Rules For National Hunt

1. General
Stable is 30 per trainer
Upload window closes at the same time as week 2 nominations
Upload and Retire Window opens after week 5 nominations close
Upload and Retire Window closes when week 6 nominations close
During the Upload and Retire Window :
a. 5 retired horses allowed
b. New uploads allowed to bring stable size up to 30
c. Late league joiners allowed at this point

2. G1, G2, G3 and Listed Hurdles
Open to all horses aged 4+ except novice hurdlers with less than 3 runs in hurdle races
If more than 30 entries top 30 in handicap will race others will be eliminated

3. G1, G2, G3 Handicap Hurdles
Open to all horses aged 4+ except novice hurdlers with less than 3 runs in hurdle races
If more than 30 entries top 30 in handicap will race others will be eliminated

4. Handicap Hurdles and Handicap Chase
Open to all horses aged 4+ including novices
If more than 30 entries top 30 in handicap will race others will be eliminated
Distance Spread Rule applies


5. G1, G2, G3 and Listed Chase
Open to all horses aged 4+ except novice hurdlers with less than 3 runs in hurdle races and novice chasers with less than 3 runs in chasers
If more than 30 entries top 30 in handicap will race others will be eliminated

6. G1, G2, G3 Handicap Chase
Open to all horses aged 4+ except novice hurdlers with less than 3 runs in hurdle races and novice chasers with less than 3 runs in chasers
If more than 30 entries top 30 in handicap will race others will be eliminated
Distance Spread Rule applies

The following races will allow multiple entries. The Grand National, Welsh National and Hennessey
Elimination same as handicaps except
that Every trainer that has entered a horse is guaranteed 1 runner
: For example trainer x has a horse that is 31 in handicap but it is their only runner. Therefore horse 30 which is trainer y's 2nd horse will be eliminated
and trainer x's will run.

7. Novice Hurdles
Open to all 4+ horses who have not run in the following :
G1, G2, G3 and Listed Hurdles or Chases
G1, G2, G3 Handicap Hurdles or Chases
( This means that handicappers will be allowed. There aren't enough novice races at present to exclude these races from the novice ranks )

8. Novice Chases
Open to all 4+ horses who have not run in the following :
G1, G2, G3 and Listed Chases
G1, G2, G3 Handicap Chases
( This means that handicappers will be allowed. There aren't enough novice races at present to exclude these races from the novice ranks )
Hurdlers who have never run in any of the above chases will be allowed

9. Hunter Chasers
Open to all 4+ horses who have not run in the following :
G1, G2, G3 and Listed Chases or Hurdles
G1, G2, G3 Handicap Chases or Hurdles

Multiple entries allowed
Every trainer that has entered a horse is guaranteed 1 runner


Distance Spreads
There are no restrictions in group races
The distance spread is 3f either way as in past seasons. ( An exception to this rule is that runs over 4m will qualify for 4m4 )
But the following changes will apply:
A horse will be allowed to run 3f either side of all top 3 finishes
If a horse has not finished in top 3 a horse will be allowed to run 3f either side of its best placed finish
Some examples

Example 1
Horse runs 4th over 3m5
Horse can run over
Horse can now run 3f either side of 3m5 so will be able to run 3m5, 3m6, 3m7 4m 4m1 4m2 4m3
Then runs 3rd over 4m
Horse can now run 3f either side of 4m and not 3m5 so will be able to run 3m5, 3m6, 3m7 4m 4m1 4m2 4m3 and 4m4 ( exception rule )
Horse drops to 3m and finishes in top 3 ( Highly unlikely )
Horse can now run over 2m5, 2m6, 2m7 3m, 3m1 , 3m2 , 3m3 and 3m5, 3m6, 3m7 4m 4m1 4m2 4m3 and 4m4

Example 2
Horse runs 7th over 2m4
and 11th over 3m ( in group race ect )
Horse will be able to run over 3f either side over 2m4

Example 3
Horse runs 7th over 2m4
and 5th over 3m ( in group race ect )
Horse will be able to run over 3f either side over 3m

Basically the best result will be searched for and 3f rule applied to this.
Exceptions
1. 4m4 ( allowed a 4f spread from 4m )
2. Placed in top 3 over 2 or more distances ( the spread rule will be applied to all the placed distances as in the above example )

Hope this is clear. The distance spread rules may seem arbitrary but they will be the simplest to code.

I always thought the distance spread was 4f?

This post needs to be sticky topic

Nice job Leon

I have mod rights but dont have the option to sticky stuff

Great job Leon and everyone else involved

Great to see the leagues are ready to start again just a shame i dont have any horses to compete

Rule change

Distance rule has to be amended to 4f either side of horses best run. In the future this can be looked at but for now this needs to be done for the coding purposes

Please not that this will mean that your distance spread for a horse will change through the season. So if you can't enter a race with a horse this may be the reason.

How do hurdles/chases work? By that I mean that I have two horses who are good over hurdles and fences... Can I run them in one of each in week 1 and 2, or do I have to choose hurdles or fences for them?

well I will be using one each week hurdle one week chase second week make sure to get handicap under both codes of jumping.

You can run them in both. There are no restrictions.

However there are novice restrictions which are highlighted above. So you need to decide at the start of the season, which horses will be novices as graded races will prevent novices from making entries.

It is the only way at present to have a proper demarcation between novice and older horses

Thanks Leon. I'm going to have to get my head around the graded rules for racing and stewarding, they seem a little complex after a brief scan. But I'm sure they're not...

So, in the juvenile hurdle there aren't anywhere near 20 runners (race 3). I still need to enter the rest of my juveniles and I'd like to run them in that. Will nominations for 2nd/3rd horses be opened up if there aren't enough horses on Saturday? I'll enter them elsewhere for now, but it would be good to know.

The rules will be coded in. So you wont be able to enter an ineligible horse in a race. The only issue is if people have entered in advance and the horse is no longer eligible.

But we are looking at running a script that scratches all these horses after the results of the previous week have been processed.

I will look at fields on Saturday but it looks like their will be a lot of trainers. Most people only add their Stables on the last day.

I will post on Saturday afternoon with regards this but I think it will be one entry per person.