Note: Members may only own one stable at a time. If a member is caught with multiple stables, that member will be banned from the game for a minimum of 3 months. If they are caught twice, they will be permanently banned.

Click the link below to join Final Furlong. Please note that you will need to verify your e-mail address before you are admitted to the game. Also, there may be a waiting list that will affect the length of time it takes you to get into the game. (However, active stables are admitted first, so introduce yourself on the forum to speed up your wait. :))

Click here to join Final Furlong

Final Furlong was run in accelerated 4:1 time (one real week = one FF month) for years 2000 - 2007. In 2008 (real year 2004), the switch to real-time was made, so FF is 4 years ahead of the real world.

If there is no waiting list, you will generally be approved into the game within 24-48 hours.

If there is a waiting list, you will be approved when your name is at the top of the waiting list and a spot opens. On average, a spot opens up in the game once a day, so if you are #30 on the waiting list, you will be approved in approximately 30 days. This is an estimate only, your wait may be longer or shorter depending on how many members are currently active in the game. New stables are added as current members are deleted from the game (due to inactivity or quitting).

Note: Preference may be given to stables who display an interest in the game through forum posts. The administration reserves the right to accept members in any order.

The following is a general glossary of terms used in Final Furlong.

All Out: When a horse runs to the best of its ability.

Allowance: A race open to all competitors, with possible win-restrictions (NW1, NW2, NW3, Starter).

Also-Ran: A horse that finishes out of the money.

Apprentice: A rider who has not yet won 100 races.

Backstretch: The straightaway on the far side of the racetrack.

Blacktype: A term used for a horse who has won a graded stakes race.

Blinkers: Hood/cups worn on the bridle that restrict a horse's peripheral vision to increase attention and avoid distractions.

Blowout: A short, fast workout, designed to sharpen a horse's speed.

Breeze: Working a horse at a moderate gallop.

By: Term used to describe a horse's sire. (Horse A is by Horse B)

Checked: When a jockey pulls up the horse due to traffic problems.

Claiming Race: A race where all horses are eligible to be claimed after the race for a set price.

Closer: A horse that runs best when it comes from off the pace, making a strong move in the stretch.

Colors: Racing uniform worn by the jockey in the stable's colors.

Dam: A horse's mother.

Dead Heat: When two horses finish in an exact tie.

Derby: A stakes race for 3-year-olds.

Distaff: A race for fillies/mares.

Distanced: Well beaten, finishing far behind the winner.

Driving: Strong urging by the jockey.

Eased: When the horse is urged by the jockey to stop running, generally due to injury, equipment problems, or fatigue.

Easily: When a horse is running well within itself without urging from the jockey.

Fast: A dry, fast, and even track surface (dirt track).

Figure 8: A noseband worn high on the face that surrounds the bit to prevent the horse from getting its tongue over the bit.

Firm: A dry, fast, and even track surface (turf track).

Front-runner: A horse that runs best when it runs at the front of the pack for the entire race.

Furlong: 1/8th of a mile; 220 yards; 660 feet.

Good: A slightly wet track (dirt/turf track).

Graded Race: The highest level of stakes race.

Half-sibling: A horse that is related to another one through sharing a dam.

Handicap: A stakes race where weights are assigned based on the horse's chances to win.

Handily: Working a horse at a moderate gallop, faster than breezing.

Hand Ride: When the jockey urges the horse without using a whip.

In The Money: When a horse finishes in a position to earn purse money (1st-5th).

Invitational: A stakes race open only to horses who are invited to enter.

Impost: Weight carried or assigned for a race.

Length: A horse's length, approx. 12 feet.

Maiden Race: A race for horse swho have not yet won a race.

Morning Glory: A horse that puts in good morning workouts but does not perform as well during races.

Morning Line: Approximate odds quoted before betting begins.

Muddy: A soaking wet track (dirt/turf track).

Neck: Approx. 1/4 horse length.

Oaks: A stakes race for 3-year-old fillies.

On The Board: When a finishes first, second, or third.

Out of: Term used to describe a horse's dam. (Horse A is out of Horse B)

Photo Finish: When the finish order is too close to call by the naked eye, the order of finish is determined using the win photo.

Place: Second position at the finish.

Post: Starting position in a starting gate.

Post Parade: Horses going from the paddock to the starting gate.

Post Time: Designated time for a race to start.

Scratch: To remove a horse from a race.

Shadow Roll: A roll of wool/cotton worn halfway up the horse's face to keep it from spooking at its shadow.

Show: Third position at the finish.

Silks: Racing uniform worn by the jockey in the stable's colors.

Sire: A horse's father.

Sloppy: A wet track with a dry bottom.

Track Record: Fastest time for a distance at a particular racetrack.

Under Wraps: When a horse is under firm restraint in a race or workout.

Yearling: A horse that was born in the previous year.

Weanling: A horse that was born in the current year (for game purposes). Officially a weanling when the horse has been weaned from its dam, at ~6 months of age.

Win: First position at the finish.

"Newbies", or new members, are considered new for the first 6 months that they are members. During this time, they qualify to buy horses that are for sale only to newbies.

Also, all new members receive a discount on their first set of taxes, regardless of when they joined.

This all depends on personal preference, but here is a bit of information on each horse type:

• Racehorse: This is the most popular starting horse type. Racehorses can enter races, and can earn money for your stable if they do well. Picking the age/gender of your racehorse is also an option. 2-year olds have the most potential for a long race career, but 2yo racing does not start until April each year. 3-year olds are good investments as they have some maturity but also have some time left to race. And older horses can be solid earners for some time for your stable, or they can be retired/bred. Once horses have raced at least 10 times they may be retired.


• Broodmare: A broodmare represents the future of your stable. Broodmares may not race, though, so you will not be able to generate income from your mare for quite some time. The breeding season runs from February 15 - August 31, so joining with a broodmare during September - January is probably not very wise. Broodmares retire from breeding between age 15-25.


• Yearling: A yearling can be a wise investment for your farm, as it will race in a few months. However, you may not race a yearling until it is 2, and 2yo races do not start until April each year, which means that if you join today with a yearling, you would have to wait approximately 429 days to race your yearling.


• Weanling: A weanling can be a wise investment for your farm, though it will not race very soon. You may not race a weanling until it turns 2, and 2yo races do not start until April each year, which means that if you join today with a weanling, you will have to wait approximately 794 days to race your weanling.

Depending on what horse you joined with, you'll start with different options.
Racehorse - Enter races and hope to win
Broodmares - Figure out what sort of stud fee you can afford. Figure out your mare's strengths, and if she has any foals, what they were like. Then pick a stud that seems to complement her.
Yearling/Weanling - Wait. ;-)

You'll probably want to try and buy/claim at least one racehorse, regardless of what horse you start with. See the "how many horses and what type of horses should I try and buy?" section below.

Be persistent. Buy (cheaper) horses that will run for you. Fillies can be retired to broodmaredom when they're no longer happy running. What's the rush to breed? The more mares you have the more studfees you have to pay. Icky. I wouldn't stick your ponies into a stakes, 'cause the buggers are expensive and your chance of getting payback's not so good. Allowances and maidens and claimers are all good. Check, check, check running lines. See if the bugger moved up quickly at the end of the race (needs more distance) or started fading. That'll give you a hint as to what sort of distance they need. Adjust accordingly.

[Answer by Cat, Cricket Hill]

Maidens and claimers are your best bet starting out (assuming your horse qualifies for maidens). Starter allowances are also usually a safe bet. A lot of stakes quality horses end up in the NW2/NW3/Allowance races, though, so you're best avoiding those until you know your horse is up to that level of competition.

Always try and find the cheapest, lowest quality race your horse qualifies for. That way, if your horse wins, you have some extra pocket change and can try moving up a level in races (from maidens to claimers, etc.). But if your horse loses, you haven't lost TOO much money.

The real key, I find...first, don't buy weanlings or yearlings unless you know you can throw away that money. True, I bought one from the Annual Select Auction, but I set a max bid of the amount I could afford to lose. Because those horses will not earn you money until April of their two year old year, period, the purchase price is a long term investment...unless you want to try your hand at pinhooking, and that seldom works in the virtual world.

Second...I acquired a couple of useful horses by simply posting and asking what the experienced stables had that they didn't have the time to figure out and were willing to part with at a reasonable price.

Third...geldings are often a bargain. Fillies will almost always cost a little more, but that can pan out if you have the long term view. However, nothing helps more on a new game than a reliable old allowance gelding.

