Like i've said on earlier posts (which you guys have kindly helped me out on) i'm still a bit of a noob at the game , but learning fast, i wanted to know the best ways of realising that max potential. I've a horse called Piliberto since he was 4 and now he's 8 but the potential hasn't risen one bit in that time ( actual potential being at 50% and max potential being about 85% ) . It's always been on 50% even though the horse has won some decent races for me.

I have simple training game on too, does this hinder my chances of maximising that potential ??

I also would like to know if anyone has any hints to this. I've raced 12 seasons and still found no way to raise light green bar into its supposedly "max potential" dark green bar once the horses are past 2yr old stage.

I'm curious about this too. All I can come up with is that maybe the horse was injured badly before you bought him, hindering his ability to realise his full potential? I'm not even sure if injuries have any effect on the potential bar, though. Also, if he has low confidence maybe he never consistently won enough races, so underperformed and couldn't be pushed harder so didn't realise his full potential. Or maybe he has quirks that prevent him from running as well as he could? Perhaps he doesn't settle? And maybe I'm completely wrong

I'd be interested to hear others' theories about this, too.

From what I have seen, I just think that some horses will never realise that potential which isnt unrealistic.

I have had several of these who I think will be superstars but end up being very average as they never make that improvement and I think it may well be set because if you trial these horses in the CK then they still dont do very well.

one thing i will add do not sell the horses that have max potential ive had a couple that only managed to fill up 60% or so and racec them till 5 they were rubbish on course but have bred a couple of really good offspring from questionable pedigree gonna put em in their own game with a couple of good uns an see what happens??

This is interesting observations. which willl mean that even for horses that do did not manage their potential, their gene may (which in this case determine by their potential) will be the determining factor in offsprings?

[img][img]http://s19.postimage.org/45bez8dtr/offspring_2.jpg[/img][/img][img][img]http://s19.postimage.org/v1ve7jwn3/offspring_1.jpg[/img][/img][img][img]http://s19.postimage.org/ub2o1ru9r/old.jpg[/img][/img]

as you can see the 2yo filly is the best out of about 30 2 yrolds started using him a bit more interesting as i have much more decorated stars in the barn.

Personally I would bin off any colt which has this, if they turn out good they'll end up in the breeding barn anyway. But I would keep a filly who did this, in my experience the key to breeding is to find a good breeding mare, she doesn't even have to be top class, but there just seem to be some who consistently produce good horses.

I'm still a little baffled by the potential thing. I'll sell any 2yo with less that half max potential and a very high deterioration rate and any 3yo colt with less than 60-75% max potential. But one or two I have sold have turned out pretty good so I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing, but I can't keep them all!

I believe i have the answer to this, but anyone add to it or correct me if you find any different.
2 year olds will fill the potential bar within their first 4 races. Any unrealized (dark green potential) will have to come later.

year end 2yr to 3yr - will show a change in speed and stam but has no effect on potential bar.

after the first 4 races or less in a horses career the only time I can see the potential move is at year ends. I hooked up a note card with ruler type measurements to try and give a number explanation as to how the potential raises to dark green from 3yr olds and up.

3yr olds with maxed potential (no dark green) gain on average about .4 by my measurements - potential bar goes up at year end about .3 to .5
4yr olds with maxed potential (no dark green) gain on average about .2 by my measurements - potential bar goes up at year end about .1 to .3

now, horses that haven't reached full potential. Their gains at year end are much greater
3yr olds i've seen gain anywhere from .7 to a full point
4yr olds with dark green potential to gain will gain more at year end also

I normally have been racing my horses about 8-12 times a year and then retire them at the end of 5th year.

all my horses are pretty average right now but one thing i would like to see is if it matters on how many races you run per year that makes a difference at year end.

someone with 2 horses same age at 50-60% light green with max dark green potential
run one of them like 4 or 5 times in a year and the other 20 times and see at year end if the one that ran 20 races gained more.

so its not really about trying to max out the dark green potential on a horse (if its maxed, get the horse as high of a rating as you can and enter a selling race or just retire it because it won't gain much more). that potential is more or less an indicator on how much your horse will get better for next year and how old or long it can run.

supercat - I've found its best to race all my 2yr olds 4 races. If they max out potential after 4 races or less, I sell them because then they won't gain much more in their careers

I find this true to the extend that cruising burst will increase from year 2 to year 3.



I think the rate at which the light green potential decrease depends on deterioration potential?

Also seems as if you have assumed every horse to be able to fulfil their potential which do not seem to hold true for me. There are just horses where the light green bar just do not fill up the dark green area no matter how many times I race them.

Just some of my observations.

right gold, not sure if you missed this but it's the most important point i was trying to make

"so its not really about trying to max out the dark green potential on a horse (if its maxed, get the horse as high of a rating as you can and enter a selling race or just retire it because it won't gain much more). that potential is more or less an indicator on how much your horse will get better for next year and how old or long it can run."

if you have a 5yr old horse with maxed potential - all it will do is deteriorate because it has no more potential to gain

but lets say you have a 5yr old at 60% with max potential
at the end of the 5th year it will gain a portion of that dark green potential but also lose some in deterioration. this horse will hold even at a high level and be able to race until he is much older (maybe 8-12 years old).

depending on the deterioration rate of the horse, if it is low with max potential still a the end of 5yr. The horse may still get better until he is 6 or 7, or until the deterioration starts to catch up to the potential gained each year.

with males sometimes they need to be gelded to reach their maximum potential look to the lad report in the training. worked for one of mine that ive tried so far

Hmm, thats is an interesting thought. Have not think that as I normally wouldnt run my horses beyond 5 years old. you could be right.

just an update the 2yo fillie floosy is now 4 and is my first horse to go ingame sub 56 secs over 5f (55.96 goodwood hard grp2 with a grp1 penalty) food for thought!!