Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
  • A63F13/55—Controlling game characters or game objects based on the game progress
  • A63F13/57—Simulating properties, behaviour or motion of objects in the game world, e.g. computing tyre load in a car race game
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q50/00—Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
  • G06Q50/34—Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
  • A63F13/70—Game security or game management aspects
  • A63F13/79—Game security or game management aspects involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
  • A63F13/80—Special adaptations for executing a specific game genre or game mode
  • A63F13/816—Athletics, e.g. track-and-field sports
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • A63F9/00—Games not otherwise provided for
  • A63F9/14—Racing games, traffic games, or obstacle games characterised by figures moved by action of the players
  • A63F9/143—Racing games, traffic games, or obstacle games characterised by figures moved by action of the players electric
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
  • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
  • G07F17/3286—Type of games
  • G07F17/3288—Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • A63F2300/00—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game
  • A63F2300/50—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game characterized by details of game servers
  • A63F2300/55—Details of game data or player data management
  • A63F2300/5546—Details of game data or player data management using player registration data, e.g. identification, account, preferences, game history

Definitions

• This invention relates to gaming apparatus and a gaming method and more particularly, but not exclusively, to horse race gaming apparatus and a method of simulating horse races.
• Computer generated racing games are known through disclosures such as the simulated racing game disclosed in United States Patent No. 5,186,460.
• the racing game disclosed in this patent document is a computer simulated racing game and the outcome of a simulated race is computed through inputs provided by players as well as by a random number generator.
• a reserve of energy is allocated to each contestant.
• a rate of energy consumption is determined through inputs from players.
• a player can influence only directional moves and speed of contestants. These player inputs determine the rate of energy consumption of each contestant.
• Contestants can have different track attributes stored in an array for each contestant. Some contestants can be assigned a dry track attribute, others a mud track attribute. A contestant on a preferred track will be assigned more energy or more "speed tokens" for use by a player.
• United States Patent No. 5,823,872 discloses a simulated racing game in which lateral and forward movement of tokens towards a finish line is determined by a random number generator. Players may make bets on the outcome of a race. The tokens all have an equal chance of winning a race and are not assigned inherent attributes.
• Patent Co-operation Treaty international application number PCT/AU93/00628 published under international publication number WO 94/13374 discloses a randomly generated animated racing game. Each participant in each race has a statistically equal change of success and the outcome of a race is determined by a random number generator.
• Patent Co-operation Treaty international application number PCT/AU98/01029 published under international publication number WO 99/30788 discloses a computer based animated racing game where moves of each competitor is determined by a random number generator. Each competitor thus has an equal chance of winning a race. The competitors are all equal and do not have inherent qualities or talents or attributes that will place some competitors to an advantage above others in a particular race.
• gaming apparatus comprising storage means for storing a number of computer generated racing objects, each racing object having inherent attributes; receiving means for receiving racing object race performance influencing information before the start of a race; and computing means for simulating a race between at least two racing objects and computing an outcome of the race using at least some of the race influencing information received and the inherent attributes of the racing objects.
• the inherent attributes of one racing object to be computed from at least the inherent attributes of two other racing objects and/or from a history, including a previous racing performance history of the two other racing objects, and/or a random factor.
• race condition information is randomly generated by the computing means.
• race condition information to include track condition information and weather condition information; for the race condition information to be computed before simulating a race; for the race condition information to be transmitted to be made available to participants before the start of a race.
• the computing means to simulate different races at different times, for the computing means to simulate races on different tracks, for the computing means to simulate different lengths of races.
• the racing object race performance influencing information to include information relating to equipment used or not used by a racing object for a race; special equipment used by a racing object in a race, the previous training performance or frequency of a racing object and/or the previous racing performance of a racing object, and feed supplements used by a racing object where the racing object is a simulated animal.
• race performance influencing information to enhance or suppress inherent attributes.
• race performance influencing information to be used by the computing means to compute a performance index for a racing object.
• the computing means to compute the performance index for a racing object from at least some of the racing object race performance influencing information.
