DerbyDreamer.com - Vinery Fantasy Game

[philcski]

Just punched in my entry. Frontloading the picks to try and take down the month of March contest. Basically tried to cover every possible G1/G2 in March, some of the possibilities such as the Muniz don't have horses available. Seems like 80% of the entries don't really understand the rules and just take the horses they know. For example, even though she's the best horse in training, why would anyone take Rachel Alexandra in this contest right now? You only get 375 points for an ungraded stake win, which would be her only start in March, whereas you get 500 for a 5th in a G1.
Went with:
Amen Hallelujah (inactive)
Backtalk (inactive)
Battle of Hastings (Kilroe)
Blind Luck (SA Oaks)
Caracortado (San Felipe)
Court Vision (inactive)
D Funnybone (Swale)
Discreetly Mine (La Derby)
Dry Martini (GP Hcp)
General Quarters (NO Hcp)
Lookin at Lucky (San Felipe/Rebel)
Misremembered (SA Hcp)
Rule (FL Derby)
She Be Wild (inactive)
Sidney's Candy (inactive)
St Trinians (inactive)
Super Saver (Rebel/TB Derby)
Zenyatta (Santa Margarita)

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by philcski

Just punched in my entry. Frontloading the picks to try and take down the month of March contest. Basically tried to cover every possible G1/G2 in March, some of the possibilities such as the Muniz don't have horses available. Seems like 80% of the entries don't really understand the rules and just take the horses they know. For example, even though she's the best horse in training, why would anyone take Rachel Alexandra in this contest right now? You only get 375 points for an ungraded stake win, which would be her only start in March, whereas you get 500 for a 5th in a G1.
Went with:
Amen Hallelujah (inactive)
Backtalk (inactive)
Battle of Hastings (Kilroe)
Blind Luck (SA Oaks)
Caracortado (San Felipe)
Court Vision (inactive)
D Funnybone (Swale)
Discreetly Mine (La Derby)
Dry Martini (GP Hcp)
General Quarters (NO Hcp)
Lookin at Lucky (San Felipe/Rebel)
Misremembered (SA Hcp)
Rule (FL Derby)
She Be Wild (inactive)
Sidney's Candy (inactive)
St Trinians (inactive)
Super Saver (Rebel/TB Derby)
Zenyatta (Santa Margarita)

You made St. Trinians inactive?

[philcski]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

You made St. Trinians inactive?

Tough call, but yes. Came down to either her or Lookin at Lucky for the final active spot.

[2MinsToPost]

I just set up my account but am gonna take a couple days to set up my stable.

This should be fun

[philcski]

Originally Posted by 2MinsToPost

I just set up my account but am gonna take a couple days to set up my stable.

This should be fun

You aren't really missing out on any opportunities until this weekend anyways, since the jockeys aren't worth much in the game really. Just make sure you have everything in line by then. Definitely an overlay given the distribution of the horses in each stable.

[mbahadur]

Originally Posted by philcski

Seems like 80% of the entries don't really understand the rules and just take the horses they know.

Right now, 360 stables have Gio Ponti, who is the 8th most popular horse selected. Since Dubai races do not count in the game, it will probably be at least June before Gio Ponti would bring in any points. By June, most stables created now will be obsolete in terms of having a chance to win. Also Life is Sweet, another Dubai-bound horse is the 15th most popular pick. Richard's Kid is at number 25 and Courageous Cat is number 33.

I can see picking Rachel Alexandra now and making her inactive for March to give your stable a shot at the April monthly prize. However, I suspect many players will fork out more cash to create a new stable for the April monthly contest.

[chucklestheclown]

Can anyone tell me why Illinois residents are ineligible? I find this felonious.

[Patrick333]

It looks good but I think I'll pass. I,m already in a couple contests. It's hard enough for me to remember to make changes in them.

I hope you do well.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by mbahadur

Right now, 360 stables have Gio Ponti, who is the 8th most popular horse selected. Since Dubai races do not count in the game, it will probably be at least June before Gio Ponti would bring in any points. By June, most stables created now will be obsolete in terms of having a chance to win. Also Life is Sweet, another Dubai-bound horse is the 15th most popular pick. Richard's Kid is at number 25 and Courageous Cat is number 33.

I can see picking Rachel Alexandra now and making her inactive for March to give your stable a shot at the April monthly prize. However, I suspect many players will fork out more cash to create a new stable for the April monthly contest.

100% my line of thinking as well. Clearly this game is an overlay if played correctly. I'll be happy to fork out another $12 for the next month's game if this month goes reasonably well.

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by chucklestheclown

Can anyone tell me why Illinois residents are ineligible? I find this felonious.

write your representatives.

[chucklestheclown]

I would if they were not in enough trouble over racing already

[mbahadur]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Here is what else I've learned from them.

They are debating on whether or not to people will be able to view other peoples stables.
They may make public groups where members can see each others stables.

Hmmn. I bought my stable around 5:30pm today, activated my horses/jockeys at about 5:45pm. I noticed that I got credit for a John Velazquez 2nd place finish and got dinged for a Rafael Bejarano 4th place finish in races that I think went off before my jockeys were activated.