Fourth...I've noticed that two year olds tend to be very finicky and unreliable. You should go for older horses, and only look at two year olds after you have a couple of reliable paycheck earners, because they're more work for less gain unless you have an exceptional one.

Fifth...broodmares. Bear in mind that a broodmare will cost you her purchase price plus the breeding price, unless you buy one that's bred. You can get no return on that until at least the foal is weaned. Depending on the time of year, it can be cheaper to buy a three or four year old filly, run her and then retire her to breed the next year, bearing in mind that weanlings are easy to get hold of.

Sixth...resist the temptation to spend more than a horse is worth. Yes, some people do inflate their prices.

[Answer by Teri, Starview Racing]

That depends on who's selling the horse and what type of horse it is. Generally breeding stallions and stakes-winning racehorses fetch the highest prices, though proven broodmares can be very pricey, too. Anything with popular bloodlines can also claim a large price tag.

A lot of older stables will base their prices on: 1) selling quickly/cheaply, so the horse is priced low 2) selling based on their perception of its value, so the horse is priced high. Newbies, on the other hand, just want/need to make a quick buck, so horses they post for sale are (usually) priced at more than they're likely to earn soon. (Usually newbies seem to post horses for sale for about what they've earned on the track, ignoring that they earned that over the course of 1+ years of racing).

You may sell any horse that you start with, or buy, after 6 months of ownership, or 3 "uses" (3 races for a racehorse, 3 foals for a broodmare, 3 breedings for a stud), whichever comes first.

You may sell a horse via their page (Click "Edit Horse Information" and then fill out the sale price info), or at an auction during the year.

Well, your main expenses that will always happen are taxes. You can view what your taxes will be if you do nothing else in the game until 12/31. The other expense(s) depend on the horses you own...entry fees for racers and stud fees for mares, primarily. Other than taxes, there's no set amount that you "need", but it is good to stay above $10,000 at all times, if possible, so that then if your horse decides to take a month/season-long vacation from actual running and spend it staring at the rest of the fields' pretty tails, you'll be able to still afford entry fees for him when he does decide to actually move again. ;-)

Horses need between 5 and 25 days of rest between races. The unofficial recommended rest is 10-14 days. If your horse doesn't seem to be doing well at this level of rest, though, try racing more/less often.

Rest = energy gained, but fitness lost. So if your horse only needs 8 days of rest and you're giving him 15, all you've done is make him more fat. However, if he needs 21 and you give him 10, then he'll be more fit than if he were allowed to rest longer, but he won't be anywhere near full energy level.

Basically, just fiddle with your horses until you find a good range for them.

You don't need to find an "ideal" race. I race all of my horses (maidens and millionaires alike) in whatever race that fits their racing schedule (as far as rest) and looks like they might do well in...I've tossed MSWs into 30k allowances, and I've been known to toss a maiden into a stakes race (only with 2yos, though). Until you know exactly what your horse likes (and even when you do), why limit him/her? I've been pleasantly surprised often times by the results my horses produce in races that, on paper, look all wrong for them.

Also, with the balance of energy level + fitness, it can sometimes hurt your horse more to wait longer for a race (or, race too soon) even if the race is ideal. If your horse has a month off and is at, say, 50% fitness, it won't matter if the race is ideal if all the other horses in the field are at 80%+ fitness. Likewise, even if your horse is at 80% fitness, if his energy level is 10% he's not going to be able to compete with a horse that's 70% energy and 70% fitness.

With regards to equipment, I'd first race the horse naked, just to give me a baseline of how my pony will run. Then I run through ALL the equipment (unless they suddenly start winning like crazy), see which gives me the best placing/best SF number. Finally, you can try combinations of equipment to see if that helps them out further.

[Answer by Cat, Cricket Hill]

Horses can be immature until age 2 or as late as 5 years (!). Once they hit their peak, it can last anywhere from ~1 year to ~3 or even 4 years. Once they are past their peak, they again suffer in their racing ability, though this may be slightly less than when they were immature, as they now have racing experience. (Babies suffer a minor penalty until they get used to racing).

As for how to pick horses to buy...generally, I'd ask myself several questions:

1. Has the horse shown itself to be moderately consistent? (i.e. on the board, say, at least 30% of the time)
2. Does the horse show potential to improve? (i.e. the horse has only raced at one distance, or on one surface, or with one set of equipment, etc)
3. Does the horse look to be immature, at its peak, past its prime, etc? knowing this will help judge its future money earning potential
4. Has the horse earned any money?
5. What percentage of the asking/claiming price has the horse won?
6. Does the horses' relatives give any indication of its potential? (i.e. his sire was awesome over fences but sucked on the flat, his 1/2 sibs were great endurance runners, etc...some indication that a change in race/equipment/surface might help this horse)

Depends on what race it is. For say, a $10,000 claiming race, $5,000 probably would be better than $3,000. However, if it were a $5,000 claimer, it'd be a bit more negligible. Also, it depends on how the money is distributed. For example, a horse that has a ton more earnings than any other horse may have earned most of its money by placing in stakes races. If you have a horse that got a distant 5th in a stakes and therefore has $50,000 in earnings compared to a horse that's won 2 claimers and placed a few times and only has $10,000, I'd take the winner.

For older horses (like A.P. Uno in the in-depth claiming guide below), the fact that most of his money was earned over a year ago was the deciding factor. If he'd still been consistently earning money today, it'd be a different story, but his RR for this year is something like 11-0-0-1-0...not very impressive, and certainly not an indication that he'll win back $10,000 for you anytime soon.

No...it's just harder to pick the "winning horse" when most of them haven't raced much.

Also, for FF-owned horses (assuming they're entered early enough to be claimed...which is rare!), it's all a crapshoot. FF horses are automatically entered via a script, so literally no thought goes into what race they'll go into aside from how long it's been since they raced, and what race(s) they qualify for. So you could buy a FF horse that's 5-0-0-0 and put some equipment on it or put it in a race that actually seems to match its GOT, and have a winner. Or, you could find a FF horse that's 8-3-2-1 because it's only run in 5-horse races and gotten lucky, and then it would lose the next 5 races you enter it in because the fields are larger.

Treat it like claiming. Only spend on a horse what you think it can win you back in, say, 2 or 3 months. (Until you can afford to spend lavishly, of course ). A bigger risk can mean a bigger payoff, but it also depends on who's selling the horse. A lot of older stables will base their prices on: 1) selling quickly/cheaply, so the horse is priced low 2) selling based on their perception of its value, so the horse is priced high. Newbies, on the other hand, just want/need to make a quick buck, so horses they post for sale are (usually) priced at more than they're likely to earn soon. (Usually newbies seem to post horses for sale for about what they've earned on the track, ignoring that they earned that over the course of 1+ years of racing).

As for luck...horses have a random chance of running completely opposite to their actual stats. So yes, presumably if you put the worst horse in the game into the best race in the game, it has a random chance to become the best horse in the game.

I wouldn't go so far as to say you can choose equipment, but you can at least get an idea of what sort of "max potential" your horse might have. If he's 1/2 sib to 5 multi-millionaires, you can guess that, unless his sire is a complete dud, he's got more potential to do well than a horse that's 1/2 sib to 5 winning horses. Likewise, if you know that all of his sibs love jumping, you might want to switch him to jumps sooner than you might a different horse.

I'd ask myself several questions when picking a horse to buy:

1. Has the horse shown itself to be moderately consistent? (i.e. on the board, say, at least 30% of the time)
2. Does the horse show potential to improve? (i.e. the horse has only raced at one distance, or on one surface, or with one set of equipment, etc)
3. Does the horse look to be immature, at its peak, past its prime, etc? knowing this will help judge its future money earning potential
4. Has the horse earned any money?
5. What percentage of the asking/claiming price has the horse won?
6. Does the horses' relatives give any indication of its potential? (i.e. his sire was awesome over fences but sucked on the flat, his 1/2 sibs were great endurance runners, etc...some indication that a change in race/equipment/surface might help this horse)


Based on the answers to those questions, you can figure out if the horse is worth the claiming price. (Theoretically.. all racing's a game of luck)

Take race #3 from 12/1/08. We had 6 horses in the race.
Waccamaw
1. his RR (pre-12/1) is 10-1-2-2-0 $19,000 - this is 50% on the board, so this horse is pretty consistent
2. he has been kinda all over the place, and this is his first SC start
3. hard to say, given that he didn't race at age 2, but you can assume he's either near his peak or at it based on his age/birthday (early foals mature quicker)
4. yes
5. 190%
6. not really - he could potentially be the best foal out of this mare