• a yet further feature of the invention provides for the performance index to be calculated from the previous training performance or frequency and/or racing performance or frequency of a racing object and, in the case of the racing object being a simulated animal, a feeding or feed supplement history or amount of feed supplement used by the simulated animal.
• a further feature of the invention provides for the outcome of a race to be computed from some of the following: the performance index, from some of the racing object performance influencing information, the inherent attributes of the racing object, race conditions of a race, and a random performance factor generated for each racing object in each race.
• This invention extends to a gaming method comprising the steps of: storing a number of computer generated racing objects, each racing object having inherent attributes; receiving race performance influencing information before the start of a race; simulating a race between at least two racing objects; and computing an outcome of a racing using at least some of the race influencing information received and the inherent attributes of the racing object.
• horse race gaming apparatus and a horse race gaming method. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to a horse racing game.
• the game can also relate to dog racing, motor racing, boat racing or any kind of racing game where racing objects can be simulated by a computer program.
• gaming apparatus for simulating a racing game is generally indicated by reference numeral 1.
• the apparatus 1 consists of a memory means 2 (also referred to as storage means), communication means 3 and computing means 4 housed in a housing 6 of a host computer 10.
• a display means 5 in the form of a computer monitor is connected to the host computer 10.
• the communication means 3 is connected to a computer network such as the Internet 8.
• the host computer 10 hosts a website for members to participate in the game.
• the host computer 10 is connected to the Internet as is known in the art through an Internet service provider.
• Remote personal computers 9 are connected to the Internet through service providers as is known in the art.
• Data relating to a number of simulated racing objects are stored on the memory means 2.
• the simulated racing objects are horses which are generated by the computing means 4 to provide a number of "virtual" horses.
• the data stored on the memory means 2 includes a number of simulated horses. Each simulated horse has randomly generated attributes. Thus, some horses may be better suited for racing on wet tracks than on dry tracks whilst others or the same horses may be better suited for racing in longer races than in short races. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art than the number and combinations of attributes that can be assigned to a horse are numerous. Further examples of attributes that can affect a horse's performance include inherent attributes regarding racing with or without blinkers and with aluminium shoes or with steel shoes. All these attributes are programmed on a random basis and assigned to the "virtual" or simulated horses.
• the data stored on the memory means 2 may also include a history of sale prices including a last sale price obtained for the horse and the age of the horse.
• Input data is also stored on the memory means.
• the input data is downloaded from the Internet 8 through the communication means 3 and stored on the memory means 2.
• Input data is downloaded by participants for their specific horses as described in more detail below.
• the input data may include a training program for a horse the horse's result in previous races, a diet for a horse, the identity of a simulated trainer for a horse and the identity of a simulated place of residence of a horse, or the products that have been applied to that horse
• input data will be selected by a participant from a number of choices on menus on the website.
• the input data thus includes race performance influencing information as described further below.
• the race performance influencing information also includes previous race and barrier race performances and a frequency of participation therein.
• This information is determined by participants (or owners) and is received or used for computing an outcome of a race. Participants are also referred to in this specification as "members”. Members are classified into owners and bettors.
• Owners can buy virtual horses, name their horses, choose silks for their horses, train their horses, enter their horses in races, sell their horses, breed with their horses and bet on horses in races. Owners can have an influence on the outcome of races depending on race performance influencing information provided by owners. An owner can influence an outcome of a race by choosing that this horse will or will not use certain equipment during a race. An owner can also choose to use special equipment. Special equipment may include a better quality horse shoe such as lighter aluminium horse shoes rather than steel ones.
• An owner can also influence a race by training a horse and feeding the horse supplements.
• race performance influencing information provided by an owner can influence gauge or performance index of a horse. For example, training the horse will increase the performance index of the horse. So will feeding the horse supplements. However, over training and too much supplements will adversely affect the performance index.
• an owner can determine at least some of the inherent attributes of a horse. For example, if a horse has an inherent attribute for racing with blinkers rather than without, this can be determined by experimentation in barrier races. Race performance influencing information such as racing with or without blinkers can thus enhance or suppress inherent attributes of a horse and influence the outcome of a race.
