Novice races

[The Steward]

Contemplating adding novice races to the Sim. A novice is a horse that has won on the year but can continue to run at that level, or a horse that hasn’t won yet (maiden). A horse can only be a novice for the rest of the year it won, then it gets “kicked out” of novice division.

I don’t see what the benefit would be for a maiden to run against winners, and winners have their own divisions (nw2 alw etc) but I thought I’d ask if it would be worth doing, if only for more places to run.

[Mr. Lord Rich]

You know the answer is going to be yes. But my thought on this is, isn’t that what claim races are for?

[Dylan Christensen]

I like this idea but I’m also going to suggest NWx this year just because I like the opportunities it gives. But definitely the novice thing!

[The Steward]

You know the answer is going to be yes. But my thought on this is, isn’t that what claim races are for?

It's a little bit different. In steeplechasing (IRL) you have winners and non winners running together for a year. It's kinda cool.

[Madelene Gilbert]

So if a horse is a winner, but hasn't yet won during the current year, they'll be allowed to run again similar non-winners? I'd love to see some of those, if only for my frustrating allowance/stakes runners that are bombing in non-claiming fields but I don't want to risk dropping in claimers.

[Flizan Hambletonian]

I miss more NW-races (or novice) in Europe. Europe has a lot of maiden and stakes, but almost nothing for the horses "in between". South Pacific also has to few races for horses that won their maiden and dont really are competitive enough for stakes. Or it might be me who is stubborn enough to race theese horses at all after maiden...

[Dave Trainer]

So if a horse is a winner, but hasn't yet won during the current year, they'll be allowed to run again similar non-winners? I'd love to see some of those, if only for my frustrating allowance/stakes runners that are bombing in non-claiming fields but I don't want to risk dropping in claimers.

#

Not exactly Madelene

They are for horses that have never won a race prior to the current year. This is how rl National Hunt races work in Europe.

It would make steeplechasing more realistic for Europeans who are used to them. They are for horses to gain experience against similar types and could be at any grade from claimer to G1. The Cheltenham Festival which Emily mentioned has G1 races for novice hurdlers and chasers. These would look to be the rl Champion Chase/Hurdle winners and Gold Cup winners of the future.

[Nena Olson]

Okay so for those who do not follow Chasing in RL... what type of horse is NOT eligible for a Novice race? Like can you only be a novice your first year of racing? So if you have an undefeated G1 winning 3 year old, can it go beat up all the maidens entering the Novice races? I need the 'Idiots Guide to Real Life Steeplechasing' version to this answer because the G1 winner to maiden winner part makes me feel like its just an allowance race?

[Dave Trainer]

They are a novice for their first season. If they don't win a race that season they continue to be a novice the following season. If they win a race they can't run in novice races the following season.

A novice at the start of a season can run in novice races for that season no matter how many they win unless there is a restriction like a novice maiden. There are different grades of novice races in rl. They range from novice maidens to novice Grade 1's.

[Nena Olson]

Ooh so there are Novice Maiden, Novice NW2, Novice NW3, Novice Allowance, Novice Stakes... that makes more sense than being like a vague 'Novice Race' and you have a field of maidens and a G1 winner decides it wants to win the race for purse money.

[Dave Trainer]

In Europe we don't have NW races, we have handicaps with different classes. We have claimers, maidens, handicaps and conditions races (What you would call allowances and Stakes)

https://www.racingpost.com/racecards/12 ... -21/723027 This is a novice class 4 conditions race where all carry the same weight.

https://www.racingpost.com/racecards/36 ... -22/723053 This is a novice handicap class 3 where runners are given different weights according to their rating.