SoulOfTheGame
1. his RR (pre-12/1) is 23(5)-4-7-2(1)-5(4) $126,050 - this is 78% on the board, so this horse is quite consistent (especially for the stakes)
2. he seems to enjoy steeplechase
3. again, hard to say, given that he didn't race at age 2, but you can assume he's either near his peak or at it based on his age/birthday (early foals mature quicker)
4. yes
5. 1026%
6. his 4yo brother is a SW but appears very inconsistent - however, he also likes jumping

Silent Echo
1. his RR (pre-12/1) is 20-0-5-3-2 $30,550 - this is 55% on the board, so this horse is pretty consistent, though still a maiden
2. his record has been improving the past few months
3. this is his best year as a 4yo, so you assume he's at his peak
4. yes
5. 300%
6. his 5yo older brother had his best year as a 2yo on the flat

Bluberi Horse Two
1. his RR (pre-12/1) is 15-0-4-2-2 $24,600 - this is 53% on the board, so this horse is pretty consistent, though still a maiden
2. he looks good on every surface but wet
3. again, hard to say, given that he didn't race at age 2, but you can assume he's either near his peak or at it based on his age/birthday (early foals mature quicker)
4. yes
5. 240%
6. he has 2 stakes-level siblings, so could improve

Gilded Beauty
1. her RR (pre-12/1) is 7-0-1-2-1 $7,900 - this is 57% on the board, so this horse is pretty consistent, though still a maiden
2. she looks good on fast tracks, at least
3. she's only run this year, but she's 6, so you have to assume that she's probably slightly past her peak
4. yes
5. 79%
6. no in-game relatives

A.P. Uno
1. his RR (pre-12/1) is 24-2-1-3-0 $44,050 - this is 25% on the board, so this horse is not very consistent
2. he looks pretty inconsistent/untalented this year
3. he's 5, and his best year was 2007, so you assume he's past his peak
4. yes
5. 440%
6. he has a winning sister

Given that, we have some nice horses and some questionable ones. If I were to "rank" these horses in order of preference for claiming them, I'd rank them:
1. SoulOfTheGame
2. Waccamaw
3. Silent Echo
4/5. Bluberi Horse Two/Gilded Beauty (GB could make a nice/cheap broodmare next year, otherwise she's clearly #5 pick)
6. A.P. Uno

I would say any but A.P. Uno are worth the claiming price, though only the top 3 are likely to earn that much very soon.

So if we look at just the top 3 picks, we see that they came in 2nd, 1st, and 3rd respectively. The bottom 2 picks finished a distance 5th/6th.

Had we claimed any of the top 3 picks, we'd have a horse that is 50-78% on the board, shows good consistency/ability, and has already earned over the claiming price. Also, as you can see, Waccamaw clearly likes jumping, so he will likely improve further in the future.

This is probably the most important decision you will make, as it will have a lasting effect for however long you play the game. Location, location, location! Think carefully about it. Australia might seem like a good place to be, as it does have races almost all year round. That's great if you can keep your horses locally within Australia. However, if you want to send your horses to a different track, it'll cost at least $25,000 a pop to send them to the United States, and another $25,000 minimum to get them back home. So, in order just to break even, a horse has to earn at least $50,000 while abroad before you can even think about turning a profit. Choose a location that's close to several tracks as it opens up a wider range of possibilities and keeps shipping costs to a minimum because you can race your horses closer to home.

e.g. I'm located near Belmont. It's $100 to ship to Belmont, $200 to ship to Aqueduct and around $500 to ship to Saratoga. And, for the most part, at least one of these three tracks is usually in use throughout the year.

[Answer by Cat, Cricket Hill]

Logging in is done with the same username and password you sign in to the forum with, unless you reset/changed your password for your stable. If you joined the forum and received confirmation that your stable is setup but cannot login to your stable, please contact Shanthi.

First, please quit your browser and restart it.

Next, check the page again. If the error was caused by changes being made to the code, it may already be fixed.

If that does not fix the error, please check the forum to see if anyone else has posted about the error. If not, feel free to post a message in the "To Do List" section, or e-mail Shanthi with details about the error.

In your post/e-mail, please include what page you saw the error on, what you clicked on to before getting the error, and the exact error message.

Thanks for your help and patience!

This is a known bug, which can be fixed by deleting your cookie set by Final Furlong for logging in. To do this, visit the logout page, and then re-login.

Click the link below to quit Final Furlong. Please note that once you enter your password into the form and click "Quit Final Furlong", there is no other confirmation of your desire to quit.

When you quit, you revoke all claims to your Final Furlong horses, stable, money, awards, breedings, etc. All horses revert to Final Furlong ownership, and all stable records are deleted immediately.

Click here to quit Final Furlong

Color Wars are played for the entire year. There are multiple teams and each team is given a different color (i.e. blue team, green team, purple team, etc...hence the name "Color Wars").

Each team picks a name and then is assigned various challenges to complete throughout the year.

Every year one of the challenges is to race a team-owned group of horses. There is a captain and each team votes on which races to run their horses in.

Teams get points for how well they do in each challenge.

At the end of the year prizes are awarded to the winning teams. Players also get activity points for playing.

Signups are posted at the beginning of each year. Once signups close, you cannot join the Color War unless there is a new request for team members.

When you request to join the Color War, you can also request to be a team captain. Team captains are given a financial bonus for running the team.

You may get horses through buying privately from other members, buying from auction/other sale in FF, or breeding.

Once you are logged in, click on your horse's page. Then click "Edit Horse Information". In the field with the name, enter a new name and click "Save Information".

All names must be 18 characters or less in length. All names must also follow Jockey Club naming rules, including the following guidelines:
- No stable names/abbreviations in foal names. i.e. Stillwater's Champion, SF I'm A Champion are not allowed.
- No egomania in naming foals after yourself. Naming a horse in someone else's honor (i.e. Sarah's Joy) is acceptable, but only to a limited extent (i.e. you shouldn't name an entire foal crop Sarah's Joy, Sarah's Pride, Sarah's Butterfly, Sarah's Banana Cream Cake, etc.)
- No foul language/innuendo in foal names.
- Please search for names similar to your horse's name before naming your horse.
- Please use proper grammar/spelling, if possible. Abbreviations in order to fit the 18 character limit are fine, but otherwise please spell check your names before you submit them. (Also, check capitalization...it should be My Champion, not My champion).

Please Note: Only horses who are less than 2 years old may be renamed. This is to avoid confusion if a horse races under multiple names, or races under one name and breeds under another. If you do happen to need a name changed for some legitimate reason (i.e. a typo in the name, etc.), and you haven't raced your horse yet, please contact Shanthi and let her know.

Final Furlong reserves the right to alter any names that are deemed inappropriate (due to content or similarity to existing horses' names).

At this time, all stables are limited to 300 horses at one time...this does not include horses who are unborn, deceased, or fully retired (i.e. not breeding).

You may own up to 100 racehorses at a time. Please note that a racehorse is any horse that the database has listed with the status of racehorse. This includes any horses who just turned 2. This also means that if you forget to retire a horse, it still counts toward your racehorse limit.

You can also own up to 10 breeding stallions at one time.

You may own up to 75 broodmares.

You may own unlimited yearlings, weanlings, and retired horses.

On any stallion's page, a button to geld it will show a button that says "Geld Horse". Once you click that button, you will be asked to confirm your desire to geld the horse. After doing that, the database will change the horse's gender to gelding.

The requirements for gelding are:
1. The horse is not a breeding stallion (you must retire him before he can be gelded)
2. You own the horse and are logged in to your stable

Well, aside from the obvious effect, it can have several other subtle effects. Geldings may be more competitive when competing against stallions (as they are only focused on running, and not on the other horses). Geldings may also be easier to handle, making them easier to train, and more successful in races.

Once you are logged in, click on a horse you own (that is not currently retired). On their page, click "Edit Horse Information". When you click on this, the status will become a drop-down box, which should include the option for "Retired". Select this and press the "Save Information" button, and your horse will be retired.

Note: Retiring a horse to a status of "Retired" will not allow you to breed the horse. In order to breed, you must select a status of "Stallion" (for which the colt must qualify before that option will be displayed), or "Broodmare".

In order to retire for breeding, a horse must be at least 4 years old and have raced at least 10 times. (The sole exception to this is if the horse has a career-ending injury, such as a broken leg, before racing 10 times.)

