the two-mile races (16f), though in my experience, Arabs that do well at 10f and 12, are usually just as good at 16f.

Mare - A female horse that is 5yo or older.

Mare Lease - When a mare's owner temporarily gives or sells the mare to another player, for the purpose of the latter breeding the mare for one season, and then returning her to the owner. In some cases, the lease itself is free; in other cases, the mare owner requests a lease fee, based upon the accomplishments of the mare. In almost all cases, the lessee pays the stud free for the stallion chosen. Occasionally, the mare owner reserves the right to approve of the stallion chosen by the lessee.

Mare Swap - When two players simultaneously lease mares to each other.

Mary Weather - In SIM, a character that is an assistant trainer. She gives comments concerning the training of horses, including an evaluation of how well a horse gallops ("needs improvement", "hard to tell", "as though he has wings", or expresses "wow"), and if a 4yo or older horse has any potential or talent for steeplechasing.

Match Race - Any race with just two horses. In SIM, the running line for both horses will simply say "match race".

Mid Distance - The middle distance category for each breed. For Thoroughbreds, the middle distance is one mile. For the stock breeds, it's 400yds. There isn't any known middle distance category for Arabians. For steeplechasers, I'm assuming it's 3 miles to 3-3/4 miles, though perhaps it's only 3 miles.

Mixed Breed (MB) - Any breed of horse other than Thoroughbreds. In SIM, the mixed breeds are Appaloosas, Arabians, Quarter Horses, Paints, Standardbred trotters, and Standardbred pacers.

Newbie or New Player - Refers to players who have been playing in SIM 20 weeks or less, which would be a full game year plus break. The 20 weeks isn't necessarily calendar weeks, in that a player's newbie status can be extended if they go a period of time without signing into SIM. New players get many "welcome to SIM" benefits, including the DTD program, a special sales list where the prices are 10k or less, various reduced expenses, and the Trial Park track where only new players can compete.

Nomination Fee - Fees paid to nominate horses to the Steward's Cup, and to the Triple Crown races, and thereby make them eligible to enter those races. There are specific weeks during the game year when fees for either event can be paid at $5,000 per horse. At a later point, horses can be considered a late nomination to the Steward's Cup for a $50,000 fee. Once a horse is nominated to the Steward's Cup, it is nominated for life. Being nominated does not guarantee being able to run in either SC or TC races; the point system still determines who will get a starting position if more than the maximum number of allowed horses are entered in any particular race.

Oaks - A name given to various stakes races that are for 3yo fillies.

Older Horse - In racing terminology, a horse that is 4yo or older. Therefore, a 3yo running in a race for "3yos and up" is said to be "racing against older horses".

On the Board (OTB) - Refers to finishing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Can also be used as "hit the board", in that the horse won or placed in the race.

Overnight Race - Any race that isn't a stakes. Therefore, in SIM, overnight races are claimers, allowance races, starter allowances, maiden special weight, and classified allowance races, though I don't think I've ever actually seen this term used in the game. It comes from the "overnight sheet" that tracks put out the morning after entries are taken.

Pensioning - In SIM, permanently removing a horse from any activity in the game. Geldings take on pensioned status upon being retired from racing. When stallions and broodmares are pensioned, they are no longer able to be used for breeding. Pensioned horses take up residence in the owning player's "Pasture", unless the player sends them to Greener Pastures.

Placed - In betting, a "place" bet refers to picking a horse to be second. But when speaking of a horse's race record, the terms "placed" refers to second and third place collectively. Therefore, a horse with a 12-1-2-5 record would be said to have "won or placed in eight of twelve starts".

Point System - A process in SIM that tracks the accomplishments of horses, by assigning points based on finishing position (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) in races, as well as the quality of the race. A horse can earn a high of 100 points for winning a prestigious event like a Steward's Cup race, down to two points for finishing third in a maiden or claiming race. The point system is used to determine which horses get to run in allowance and stakes races that have too many entries, and is also a way of tracking the most accomplished horses for a given year or time period.

Post Time - The SIM computer "runs" the races at 8:00 PM Pacific Time on each race night. Thoroughbreds race on Mondays and Fridays, with generally the higher quality races being on Fridays. Steeplechasers race only on Mondays. Mixed breeds race on Wednesdays. Within a few minutes after post time, players receive a lump sum of purse money earned in their SIM bank account. Any money earned/spent from Breeders Awards, claiming activity, and/or injuries shows at that time as separate transactions. Anywhere from a few minutes to twenty minutes (occasionally longer) after the money is posted, the race results and official charts are available for players to view.

Purse Distribution - In SIM, the purse distribution is the same for all races: 50% for finishing 1st, 22% for 2nd, 10% for 3rd, 7% for 4th, and 2% for 5th. The remaining 9% is paid as a breeders award to the breeder of the winning horse.

Racing Age - In SIM, horses can race from the age of two through nine. (Arabians race from age three through nine.)

Restricted Stakes - Generally refers to a stakes race that is restricted to horses bred in a specific state or country. Also, one might consider, eg, a stakes just for junior players to be a restricted stakes. In general, restricted stakes are considered less prestigious than other stakes.

Retire - In SIM, when a horse is taken out of racing status to become a breeding animal or, as in the case of geldings, to be pensioned. Once retired, a horse can never race again.