• Bettors can only bet on races and have no influence on the outcome of races. Bettors do not own and train horses for races.
• the communication means 3 includes an Internet modem for connection to the Internet 8.
• a website is provided by the host computer 10 for access by members through their personal computers 9 over the Internet.
• a member when the website is accessed over the Internet 8, chooses from a menu which includes choices such as buying a horse, betting on a race, training, the training location and the diet of a horse.
• a member can also choose to enter a race, sell a horse or breed horses.
• the owner provides input information relating to these choices and this information is stored on the memory means 2 of the host computer 10.
• Member may buy their own horses and determine the training, training location and diet of their horse and products applied to their horse.
• a training and/or training facility may also be chosen.
• Members may also enter races, breed horses or sell horses.
• Horse owners and bettors may place bets on horses for races simulated by the computing means 4.
• the placing of bets will be in accordance with real-life betting systems and schemes.
• the computing means 4 will simulate a race between a number of competing horses.
• a race result is computed by the computing means 4 according to a predetermined formula and may be based on some of the following: the performance index of a horse, the racing object race performance influencing information, the inherent attributes of the racing object, race conditions and a random influence. All of these may also have inter-related influences on each other.
• the race result is made accessible on the Internet 8 through the communication means 3.
• the computing means 4 also randomly generates race condition information.
• the race condition information includes track condition, such as wet or dry track, and weather information for a race. This information is provided to members before a race.
• the computing means simulates races and predetermined times or on request as stated above.
• the computing means can schedule different lengths of races, different tracks, such as grass or sand, and different categories of races, such as novice races.
• betting information Prior to simulating a race, betting information will be available to members and received from members through the communication means 3 over the Internet 8.
• the betting information from members will be stored in the memory means 2 and a betting result will be calculated from the betting information and the race result by the computing means 4.
• Horses can be bought and sold and their training programs can be altered by owners.
• the diet of a horse is also determined by owners.
• Owners can enter races, sell their horses and breed horses with the co-operation of other members or buy their own horses for breeding purposes as in a real live horse industry. Bettors and owners can place bets on races as in real live.
• the virtual horses created by the computing means and stored on the storage means will build up a racing and breeding history and thus also a boodline which will all be stored on the storage means and available to members.
• the age of a horse may also be taken into account, and may thus also influence a race result computed by the computing means 4.
• the game will be available for participation over the Internet.
• An operator will host a website including a number of web pages for taking part in the game. Web pages are referred to as “web pages” or just “pages”.
• the pages include “buttons” or “hyperlinks” for the selection of options by members or perspective members by “clicking” on these buttons.
• the member can log in by accessing a login page.
• the login page is accessible in two ways. Either by clicking on a login button that appears at the top of each page or by attempting to access a page that is only available to members. Once a member accessed the login page a valid email address and password combination has to be provided. Once the member is logged in he will either be directed to a personalised home page or the page he was trying to access when he was directed to the login page.
• a broodmare is guaranteed to produce live and sound foals that a member can either keep and race for himself, or sell at auction for real money.
• a stallion is eligible to service up to 50 mares a season and for each of these services the member will receive a fee, determined by him, that is payable in real money.
• the stakes money in every stakes race will be distributed to the first four finishers in any given stakes race, according to the following percentages.
• the first-placed horse receives 50% of the total stakes money.
• the second-placed horse receives 25% of the total stakes money.
• the third-placed horse receives 15% of the total stakes money.
• the fourth-placed horse receives 10% of the total stakes money. If there are only three horses in the race, the stakes will be divided as follows: The first-placed horse receives 60% of the total stakes money.
• the second-placed horse receives 25% of the total stakes money.
• the third-placed horse receives 15% of the total stakes money. If there are only two horses in the race, the stakes will be divided as follows.
• the first-placed horse receives 75% of the total stakes money.
• the second-placed horse receives 25% of the total stakes money.