There are several ways to get money in Final Furlong:

1. Race your horses (earning 1st-5th place will get you a share of the purse)
2. Breed your stallions to outside mares
3. Sell horses
4. Handicap races
5. Participate in game-wide events such as the Color War
6. Donate money to help with the costs of FF's server (Link is on the main page)

For every horse you own (racehorses, stallions, broodmares, yearlings, and weanlings), you pay a tax once a year (on December 31st). Those taxes are as follows:

Racehorses: 10% of race earnings
Breeding Stallions: 10% of stud fee earnings
Broodmares: 10% of stud fee (for stud bred to that year)
Yearlings/Weanlings: 10% of sire's stud fee (for the current year)

Anyone who is new to the game and paying taxes for the first time will get a discount on their horse taxes. They will pay the percent of earnings (shown above) or a flat fee (shown below), whichever is lower:

Racehorses: $5,000
Breeding Stallions: $10,000
Broodmares: $3,000
Yearlings/Weanlings: $2,000

Anyone who is not a "newbie" will pay the percentage rate, or the flat rate, whichever is higher.

Note: Taxes will be automatically computed by the database, so no math should
be required to figure them out.

As an example:
Stable X owns 2 racehorses (Joe and Jim), one stallion (Sam), two broodmares
(Mary and Kate), and no foals.
Joe was a superstar on the track, and won around $700,000 in this year alone. By the percentage tax, the tax on him would be $70,000. However, if the stable is new, they only pay $5,000.

Jim was a dud on the track and won $0. By the percentage tax, the tax on him would be $0. However, if the stable is not new, they would pay the flat rate of $5,000.

Sam was a very popular sire, and stood for $20,000 to 10 mares, making his total breeding income for that stable $200,000 for the year. With the percentage tax, his tax would be $20,000. If the stable is new, they only pay $10,000 on him.

Mary was bred to a very cheap, new sire for $1,000. The tax on her would only be $100 for a new stable. For an established stable, the tax would be 3,000.

Kate, on the other hand, was bred to a very expensive stallion for $50,000. The tax on her would be $5,000 going by the percentage method, but if the stable is new, they pay only $3,000.

To sum up: If the above stable was new, their total tax (on horses) would be $18,100. If the stable was not new, their total tax (on horses) would be $101,000.

Randomly generated horses are given random birthdays. Depending on what time of year you choose to redeem horses, you may end up with a weanling who has a birthday in the future. The foal exists, but will not show up in your stable until its birthdate arrives.

Points are awarded for activity in the game, dependant upon how long you have been a member.



First Full Year of Playing:

100 - Participating for an entire year in the Color War

10 - Selling a horse to another stable (not in a claiming race)

6 - Buying a horse from another stable (not from a claiming race)

6 - Breeding a mare

4 - Submit a claim for a horse (No horse purchase necessary)

2 - Entering a race meet (2pts point for the entire day's entries, not 2 per entry)



Second Year of Playing:

50 - Participating for an entire year in the Color War

5 - Selling a horse to another stable (not in a claiming race)

3 - Buying a horse from another stable (not from a claiming race)

3 - Breeding a mare

2 - Submit a claim for a horse (No horse purchase necessary)

1 - Entering a race meet (1pt point for the entire day's entries, not 1 per entry)



All Years After That:

50 - Participating for an entire year in the Color War

5 - Selling a horse to another stable (not in a claiming race)

2 - Buying a horse from another stable (not from a claiming race)

1 - Breeding a mare

1 - Submit a claim for a horse (No horse purchase necessary)

You may redeem your activity points for the following:

Broodmare - 500 points

Racehorse - 500 points

Yearling - 300 points

Weanling - 100 points

$500 (FF) - 50 points (Max of $5,000 at a time) (Only available in your first year of playing)



To redeem your activity points, click the Redeem link on your stable overview page.



You may only redeem activity points once per month.

You can ship your horses via the stable shipping page.

Points are awarded for each race and are accumulated towards titles. Titles are purely for bragging rights and do not actually affect anything other than giving you an idea how good a horse is simply by looking at his or her name. Points are awarded for finishing 1st through 3rd in a non-stakes race and 1st through 4th in a stakes race.

Points are awarded as follows:

	Stakes	Allowance	Maiden/Claiming
1st	42	10	2
2nd	21	7	1
3rd	10	3
4th	7

Prior to 2008, points were awarded as follows:

	GI	GII	GIII
1st	84	21	4
2nd	42	14	2
3rd	21	7	1
4th	14

Horses get titles by accumulating points from running in races. The following titles are used in Final Furlong and are awarded when the horse reaches the indicated number of points.

Points	Title (Prefix)	Example
100	Champion (Ch.)	Ch. Joe
300	Grand Champion (GCh.)	GCh. Joe
500	National Champion (NCh.)	NCh. Joe
750	International Champion (ICh.)	ICh. Joe
1000	World Champion (WCh.)	WCh. Joe
1500+	Final Furlong Champion (FFCh.)	FFCh. Joe

First off, check the names in your hose's pedigree. If they don't show up as links to a horse's page, then those horses aren't in the game, and your horse has been randomly generated (and thus, is related to no other horse in the game).



If your horse's dam (mother) has other foals, these are your horse's siblings...they can be full siblings (identical parents), 1/2 siblings (same dam, different sire), or other variations (3/4 sibs, etc).



If your horse's sire (father) has other foals, these are not termed "siblings" to your horse. Your horse is "by the same sire" or "from the same crop" (if they're both born in the same year) as those horses.

Race records in black indicate that the horse is racing on the flat.



Race records in green indicate that the horse is a steeplechaser.



Once horses become steeplechasers, they are no longer eligible to run in flat races.

You can buy horses privately through other members (check the "Buy Horses" page or the forum for messages about horse sales). You can also buy horses at the public auctions that FF holds in March, July, September, and December, or through private auctions held by members.

The sales page automatically checks your budget and compares that to the horse's listed sale price. If you can't afford the horse at that time, no button will show up to buy it. If you cannot afford the horse, try e-mailing the owner and ask them to lower the price (you will probably need a fairly convincing argument, though ;-)).

You can sell horses privately through the forum, or you can consign your horse to the public auctions that FF will hold.

If you have at least 5 horses to sell, you can create your own auction.

Finally, you may enter the horse in a claiming race, and hope that someone submits a claim for your horse.

To sell a horse through the sales page:
1. Click "Edit Horse Information" on the horse's page
2. Change the sale price (you may also select to sell only to new members or a specific stable)
3. Click "Save Information"

Please Note: Horses must be owned for a minimum of 6 months or 3 uses (i.e. 3 races, 3 foals, etc.), whichever is sooner, before you are allowed to re-sell the horse. This includes any horses you receive upon joining the game, horses you claim in races, etc.

Horses may become injured during racing, and also run a slight risk of becoming
injured during training and workouts. Each horse has a soundness score which can
range from 1-10. During races and workouts, each horse has a chance to get injured (that chance increases for horses with lower soundness). Once it is determined that the horse did get injured, the soundness score is again used to determine how bad the injury is.

Click on the "Enter Races" link after you login to your stable. Select a race that fits your horse's race record/abilities/preferences/etc.

Once you've picked out a race, click the "Enter" button. On the following page, you will see a list of horses you own that are eligible to run in that race.

If you do not see your horse listed, it is because:
1. The horse does not qualify for the race (due to age/gender/race limitations)
2. The horse is already entered in another race for that day
3. The horse is at a location where it will not be able to travel to the track by race day
4. The horse is not eligible to be sold (Claiming races only)

If you like, you may select equipment, a jockey, and provide jockey instructions to be used during the race. (If you do not provide this information, the horse will race with no equipment and a randomly assigned jockey.)

Note: Only 14 horses are allowed per race.

Equipment is based to a certain extent on your horse's running style. Each horse can need nothing, a combination of things, or everything. It's up to you to figure out what s/he needs. Unnecessary equipment will cause your horse to perform poorly, while the right pieces will help. Equipment is assigned based on your horses stats (though it can be random as well).

The equipment available is:
Blinkers (B), Shadow rolls (SR), Wraps (W), Figure 8 bridle (F8), and No whip (NW).

Shadow rolls and blinkers are more likely to be needed on inconsistent horses, while horses prone to injuring themselves may need wraps. Tempermental, moody horses may behave better if they are wearing a figure 8 noseband. If you've got a courageous horse who tries his hardest every time, a whip may do more harm than good.

However, like everything else, these guidelines are not perfect. There's a chance that your horse needs a completely random piece of equipment, and there's no way to know how much equipment any horse will do best with. Just use trial and error to try to maximize the benefit to your horse.

Entries close at midnight (server-time) the day before races are run.