Routes - The distance category for long races. For Thoroughbreds and Arabians in SIM, it's any distance over a mile. For Quarter Horses, it's the distances over 400yds. For the color breeds (Appys and Paints), it's 870yds. I assume that for steeplechasers, it's four miles, though it might be anything over three miles.

Running Line - The written description, in sentence form, that describes how the horse ran in a race, and any trouble it may have had. For example, "Sluggish start showed speed angled out willingly to wire." In SIM, running lines are considered particularly important for determining any equipment needs the horse may have.

SIMMY Awards - The game's equivalent of the Eclipse Awards. The SIMMY Awards has dozen of categories, broken down by breed, gender, age, and/or region. The SIMMY finalists for each category are chosen by the point system, and then players vote on a winner in each category over the break that follows the game year.

SIMperior - A "more frills" status that players can pay for with game points. The benefits are many, and include access to speed figures, access to the SIM Stud Book, access to an informative weekly newsletter, and a more organized and informative page for one's Racing Barn.

Sophomore - In horse racing, a horse that is three years of age; ie, in its second year of racing.

Speed Figure (SF) - A number used to indicate how fast a horse ran in a race, relative to how fast the race could be run. Theoretically, a speed figure of 100 would equal the track record, but the speed figures in SIM include other criteria, such as how difficult or easy the horse's trip was, and the level of competition. (In SIM, all tracks have the same track record for each surface/distance; therefore, there aren't individual track records for each track.) In short, the higher the speed figure, the faster the horse ran. In SIM, only SIMperior subscribers have access to speed figures.

Split Race - When a race with a full field of twelve and two also eligibles gets a fifteenth entrant, the race splits into two races, and all horses entered can compete. If there continues to be entries, a race can be split multiple times. Sponsored races and stakes races do not split.

Sponsored Race - When a player uses from 1,000 to 15,000 game points (depending on the race level desired) to create a race to their specifications. Theoretically, the player's horse will have an advantage in the race, because the conditions match that horse's needs. However, any horse that meets the established conditions can enter a sponsored race, so there's no guarantee that the player who put up the game points to create the race will benefit from any of the purse money. Sponsored races are particularly popular amongst players that race the stock horse breeds.

Sprint - The shorter races. For TBs and Arabians in SIM, a sprint is any race under a mile. For the stock horse breeds, its any race under 400yds. For steeplechasers, it's presumably the races under three miles.

Stakes Race - Generally, the most prestigious of races. As such, stakes races require an entry fee. In SIM, the entry fee is always 1% of the purse.

Stallion (or Stud Horse) - An intact male that has been retired from racing and is used for breeding.

Steeplechaser - A horse that races over jumps (as opposed to "flat" racing). In SIM, a steeplechaser is temporary category of Thoroughbred that behaves like a separate breed. Any unretired Thoroughbred of at least four years of age can be converted into a Steeplechaser. Once converted, it can't be changed back to a flat horse Upon retirement, the horse loses the "steeplechaser" designation and is simply a Thoroughbred. Though some retired mares and stallions might be used exclusively for breeding foals with steeplechase ability, those horses are no longer officially called steeplechasers.

Steward-bred - A horse bred by The Steward. She is far and away the most successful breeder of Thoroughbreds in SIM. Therefore, her youngsters are eagerly sought at auctions and at occasional sales list sales.

Steward's Cup (SC) - The SIM's series of races that are the equivalent of the real life Breeders Cup. The SC races are always run the last day of the racing year (Friday, Week 16), and are honored with an all-day chat that includes "live" race calls every half hour.

Stud Book - In SIM, the online "book" that has various data and statistics on stallions at stud. The table of contents is broken down by breed, and then distance/surface category within each breed. Only SIMperior players have access to all the valuable information in the Stud Book.

The Steward - The person who owns and runs SIM. In the game, she owns Thoroughbreds, breeds Thoroughbreds, buys Thoroughbreds, and sells Thoroughbreds (most notably via yearling and 2yo auctions), but doesn't ever race any horses.

Unbred Mare - In SIM, the official status of a broodmare that has not yet had a foal in the current game year.

Unfilled Race - In SIM, a race with less than five horses entered. If only one or two horses are entered, Alexandra Jaysman will often enter an additional "filler" horse or two to create more competition.

Walkover - When only one horse is entered in a race. In SIM, after results are tallied, the lone entrant is considered the winner of the race, and purse money and breeders awards are distributed accordingly. The running line on the horse's record will say "walkover".

Workout Distances - In SIM, the distance worked relates to the eventual racing distance of the horse. For Thoroughbreds, 2f and 3f workouts are most noteworthy for sprinters, 4f ties to milers, and 5f and higher is for routers. For the mixed breeds, there hasn't yet been an official designation of which work distances specifically tie to which racing distances, though most experienced players can probably make some pretty accurate guesses.

Veteran Player - A full-fledged player that has ended their Junior status, and now must pay full cost for use of the veterinarian and horse whisperer. (I became a veteran Week 15 of Year 25.)

Veterinarian - In SIM, a character that tells the player how rested the horse is, using various phrases that indicate whether the horse needs some additional time off, just needs to rest another day or two, or is ready to race or have other exercise. Using the veterinarian costs $500 for new players, $700 for Juniors, and $1000 for veterans.

**Special thanks to Regina Moore for putting this together
"There's no secret to training a good horse. It's a matter of being fortunate enough to get one."
"Funny how you often regret the stuff you didn't do more than the stuff you did do" - GG
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