• Nomination fees are paid for entering a horse in a race. Nomination fees that are received determines the total stakes money available for every stakes race. Therefore, a maiden stakes race with a final field of 12 horses will be worth more money than a maiden stakes race with a final field of only 3 horses. Every type of stakes race has its own set nomination fee. This is the cost to enter one horse in that race. If the horse is accepted into that race, then owners will be charged that nomination fee. To determine the purse for a race, a member can multiply the number of entries with the nomination fee and subtract a 15% administrative charge. The operator has no vested interest in the outcome of any of its races. The operator offers races to its members as a service and charges an administrative fee in order to facilitate that race and other services. This administrative fee is a guarantee to members that all races are fair.
• All pages on the website which contain confidential information are secure, for example, the pages in a cashier section which display a member's account details. These secure pages are accessible through a Secure Sockets Layer ("SSL") connection; a padlock on the bottom right hand side of some pages verifies this.
• SSL Secure Sockets Layer
• Credit card details are also encrypted and stored in a database.
• the operator schedules races in advance. Race start times are based on GMT. All start times for races are displayed in GMT. Members can tell what adjustment they need to make for different time zones by looking at the time zone box in the top right hand corner of the home page, and clicking on the link for time zone differences. This will direct a member to a time zone page, which will allow him to select his region from the drop down menu.
• the time zone box on every page will display the adjustment that a member needs to make to calculate the start times in his part of the world.
• the time zone box also displays the adjustment, if any, that he will need to make for daylight savings time.
• the default region featured in the time zone box when a member first visits first visit the site is "USA Eastern".
• the outcome of every race is determined by an algorithm that takes into account a series of factors, including:
• each horse on the system is created with the same set of characteristics, however the values of each of these characteristics will differ for every horse. Therefore, every horse will have its own unique combination of values, ensuring that they all have different abilities (attributes). For every horse generated on the site, the following characteristic or attribute set is produced:
• Stamina rating (for each distance. Every horse thus has optimum distances and distances over which it will be weaker)
• Alumites shoes that affect performance - a different impact on each horse
• Blinkers equipment that affects performance - a different impact on each horse
• Track rating For each track type and track going combination. For example, a horse receives a rating for how it will perform on a dirt track with fast going, or on a turf track with yielding going)
• the computing means does the following for each horse that participates: - Retrieve all the relevant attributes of that horse. Multiply each attributes with its weight.
• the owner influence is also the taken into account, i.e. the race performance influencing information. Furthermore, race conditions are taken into account as well as the effect of race performance influencing information on the attributes of a horse.
• the horse with the highest rating will finish first, second highest is second etc. the system does not allow ties, and in the event of a tie another random sequence is generated to separate the two or more horses involved.
• An audit trail exists for every race, so that the data used to generate a race can be reviewed. All data is securely stored, and certain information that owners possess regarding their own horses (such as overall fitness of their horses, and their performances in barrier races) is strictly confidential, and is made known only to them. Barrier races are described in more detail below.
• every race has an element of unpredictability that is built into the race algorithm (using a complex random number generator), ensuring that the outcome of each race cannot always be predicted with accuracy.
• stallions determine the amount they wish to charge for their stallion's service. The owner of a mare then decides to breed with that stallion, agrees to the price of that service, and purchases what is known as a stallion season. This sale is administered and approved by the operator who receives and pays out all credits involved in the breeding process.
• the innate abilities (attributes) of the stallion and the mare will be used to create a series of new algorithms, which, in conjunction with a randomly generated component, will represent the abilities (attributes) of their offspring.
• a healthy foal is guaranteed and immediately produced, and the owner of the mare will then be allowed to sell that foal in an auction to be held in the sales ring. Alternatively, the owner of the foal can enter it in races. All sales of horses in accordance with the above procedure will be administered and approved by the operator.
• a member can buy a horse from anywhere on the website by clicking on a 'buy a horse' button on the left hand navigation bar, or any 'buy a horse' button on the home page.
• the buy a horse page allows a member to select a horse's color and sex, and enter a name for his horse.