So entries for Wednesday races close on Monday night, and entries for Saturday races close on Thursday night.

You may submit claims until race day (Tuesday and Friday at midnight).

Horses may enter any race they qualify for, but they may race poorly if run at conditions that exceed their abilities. (i.e. Don't enter your maiden 4yo into a stakes race and expect it to win ;))

You can see what race level your horse qualifies to run in by viewing your Training Summary page.

The three main classes of races are maidens/claimers, allowances, and stakes.

Maiden Race (Pre-2008: GIII races) - Open to horses who have never won a race. (Purse will range from $10,000 to $25,000)

Claiming Race (Pre-2008: GIII races) - Open to any horse, except stakes winners. All horses in this race may be claimed for a price specific to that race. (Claiming prices generally run from $5,000 to $50,000) (Purse will range from $10,000 to $35,000)

Starter Allowance (Pre-2008: GII races) - Open to any horse who has run in a claiming race in the last year. (Purse will range from $20,000 to $30,000)

NW1 Allowance (Pre-2008: GII races) - Open to any horse who has not won 1 allowance/stakes race (may have won a maiden race, and/or numerous claiming races). (Purse will range from $25,000 to $35,000)

NW2 Allowance (Pre-2008: GII races) - Open to any horse who has not won 2 allowance/stakes races (may have won a maiden race, and/or numerous claiming races). (Purse will range from $35,000 to $45,000)

NW3 Allowance (Pre-2008: GII races) - Open to any horse who has not won 3 allowance/stakes races (may have won a maiden race, and/or numerous claiming races). (Purse will range from $45,000 to $55,000)

Allowance (Pre-2008: GII races) - Open to any horse. (Purse will range from $35,000 to $70,000)

Ungraded Stakes (Pre-2008: GI races) - Open to any horse. Does
not count as a black type stakes race. (Purse will range from $75,000 to $100,000)

Grade 3 Stakes (Pre-2008: GI races) - Open to any horse. Does count as a black type stakes race. (Purse will range from $100,000 to $250,000)

Grade 2 Stakes (Pre-2008: GI races) - Open to any horse. Does count as a black type stakes race. (Purse will range from $100,000 to $500,000)

Grade 1 Stakes (Pre-2008: GI races) - Open to any horse. Does count as a black type stakes race. (Purse will range from $150,000 to $1,000,000)

Races are run twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

All horses will be assigned an "energy recovery" score, which will determine how
quickly they recover from training, workouts, races, etc. Racing at less than 100% energy will mean a poorer performance, and may increase the chance of injury. Horses will generally recover fully (i.e. go from 0% energy to 100% energy) in anywhere from 5-25 days. You will need to play around with your horses' schedules to determine what their specific needs are.

Racing and workouts cause horses to lose energy, and they can have negative energy, which will mean it takes longer for them to get back to 100% energy. Racing a tired horse will cause it to lose more energy (and not gain as much fitness), so it is not recommended.

Horses also have a "fitness loss" score. Resting a horse between races lowers their fitness. Conversely, racing a horse raises its fitness.

Both fitness and energy are accounted for when a horse runs in a race.

Overracing a horse will mean that it will perform at less than its full ability.
It may also increase its chance of injury during races and workouts, and may even
permanently affects its racing stats.

For each age/type of horse, there are certain major races during the year. Aside from
the usual stakes, there are the following "sets" of races:

• 2yo Colts
  
  
  
  • 2yo Triple:
    
    
    
    • Hopeful Stakes - August - Saratoga - 7 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Futurity Stakes - September - Belmont - 8 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Champagne Stakes - October - Belmont - 8 1/2 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Breeders' Cup Juvenile - October - 8 1/2 furlongs on dirt
  
  
  
  


• 2yo Fillies
  
  
  
  • 2yo Tiara:
    
    
    
    • Spinaway Stakes - August - Saratoga - 7 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Matron Stakes - September - Belmont - 8 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Frizette Stakes - October - Belmont - 8 1/2 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - October - 8 1/2 furlongs on dirt
  
  
  
  


• 3yo Colts (Flat)
  
  
  
  • Triple Crown:
    
    
    
    • Kentucky Derby - May - Churchill Downs - 10 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Preakness Stakes - May - Pimlico - 9 1/2 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Belmont Stakes - June - Belmont - 12 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Crown (Canadian):
    
    
    
    • Queen's Plate Stakes - June - Woodbine - 10 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Prince of Wales Stakes - July - Fort Erie - 9 1/2 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Breeders' Stakes - August - Woodbine - 12 furlongs on turf
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Crown (Turf):
    
    
    
    • Arlington Classic - June - Arlington - 8 1/2 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • American Derby - July - Arlington - 9 1/2 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • Secretariat Stakes - August - Arlington - 10 furlongs on turf
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Crown (English):
    
    
    
    • Two Thousand Guineas - May - England - 8 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • Epsom Derby - June - England - 12 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • St. Leger Stakes - July - England - 14 furlongs on turf
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Crown (Irish):
    
    
    
    • Irish Two Thousand Guineas - May - Ireland - 8 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • Irish Derby - July - Ireland - 12 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • Irish St. Leger Stakes - July - Ireland - 14 furlongs on turf
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• 3yo Fillies (Flat)
  
  
  
  • Triple Tiara:
    
    
    
    • Mother Goose Stakes - June - Belmont - 9 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Coaching Club American Oaks - July - Belmont - 12 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Alabama Stakes - August - Saratoga - 10 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Tiara (Canadian):
    
    
    
    • Woodbine Oaks - June - Woodbine - 9 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Bison City Stakes - July - Fort Erie - 8 1/2 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Wonder Where Stakes - August - Woodbine - 10 furlongs on turf
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Tiara (Turf):
    
    
    
    • Sands Point Stakes - June - Belmont - 9 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • American Oaks - July - Del Mar - 10 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • Lake Placid Handicap - August - Saratoga - 9 1/2 furlongs turf
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Tiara (English):
    
    
    
    • Two Thousand Guineas - May - England - 8 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • Epsom Derby - July - England - 9 1/2 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • St. Leger Stakes - July - England - 14 furlongs on turf
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Tiara (Irish):
    
    
    
    • Irish One Thousand Guineas - May - Ireland - 8 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • Irish Oaks - June - Ireland - 12 furlongs on turf
    
    
    • Irish St. Leger Stakes - July - Ireland - 14 furlongs on turf
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Older Horses (Flat)
  
  
  
  • Triple Crown:
    
    
    
    • Metropolitan Stakes - May - Belmont - 8 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Brooklyn Handicap - June - Belmont - 9 furlongs on dirt
    
    
    • Suburban Handicap - July - Arlington - 9 1/2 furlongs on turf
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Tiara:
    
    
    
    • TBD
    
    
    • TBD
    
    
    • TBD
    
    
    
    
  
  


• Steeplechase
  
  
  
  • Triple Crown:
    
    
    
    • Hard Scuffle Stakes - Churchill Downs - August - 12 furlongs over fences
    
    
    • Joe Aitcheson Stakes - September - 14 furlongs over fences
    
    
    • Meadow Brook Stakes - October - 16 furlongs over fences
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Triple Tiara:
  
  
  
  
  • Set In Her Ways Stakes - August - 11 furlongs over fences
  
  
  • Townsend Mischief Stakes - September - 13 furlongs over fences
  
  
  • Cross My Heart Stakes - October - 15 furlongs over fences
  
  
  
  
  
  • Other:
  
  
  
  
  • The Grand National - June - England - 24 furlongs over fences
  
  
  • The Irish Grand National - July - Ireland - 15 furlongs over fences
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Some races require prior nomination in order for the horse to run. To view a list of such races, login to your stable and click "Enter Races". Then click the link that says "Some races may require you to nominate your horses." On that page, you will see a listing of the races which require nomination, as well as the applicable fees.

Breeders' Cup races are intended to include the top performers from each division of racing, from nominated stallions.

The Breeders' Cup nomination is a lifetime one, meaning that once you nominate your foal as a weanling, it will be eligible to run in Breeders' Cup races for its entire racing career.

However, in order to nominate your foal, its sire must be nominated as a Breeders' Cup sire.

Nomination is $100,000 per crop for each sire, and $5,000 for each lifetime foal nomination.

You may also late/supplemental nominate your horse for its lifetime (as of next year's races) or one of the current year's BC races. This is significantly more expensive than nominating as a weanling, however.

The top 14 horses in each division will be invited to enter the Breeders' Cup races, as well as 3 alternates who may enter if all top 14 horses do not enter the race.

Final Furlong uses the following list of tracks:

• Aqueduct (NY, USA)


• Arlington (IL, USA)


• Australia (Melbourne, Australia)


• Belmont (NY, USA)


• Calder (FL, USA)


• China (Hong Kong, China)


• Churchill Downs (KY, USA)


• Del Mar (CA, USA)


• Dubai (Dubai, UAE)


• England (Ascot, United Kingdom)


• France (Paris, France)


• Gulfstream (FL, USA)


• Japan (Tokyo, Japan)


• Pimlico (MD, USA)


• Santa Anita (CA, USA)


• Saratoga (NY, USA)


• TBD (Site of the annual Breeders' Cup and Breeders' Series races
  - Changes every year)


• Woodbine (Ontario, Canada)

The schedule for the tracks is:

Month	United States Tracks	International Tracks
January	Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Santa Anita	Australia
February	Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Santa Anita	Australia
March	Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Santa Anita	Australia, Dubai
April	Aqueduct, Gulfstream	Woodbine, Australia, England, China
May	Belmont, Calder, Del Mar	Woodbine, England, China
June	Belmont, Calder, Del Mar	Woodbine, England
July	Arlington, Calder, Saratoga	Woodbine, Australia, England
August	Arlington, Calder, Saratoga	Woodbine, Australia
September	Arlington, Belmont, Calder	Woodbine, Australia
October	Belmont, Calder, TBD	Woodbine, Australia, France
November	Aqueduct, TBD	Woodbine, Australia, Japan
December	Aqueduct, TBD	Woodbine, Australia, China

Note that this schedule is a basic guideline. Some tracks listed may only feature 1 or 2 races per month. Alternately, some racetracks not listed may feature races during that month (i.e. the Kentucky Derby at Chuchill Downs in May).

Our racing program uses over 30 different statistics that directly affect your horse's racing ability. (There are many other statistics that do not directly affect your horse's racing, but can affect its offspring, etc.) These stats include:

• Gender: In same-gender races, this doesn't have an effect. However, in mixed company, horses of different gender perform in various ways. Stallions can suffer in performance when racing with mares and/or geldings due to lack of concentration (on racing, anyway). Conversely, geldings can benefit when performing against stallions or mares because they are, generally, only focused on running the race.
  
  Mares do not suffer in performance when in a race, but fillies are generally weaker/slower than colts, and will likely not be up to "running with the boys" due to the difference in physiology.


• Break: This score determines how quickly the horse: reacts to the starting gate opening, gets into a gallop, and settles into a racing stride.


• Min: This score (in feet) represents the stride length of a horse who has no energy left - at total exhaustion, in other words. If a horse runs past its stamina, fights its jockey, etc. (see below), it will run out of energy during a race and be running using the Min stride length.


• Ave: This score (in feet) represents the stride length of a horse who is galloping easily at racing speed, but not yet being "asked for more". The horse is neither accelerating nor decelerating, and can hold this stride length until its stamina runs out (see below). Like Min stride, the horse will run out of energy/stamina sooner if it runs beyond its stamina, fights its jockey, etc., and will need to use its Min stride length for the remainder of the race.


• Max: This score (in feet) represents the stride length of a horse who is being "asked for more" (generally at the top of the stretch, though it can occur at other times). This horse is being asked to go all-out, accelerate, and run at top speed for as long as possible (which is determined by the Sustain stat - see below). This stride takes the most energy to keep up, and can be held for a limited amount of time.


• Stamina: This score (in 1/10ths of furlongs) represents how long a horse can run at its Ave stride length in a race.


• Sustain: This score (in 1/10ths of furlongs) represents how long a horse can run at its Max stride length in a race..


• Consistency: This score represents how consistent a horse is. Horses may have good and bad days, and this can affect their racing ability in fairly drastic ways.


• Fast/Good/Wet/Slow: These scores represent how well a horse likes each of the track conditions. If a horse greatly likes/dislikes the track condition, they may run very differently from normal.


• Dirt/Turf/SC: These scores represent how well a horse likes each of the track types. If a horse greatly likes/dislikes the track, they may run very differently from normal. Most horses like only 1 track type above the others, but some horses may like 2 track types quite well, and a rare few may perform well regardless of track type.


• Courage: This score represents how much a horse wants to win.


• Immature: This date represents when a horse will become mature. Prior to this date, horses will not be performing at 100% because they will be physically and/or mentally immature. This date can occur as early as January 1 when the horse is 2, or as late as 5 years old. (Most horses are mature by midway through their 3yo year.)


• Hasbeen: This date represents when a horse will cease to be in their prime and will become a "has been". After this date, horses will not be performing at 100% because they will be physically and/or mentally past their prime. This date can occur as early January 1 when the horse is 4, or as late as 10 years old. Most horses are has beens by age 6.


• Lead: This score represents how well a horse likes a sprinting race style. Horses using this style aim to be in the front of the pack early on in the race, and their goal is to run slowly enough that they conserve energy for the stretch run, but quickly enough that they remain at the front of the pack. These horses benefit from a slow pace.


• Pace: This score represents how well a horse likes a off-pace race style. Horses using this style aim to be near the front of the pack early on in the race, and they stay there until the top of the stretch when they hope to pass the (tiring) leaders and hold off the oncoming closers to win the race. These horses benefit from a slow pace.


• Midpack: This score represents how well a horse likes a midpack race style. Horses using this style aim to be in the middle of the pack during the majority of the race, and make their move to pass the frontrunners in the stretch. These horses benefit from a fast pace.


• Close: This score represents how well a horse likes a closer race style. Horses using this style aim to be in the back of the pack for the majority of the race, and make their move in the far turn to pass the rest of the (tiring) field in the stretch.


• Soundness: This score represents how sound a horse is. Soundness can affect a horse's chance of getting injured during races and workouts, and can also affect its foals' soundness as well. Inbreeding can reduce soundness. Wraps can occasionally help combat low soundness. Severe injuries can reduce soundness.


• Fitness: This score represents how physically fit a horse is. Racing and workouts can increase fitness, lack of these/rest will decrease it.


• Pissy: This score represents how tractable, or agreeable, a horse is. Horses that are more pissy (less agreeable) may fight their jockeys more, lose focus in races, and generally be harder to work with. However, they may also be more courageous.


• Ratability: This score represents how much a horse is willing to listen to its jockey, especially when it doesn't want to (either it's very pissy, or the jockey wants it to run in a style it doesn't like - see above). Horses that are less ratable are more likely to fight their jockeys and lose focus in races.


• Equipment: This is the set of equipment that the horse would like to wear. The equipment list is as follows: Blinkers (B), Shadow Roll (SR), Wraps (W), Figure 8 bridle (F8), and No Whip (NW). Equipment desired can be loosely based on the horse's stats (i.e. pissy horses may benefit from figure-8s), or it can be completely random. Horses can want no equipment, a single piece of equipment, a combination of pieces, or all of the types of equipment.


• Strides per Second: This score represents how many strides a horse will take per second. Smaller horses may take more strides per second, while larger horses may take fewer strides per second. (Smaller horses will have shorter strides, however, so this balances out.) Strides per second can be affected by various factors during a race.


• Loafing Threshold: This score represents how many length(s) a horse needs to be ahead of the pack before it will naturally slow down, or "loaf". Horses that are more courageous are likely to have higher loafing thresholds.


• Loafing Stride: This score (in feet) represents how large a stride a horse will use while loafing. This stride length is somewhere between the horse's Ave stride length and its Max stride length. Loafing can conserve energy, but may put the horse at risk for being overtaken at the wire.


• Acceleration: This score (in inches/second) represents how quickly a horse will accelerate. This can be affected by the jockey, the horse's courage, and other factors during a race.


• Traffic: This score (in inches) represents how much distance the horse needs as a "window" before moving someplace. For instance, in order to willingly enter a "hole" in a race, a horse may be fine with barely squeezing in while another horse may refuse to go forward into the hole. This score also affects how well a horse handles traffic problems - being bumped, going wide on a turn, stumbling, etc.


• Turning: This score represents how well a horse handles turns while racing or in workouts. Horses who are less adept at turning will veer out on turns and possibly lose speed.


• Energy: This score represents how much energy a horse has. Racing and workouts can deplete energy, while rest can restore it. Rest away from a track (at the farm) can restore energy at a more rapid rate than rest at a track. This score ranges from 0% to 100%, usually, though it can become negative after an injury or a very hard race.


• Energy Regain Rate: This score represents how quickly a horse gains energy (while resting).