• the system allocates a horse to the owner.
• the horse is created by the system with a randomly generated racing ability (attributes). If a member is a first time horse buyer, he will be directed to a silks designer page, otherwise he is directed to a tack shop page.
• the silk designer page allows the member to dynamically design his own unique silks.
• All two-year old horses can be purchased by going to a sales ring page. For the first calendar year of operation of the game, all two-year olds will be sold at one standard price since the abilities of these horses are randomly generated. All horses thus have inherent programmed abilities or attributes which makes them "unequal" in races.
• the jacket and cap worn by the jockey that rides a horse are referred to as "silks".
• the colors and design of each jacket are unique to each owner.
• the cap color will designate the post positions or draw of the horses (e.g. the horse drawn one will always wear a yellow cap, the horse drawn second will always wear a red cap, etc.).
• the jacket is designed by the owners themselves upon their first purchase of a horse at a silks designer page. This silk design will be each owner's personalized crest or icon for the game. The silks will enable both the owner and fellow members to identify specific horses in races.
• An owner chooses a design from the top panel of a designs block on the silk designer page.
• An owner generates his own colors by clicking a color in a color palette block on the silk designer page, and clicking a section on his design. This is repeated until the silks have been custom-designed to the owner's taste.
• an owner can click on one of the silks in a bottom panel that displays color combinations for that specific design that are still available on the site. To display more available silks in the bottom panel, the owner can continue clicking the design in a top panel. Once an owner selected silks, he must click a "save” button to save the silks to the database or "cancel" to go back to the buy a horse page.
• a horse If a horse is eligible for a race, the nomination will be added to the owner's basket. An owner must access his basket to pay his nomination fee and confirm his horse's entry in that race. The owner will then be sent an email confirming his horse's participation in that race. If an owner nominates his horse in advance, and in the interim his horse becomes ineligible for that type of race (e.g. he nominates his horse for a maiden stakes race a week in advance, and in that preceding week his horse wins another maiden stakes race), he will be sent an email informing him of this, and his nomination will be refunded in credits.
• an owner nominates his horse in advance, and in the interim his horse becomes ineligible for that type of race (e.g. he nominates his horse for a maiden stakes race a week in advance, and in that preceding week his horse wins another maiden stakes race), he will be sent an email informing him of this, and his nomination will be refunded in credits.
• An owner can nominate a maximum of 4 of his own horses for any one race. He must then pay the nomination for each horse in that race.
• Nominations close exactly one hour before the scheduled start time of any stakes race. For example, if a race is scheduled to take place at 13:00 hrs GMT, then an owner may nominate his horse for that race up until 11 :59 hrs GMT. Owners may also nominate for races up to one month in advance.
• Races have set conditions that determine which horses can compete against each other in that race. For example, there are races only for horses that have never won a race (maiden stakes races), and races for horses that have won either one or two previous races (novice stakes races). There are races that are only for horses of a certain age, and races that are only for horses of a certain sex. If an owner's horse becomes ineligible for a race that it was previously eligible for, before that race is actually run, the horse will be scratched from that race and the nomination fee will be refunded in credits.
• Barrier races are essentially training gallops which offer no stakes money and require no nomination fees for participation. There are many different types of stakes races. Each type of stakes race has a different set of conditions, restricting the entrants according to their previous results, their sex or their age.
• the operator hosts a season-ending championship day three times a calendar year.
• the championship day consists of six championship races for two-year olds, six championship races for three year-olds, and six open championship races for three and four-year olds. These include championship races specifically for male horses and corresponding events for fillies, and championship races for dirt and turf. These races will take place over a variety of distances as well. All championship races are by invitation only, and will all carry added money to the purse. invitations are made to those horses that have performed best in the qualifying stakes races. All horses that wish to qualify for a championship race must be championship candidates. This simply entails a onetime payment of a supplementary fee.
• Payment of a supplementary fee is the first step towards a horse's participation in a championship race.