• Natural Energy: This score represents a horse's latent energy. This energy is not affected by racing, but decreases over time the longer a horse is away from a restful place (i.e. the farm). This energy also represents the horse's mental "energy" for racing (i.e. horses will eventually lose interest in racing if not given a break). Bringing a horse back to the farm and putting it out to pasture for a few weeks (or months in extreme cases) can restore natural energy.


• Experience: This score represents how much experience a horse has with racing. More experienced horses are less likely to run into traffic problems, and are more likely to be cooperative with their jockey. They will also be more focused during races.


• Experience Rate: This score represents how quickly a horse gains experience in races.


• Weight Limit: This score (in pounds) represents the maximum amount of weight that a horse can carry while still racing at 100% ability. Racing with less weight will enable a horse to run faster, and vice-verse. Racing with more weight than their limit may cause injury to a horse. Fillies and mares generally have lower weight limits than colts, stallions, and geldings.


• Confidence: This score represents how confident a horse is that it will win a race. Confidence is affected by previous race results, workouts, the horse's experience, the jockey, etc.


• Jockeys: (Starting in 2010) Jockeys will have a range of statistics similar to the horses' stats that will affect how well they ride. Jockeys start out as apprentices until they achieve 100 career wins. Jockeys who are 5'0" and taller are restricted to steeplechase racing only. Jockeys must be below the assigned weight for the horse in order to ride that horse.


• Horse/Jockey Relationship: Each horse and jockey have a unique relationship. This relationship includes mutual happiness/satisfaction (horses and jockeys have preferences, after all, and may/may not like each other), and experience (horses and jockeys who have never met may like each other - or not - but they will have no experience working together). Both of these factors can affect a race or workout's outcome.

Note: This is not a comprehensive list of all the statistics used in our racing program.

Races are automatically run by the game, on Wednesdays at 7pm EST and Saturdays at noon EST. Results may take a while to generate, but should take no longer than 2 hours.

Note: Post-race tasks, such as processing claims, updating race records, and so on are handled after all races have run.

"SF" stands for Speed Figure. In real racing, horses are given a speed figure for their race, which indicates how well they did, on average, for that race. The speed figure is based on an average score for those race conditions.

In FF, we use our own version of a speed figure. It takes the winning time of the race, and compares it to the average time of all the races run that match that race's conditions - i.e. the track surface, distance, etc. Then it determines a "base score" for the winning horse based on the difference in those times (a higher base score will be for a horse who ran faster than the average time, etc.). Then, that base score is adjusted for the winning horse's quality in races, which is determined by the number of racing points they have. If you enter a Grade 1 winner into a Grade 2 race against horses who haven't won races yet, he'll get a lower score for winning than if he won against other Grade 1 winning competition. Once all that is done, the final score for the winning horse is adjusted for what type of race the horse is in (see chart below).

After the winning horse's score is calculated, the other horses' scores are calculated...they are equal to the winning horse's score - 1 point for every length behind the winner they are. If a horse is pulled up during a race, they receive no speed figure.

Race	Good Score Range
Claiming	High 40s - Mid 50s
Maiden	High 60s - Mid 70s
GIII	High 70s - Mid 80s
GII/Allowance	High 70s - Mid 80s
GI	High 100s - Mid 110s
Ungraded Stakes	High 80s - Mid 90s
Grade 3 Stakes	High 90s - Mid 100s
Grade 2 Stakes	High 100s - Mid 110s
Grade 1 Stakes	High 110s - Mid 120s

Remember, though, that the speed figures are based on the average time for the race...so even if your horse gets a speed figure that's quite high for the race quality, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's one of the "greats" or that he's broken a speed record.

Final Furlong has used a variety of different programs/scripts to run races over the years. Originally, a very archaic and complex system using dice, luck, and the phase of the moon was implemented. ;-) Eventually we progressed to using a program called Stretch Drive, written in approx. 1995 by Charles Schultz for the Jockey Club of Pern game. That soon grew tedious, though, so the real fun began...we began creating our own program(s) for running races.

Version 1 was called “Wire to Wire”…ironically, the goal of this program was to dramatically reduce the number of wire-to-wire finishes that Stretch Drive is so fond of. This worked with limited success, as it also created a program that was a bit overly fond of injuring horses and creating large, unrealistic race margins (hundreds of lengths, in some cases).

Version 2 was called “At the Wire”…mainly to discriminate from Wire to Wire. It aimed at reducing the injury rate for horses, create more realistic margins, etc. It also met with limited success, as it was very fond of other unrealistic margins (half the field finishing in a dead heat, for example).

Version 3 is the version currently (Year 2009, anyway) being worked on. At the moment, it has no title other than “the revamp”…we’re running out of versions of “___ Wire” ;-). It is, as the basic title implies, a complete revamp of the race program. It aims at reducing injury rate, creating realistic margins, as well as adding in many new features.

The chronologically roughly follows as:
Virtual Racing: Version 0 (dice, luck, phase of the moon)
Final Furlong (Years 2000-2005): Stretch Drive
Final Furlong (Years 2006-2007): Wire to Wire
Final Furlong (Years 2008-2009): At the Wire
Final Furlong (Years 2010-??): At the Wire (the revamp)

Training is an optional feature that you can use to improve your horses' fitness, learn their likes/dislikes for racing, and get them used to jockeys for races.

Training Schedules allows you to save schedules for your stable/horses. If your horse has a schedule selected, they will train on that day unless you delete their schedule. (They will be auto-trained, if you do not login and train them...see below).

Workouts allows you to select the workouts for your horses, and have your horses workout. You can select up to 3 activities per workout, as well as a jockey, level of effort, track, and equipment.

Each stable may have up to 5 saved schedules for their stable. Each horse may have 1 saved schedule at a time - either a stable schedule or their own personal schedule.

Training Activities:
Walk: 1/2 mile - 2 miles
Jog: 1/2 mile - 5 miles
Canter: 1/2 mile - 5 miles
Gallop: 1/2 mile - 3 miles
Breeze: 1 - 6 furlongs

Effort Levels:
20% - to use when recovering from injury, etc
50% - holding the horse back significantly from its normal pace
70% - holding the horse back slightly from its normal pace
100% - letting the horse run at its normal pace
110% - urging the horse beyond its normal pace (breezing, etc.)

Track Options:
Flat horses can train on dirt or turf. Steeplechasers can train with jumps (they will only jump if galloping or breezing) or without.

Injuries:
Horses may get injured while training. Several factors will go into whether a horse gets injured, including maturity, energy/fitness, track (if muddy or they're jumping), etc.

Location:
For now, all horses will train at the track where they are currently located. Use shipping to change tracks for horses between races.

Rankings:
Any results from workouts done at a breeze will be available for all members to view. Horses that train on the same day/track will be ranked in order of time (per furlong).

Even breezing, horses may or may not achieve the same speed that would occur in a race.

2-Year Old Training:
2-year olds will not be allowed to train for distances longer than 2 miles (total for the workout). 2-year old gallops will be limited to 8 furlongs.

Confidence:
Horses will like/dislike their workout. This, in turn, will affect their mood/confidence. When they race, the average of all of the workout results since the last race will be used to determine the horse?s mood going into the race (i.e. better workouts will mean a happier horse, who may be more successful than normal, and vice-verse).

Auto-Training:
If you are unwilling/unable to login frequently to train your horses, they will be trained for you if they have a schedule saved. This training will be much more limited/less customized than doing training yourself, as the program will not know/care that the horse hated 8f last time out and should try 6f this time. (If you go in and change that by hand, however, the program will train the horse at 6f until further notice.) Auto-training will select random values for jockey and track (dirt/turf or jumps/no jumps), and all horses will train at 100% effort level with no equipment.

Jockeys:
You will be able to select from the available jockeys to exercise your horse. Each jockey/horse combo has 2 factors: happiness & experience. Happiness indicates how well the horse/jockey get along together, and experience indicates how well they know each other. A horse paired with a jockey it likes and knows well will likely perform better, both in training and in races (and vice-verse).

Feedback:
The jockey will give you feedback after a workout. It will vary for each workout, but could cover pretty much any stat the GOT provides. However, jockey feedback is strongly correlated to how much experience that jockey has with the horse (see above), so take their feedback with a grain of salt! (They also give feedback on how experienced they are with the horse, to give you a guide on how trustworthy/knowledgeable they are.)

Recommended Training:
It is recommended to vary your horse's training (either by hand or by frequently changing the schedule settings). Not only will this keep your horse happy/interested, but it is more likely to improve their overall condition and ability. (Consider a weight-training program - doing the same exercise over and over gets very boring, and your body gets used to it and no longer responds very well.)