• the supplementary fee ensures that a horse is registered as a championship candidate. It only has to be paid once, and allows that horse to participate in any qualifying stakes race during the course of its career, provided that horse satisfies the conditions for that qualifying stakes race.
• An owner has the option of paying the supplementary fee at the point of purchase of the horse in the sales ring. This option is cheaper than paying the fee at a later point in time. A supplementary fee paid later is more expensive and can be paid prior to any qualifying stakes race.
• a member's monthly subscription fee includes the cost of feed for his horse for that month.
• the horse will be fed and stabled.
• the horse's strength and fitness can be seen by looking at the horse's gauge, which measures the current fitness and condition of that horse.
• An owner can alter this gauge by training his horse in barrier races and entering it in races.
• the owner can also purchase feed supplements that will have a randomly generated effect on his horse. All of these actions will boost the gauge, but owners must be extremely careful not to over- train, over-race, or over-feed their horse. If they do, the gauge will reflect this by reverting to a far lower level of fitness and strength for the horse. Only owners can see the gauge.
• a training gallop against one other horse, used to ascertain a horse's ability over a specific distance, track type or track condition is referred to as a barrier race.
• the other horse that competes in a barrier race is selected by the owner from a drop-down of options for age and sex. This other horse will always perform at the average level for the selected age and sex. Therefore, this other horse acts as a benchmark for owners to rate their own horse. Owners are entitled to race their horses in as many barrier races as they wish, and unlimited barrier races are included in the monthly subscription fee.
• a barrier race affects the fitness and strength of a horse. Up to a certain point, galloping a horse in barrier races will improve its conditioning, but there is always the danger is that an owner will over-condition his horse.
• 'barrier races' On a manage horse page, there is a button called 'barrier races'. Clicking this button will direct a member to a barrier race page. On this barrier race page, an owner can choose a horse to run a barrier race against, and click 'run barrier race' to start the race.
• Barrier races are the most important training tool that an owner possesses. Barrier races not only enable owners to work out the strengths, weaknesses and overall ability of their horse, but they are also a way of improving a horse's overall condition. Of course, too many barrier races can have the opposite effect of over-training. However, participating in a barrier race is the best way of finding out how whether a horse is suited to dirt or turf, whether it runs better with blinkers on or off, what track conditions it runs best on, and whether the horse performs better with steel or aluminium shoes.
• the gauge is a reading of the horse's overall fitness or condition at that specific point in time.
• the gauge is affected by racing the horse in all types of races, including barrier races, stakes races and championship races. Each time an owner races his horse, the fitness of his horse will improve up to a certain point. However, owners can also over-race their horse. This is known as over-training (when the gauge goes over 100%), and will cause the gauge to drop appreciably. Feeding the horse vitamin supplements will also improve the fitness of the horse, represented by a rise in the gauge. Once again, though, owners must be careful not to over-feed on vitamins. This would also qualify as over-training (causing the gauge to go over 100%), and the gauge will drop significantly.
• Tack is the name given to the equipment used in a race.
• a tack shop page is provided on the website where owner's can buy equipment such as blinkers and aluminium shoes, products such as feed supplements and services such as gelding services that they need to get the ultimate performance from their horse.
• the tack shop can be accessed in two ways. An owner can select one of his horses on the manage a horse page. The owner can then click on the vet, farrier or equipment buttons to be taken to a page which shows the products that he owns in each category, as well as the tack shop products available in each category. The owner can purchase tack shop items from here. Alternatively, the
• * owner can click on a visit tack shop button on the left hand navigation bar, to be taken to the tack shop. From here, the owner can click on a category to be taken to the product page for that category, and add items to his basket.
• a products applied table will show the owner the products that have already been applied to that horse.
• the products available table are the products that an owner purchased from the tack shop, but not yet applied to a specific horse. To apply a product to a horse, the owner can click on an apply this product button. These products will then show up on the products applied table, and will be immediately applied to that horse.
• an owner can select the relevant horse by clicking on a manage horse button on the left hand navigation bar, or on his personalised home page. He will be taken to the manage horse page for that horse.
• On this page there are three buttons that correspond to the categories of products - Vet, Farrier and Equipment. Clicking on the button that represents the category that the owner is interested in, will direct him to a "manage products" page for the category chosen.
• a member can click on a remove button in a "remove product” column of the products available table.
• Blinkers and alumites can be unselected in this way.
• the vitamin food supplement is purchased on a monthly basis and will automatically be unselected from the products applied table once the supply is depleted.
• a service of gelding to a colt cannot be unselected, as it is irreversible.
• Each product and / or service that is available in the tack shop has potential benefits for a horse in that they enhance performance in races.
• the extent of that benefit depends on the predetermined characteristics of the horse. For example, the horse may improve significantly with the addition of alumites, or they may make only a slight difference. Owners need to gallop their horses in barrier races and race their horses in order to ascertain the effects of these products.
• Each horse is unique and will respond differently to different products.
• Blinkers for example, last for the duration of that horse's career. They only need to be purchased once for any one horse, and then one always has the option to race that horse with blinkers on or off.
• Gelding is also a service that only needs to be purchased once for any one colt, and when applied it lasts for the duration of that colt's life on the site.
• Other products such as vitamin food supplements and alumites last for one month from the time of application, and can therefore, be purchased in one month units. Owners can purchase more than a single month's supply at any one time.
• Members can place a bet from anywhere on the website by clicking on a "view race schedule” button on the left hand navigation bar, or a "place a bet” button on the home page. Once clicked, members will be directed to a race schedule page, which shows race details for all upcoming races. The race schedule defaults to the current day, but using filter options, members can change the race details that are shown. To see the details of any race, and the participating horses, member can click on the name of the race in the race schedule, to get to a race details page. To place a win or a place bet, members can click on the "view digitote" button at the bottom of the race details page.
• Members will be directed to a digitote page for win and place bets, which shows the odds for each horse in the race.
• members can tick the horse(s) they would like to place a bet on, and enter the bet amount. By clicking on "submit” at the bottom of the page the bet is submitted. Members will have to pay for the bet from their basket before the bet is confirmed.
• Pick x's are a type of multi-race wager in which the winners of all the included races must be selected. The most common forms of this bet on the web site are the pick Three, the pick Four and the pick Six.
• the "digitote" table is a display which reflects up-to-the-minute odds for all horses in a given race.
• the digitote shows win and place odds, already adjusted for the takeout from the pools.
• Betting for any given race closes exactly 5 minutes before that race is run. If members attempt to place a bet after this time the wager will not be accepted. Members must place bets more than 5 minutes before the off time of that race.
• a member can check his betting history by simply clicking on a "view betting history” button located under a “betting” heading on the left hand navigation bar, or, if logged on, the view betting history button on the home page under "starting points". Both buttons link members to a betting history page. On this page, a detailed table of past bets are displayed.
• This guide can either be accessed for an individual horse, where users can see that horse's entire racing history, or the guide can be accessed for a specific race, where users can see the previous 3 performances for each horse in that race.
• a member can select the race that he wishes to see form for. A member will then will be taken to the race details page that displays the details for that specific race. Underneath the list of participating horses is a "compuform" button. This button allows members to view the recent form of every horse in that race. If an owner of a horse wishes to see form for his horse, he is able to access this form from the manage horse page by clicking on a form button. If a member wishes to see specific form, he can access this by going to the race details page and clicking on the name of a specific horse in that race. He will be taken to the horse's details page for that and from here he simply clicks on the form button.
• the "digiform" is the operator's version of a form guide in real horseracing. All past performances of every horse is available in a form guide. This guide can either be accessed for an individual horse, where members can see that horse's entire racing history, or the guide can be accessed for a specific race, where users can see the previous 3 performances for each horse in that race.
• Credit card details are encrypted and securely stored on a server.
• races, the results of races, bloodlines, sales information and any other information relating to the game can be transmitted over a television network including satellite television networks and the like.
• members can use telephone networks to submit all information. Information can then be submitted orally or in writing by facsimile or the like.

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