It is recommended that for every 7 day period, your horse gets 3-4 days off/non-speed workouts (i.e. rest, or 1mi jog), 1-2 speed workouts/breezes, and 1-2 non-speed distance workouts (i.e. 3mi canter).

Go to the Training Workouts page. All horses who are at a track (i.e. not at a farm and not in transit) will be displayed with options for training.

Select the options for each horse (activities, jockey, track surface, equipment, etc.), then click the Do Workouts button.

Your training results will be displayed. If you selected invalid options, that information will displayed as well.

Go to the Training Schedules page. There you can add stable schedules (up to 5) to use on multiple horses, or you can create individual schedules for particular horses.

Note: Once you have a training schedule in place, your horse will be automatically worked out on that schedule if you don't login and work them manually. If you do not want your horse to be worked, delete their schedule until you want to automatically work them again.

At this time, that feature is not enabled. As a workaround, delete an existing schedule and add a new one to make changes.

You can analyze workouts by the time it took a horse to finish an activity.

If a workout is listed all in red, it means your horse was injured during the workout.

If a particular activity is listed in red, it means your horse acted up during that activity and the jockey cut the workout short.

The jockey comments will also help determine the quality of the workout.

You can view workouts for an individual horse by clicking "View Workouts" on their page.

You can view workouts for your stable by viewing the Stable Workouts page.

There is no way to view other stables'/horses' workouts at this time.

Auto-training is a feature that automatically trains your horses for you, if you have not already done so and they have a training schedule set.

Each day, around midnight PDT, a script runs and checks all the horses' training schedules for the previous day. If a horse has a scheduled activity but has not yet completed it (i.e. the owner did not login and work the horse by hand), the script will automatically work the horse out.

The script uses the default equipment assigned to the horse, if any. It also uses the default energy level (100%). If a default track is set for the horse, that track will be used, otherwise the script will randomly decide.

The script will not auto-train your horses if their schedule has been deleted due to injury, or if they are entered to race, at a farm, or in transit.

Yes. All activities (training or racing) include a chance of injury to any horse.

All jockeys are automatically generated by Final Furlong.

Jockeys have stats very similar to horse stats. They can be good at breaking a horse out of a gate, getting a horse to accelerate, riding turf horses, etc.

These stats will affect how well your horse does with a certain jockey, and how well a jockey does in a certain race.

Jockeys are classified as flat jockeys or jump jockeys. If your horse is racing on the flat, it cannot be ridden by a jump jock, and vice-verse.

All jump jockeys are 5'1" and taller. All flat jockeys are 5'0" and smaller.

Yes, jockeys retire once they reach a certain age.

Jockeys also fluctuate in weight on an annual basis. If, at the end of a year, their weight goes too high, they will retire.

You may only set the stud fee during breeding season. Once breeding season has begun, you may not change an existing stud fee.

Select "Edit Horse Information" on your stallion's page. On the edit page, it will either list "Stud Fee: " and a field to enter a number, or it will say "To set a stud/lease fee, enter it here (leave blank otherwise):". Enter the stud fee you wish to charge (this can be $0 or higher), and click "Save Horse Information".

The new/updated stud fee should now be listed on the stallion's page.

The number of outside mares is the total number of bookings you are not planning to use for your own mares. Be sure to set this number to be the number of bookings you will not be using, as then it ensures that you will have the correct number of bookings free for your mares, as well as allowing the maximum number of mares to book to your stallion.

The number of outside mares per stable is how many mares another stable can send to your stud. Generally this will not be an issue, and you can set it to be 15 (potentially allowing one stable to use all the bookings for a year), but some stallion owners prefer to be more selective in who is allowed to breed to their stallion.

If a stable has already booked the limited number of mares to your stud, they will require your approval to send any more mares to that stallion.

Requiring approval for your stud allows you greater control over what mares are bred to your stud. All outside mares must be approved by you before they can breed to your stud, which means that you can pick and choose what mares will be allowed to breed.

However, this also means that you must be checking your stud's pending approval requests fairly often, or the mare owners may choose to breed to another stud instead.

This option is generally used by stallion owners who want to be very selective about their stallions' bookings, and generally charge a fairly high fee for their stud.

Click "Arrange Breedings For This Stud" on your stallion's page. You will then see a listing of the available dates as well as the bookings currently set up.

For any dates that have no booking set up, you can select the stable that you want to reserve that booking for. Then click "Add Bookings".

You will then see a new listing where you can select the specific mare for the breeding, though this is not required. You can also enter a custom fee for the booking if you like.

Then click "Save Bookings".

Click "Arrange Breedings For This Stud" on your stallion's page. You will then see a listing of the available dates for your stud as well as the bookings currently set up.

For any bookings that have not been used (i.e the mare has not yet been bred), you will see a checkbox next to that booking date. Check the booking(s) that you would like to change and then click "Modify".

You will then see a listing where you can change the information for that booking.

To change the date of the booking, select a new date from the drop-down list and then click "Modify Bookings".

To change the mare for the booking, select a new mare from the drop-down list and then click "Modify Bookings".

To change the stable for the booking, select a new stable name from the drop-down list and then click "Modify Bookings".

To charge a different fee for the booking, enter in a new amount and then click "Modify Bookings".

You will then be sent back to the main listing of dates for your stud.

Click "Arrange Breedings For This Stud" on your stallion's page. You will then see a listing of the available dates for your stud as well as the bookings currently set up.

For any bookings that have not been used (i.e the mare has not yet been bred), you will see a checkbox next to that booking date. Check the booking(s) that you would like to change and then click "Delete".

You will then see a listing where you are asked to confirm the bookings you wish to delete. Uncheck any that you do not intend to delete, and then press "Delete Bookings".

You will then be sent back to the main listing of dates for your stud.

Note: This is a general guideline. You do not have to follow it, but it is recommended.

Based on breeding rankings, the following stud fee ranges are suggested:
Platinum Studs: $100,000+
Gold Studs: $50,000-$99,000
Silver Studs: $30,000-$49,000
Bronze Studs: $0-$29,000
Unranked Studs: $0-$29,000

Click the "Breed This Mare" button on the broodmare's page.


If the mare is still in foal for this year (or if she has already been bred for next year, her due date will be displayed. You will be able to breed her 30 days after she foals.

If she has already had her foal (or has never had foals), the range of dates during which she can be bred will be shown. Also shown will be 2 stud listings - one by approval status (required or not), and one by date available.

Select a stud that you wish to breed your mare to and click "Pick A Day".

If the stud does require approval, or if you have already booked the limited number of mares to him, you will be sent to a page where you can select the date of the breeding you would like to request, and send a message to the stallion's owner with your breeding request, if you wish.

If the stud does not require approval, you will see a list of months that he has available. Select the month that you would like to book, and click "Pick Month". You will then see a list of days in that month that are available for breeding. Choose one and select "Pick Day". You will then be asked to confirm the date you selected. Once you confirm, the booking will be approved.

Once you have an approved booking, you can click "Breed This Foal" to breed your mare to the stallion. Once the mare has been bred, you will see a due date listed for the foal.

The breeding season runs from February 15 - August 31 every year. Each stallion is limited to 30 bookings per year, broken down as follows:

• February 15 - February 21


• February 22 - February 28


• March 1 - March 10


• March 11 - March 20


• March 21 - March 31


• April 1 - April 15


• April 16 - April 30


• May 1 - May 15


• May 16 - May 31


• June 1 - June 15


• June 16 - June 30


• July 1 - July 15


• July 16 - July 31


• August 1 - August 15


• August 16 - August 30

Mares must wait at least one day after retiring from racing to be bred, and must wait at least 30 days after foaling to be bred.

Date of birth can affect a foal's stats...foals born earlier in the year are more likely to be mature at an earlier age, but are also possibly more prone to injury. Likewise, foals born later in the year will probably mature at a later date, but will potentially be more sturdy.

Keep in mind that mares can foal prematurely or late, as well. If you select to breed a mare on February 15 and she foals unexpectedly, you may end up with a foal born in late December, which means that the foal will officially be a year old when in fact it is physically only several days (or hours!) old.

There is no "perfect" breeding date. Most breeding dates are subject to the bookings the stud has available, as well as the mare herself (when she retires from the track or when she foals, etc.). Allow your breeding plans to be flexible.

You will be able to view your foal's individual page once it is born. Foals are born around 335-345 days after the mare was bred. (You may view an approximate due date for your foal on your mare's page)