I hope that stables that are created on Saturday after the Santa Anita Grade 1 races are run do not get any points for these races. Making the stables public would definitely help the integrity of the game. I would think that such testing would have been extensively performed before the game was released to the public.

Now I know why the TVG Fantasy game requires you to pick and activate your horses the day before.

Good thing I waited until the Santa Anita entries were out before I created my stable as I would have selected a couple horses that were not entered on Saturday (The Usual QT and Evening Jewel). There are a number of good horses running in the Santa Anita G1 races on Saturday (Fluke, Proviso, Ever a Friend, Neko Bay) that are not available to be picked. Also, if My Baby Baby or Mushka were going to take on Zenyatta the following week in the Grade 1, they are not available either. I held off on selecting Jeranimo after he got post 14 in the Big Cap -- a horse by Congaree could have trouble at 10 furlongs. I decided to inactivate Lookin at Lucky as he is not a lock running on dirt in the Rebel (against Dublin and Super Saver if Super Saver does not go to Tampa). With so few Grade 1 races in March, I also had to activate both Rule and Eskenderaya for the Florida Derby, even if one of them waits to run in April in the Wood Memorial.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by mbahadur

a horse by Congaree could have trouble at 10 furlongs.

Based on what?

[mbahadur]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Based on what?

My impression that Congaree was an awesome miler (it was not an authoritative statement). I have another Congaree, Kettle River, in my RTTR stable. In the DerbyDreamer game, I decided to take Misremembered from post 13 instead (I personally prefer the Candy Ride pedigree over Congaree at 10 furlongs and Misremembered has done well from outside posts in the past).

[philcski]

Originally Posted by mbahadur

Hmmn. I bought my stable around 5:30pm today, activated my horses/jockeys at about 5:45pm. I noticed that I got credit for a John Velazquez 2nd place finish and got dinged for a Rafael Bejarano 4th place finish in races that I think went off before my jockeys were activated.

I hope that stables that are created on Saturday after the Santa Anita Grade 1 races are run do not get any points for these races. Making the stables public would definitely help the integrity of the game. I would think that such testing would have been extensively performed before the game was released to the public.

Now I know why the TVG Fantasy game requires you to pick and activate your horses the day before.

Good thing I waited until the Santa Anita entries were out before I created my stable as I would have selected a couple horses that were not entered on Saturday (The Usual QT and Evening Jewel). There are a number of good horses running in the Santa Anita G1 races on Saturday (Fluke, Proviso, Ever a Friend, Neko Bay) that are not available to be picked. Also, if My Baby Baby or Mushka were going to take on Zenyatta the following week in the Grade 1, they are not available either. I held off on selecting Jeranimo after he got post 14 in the Big Cap -- a horse by Congaree could have trouble at 10 furlongs. I decided to inactivate Lookin at Lucky as he is not a lock running on dirt in the Rebel (against Dublin and Super Saver if Super Saver does not go to Tampa). With so few Grade 1 races in March, I also had to activate both Rule and Eskenderaya for the Florida Derby, even if one of them waits to run in April in the Wood Memorial.

This is a great point- please let them know ASAP

[mbahadur]

Originally Posted by philcski

This is a great point- please let them know ASAP

I am just not sure what time it was exactly when my horses were activated. I was assuming the game would leave a time stamp like the RTTR game. I think the Bejarano race went off at 5:35pm but the Velazquez race went off before 5:00pm. I just remember going to watch the 6th feature race at Santa Anita after I activated my stable and the Bejarano race (the 4th) was long over. I don't think my stable reflects Bejarano's performance in the 6th and 7th races yet (there must be a time lag but contestants cannot create winning stables during this time lag). However, I did send them an e-mail about the time lag asking if there is protection built into the game to prevent stables from being created and earning points for races that have already run.

I am only buying one stable for the first month until I have confidence in this game. For $10K and Derby tickets, I would think they would review and reveal the winning stables at the end of the month.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by mbahadur

I am just not sure what time it was exactly when my horses were activated. I was assuming the game would leave a time stamp like the RTTR game. I think the Bejarano race went off at 5:35pm but the Velazquez race went off before 5:00pm. I just remember going to watch the 6th feature race at Santa Anita after I activated my stable and the Bejarano race (the 4th) was long over. I don't think my stable reflects Bejarano's performance in the 6th and 7th races yet (there must be a time lag but contestants cannot create winning stables during this time lag). However, I did send them an e-mail about the time lag asking if there is protection built into the game to prevent stables from being created and earning points for races that have already run.

I am only buying one stable for the first month until I have confidence in this game. For $10K and Derby tickets, I would think they would review and reveal the winning stables at the end of the month.

Me too- I would like to be able to see what horses people have in their stable in real time. Someone has 1,456 points already. I'd like to know what horses he chose because that's basically impossible with the scores shown on the horse results page...

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by philcski

Me too- I would like to be able to see what horses people have in their stable in real time. Someone has 1,456 points already. I'd like to know what horses he chose because that's basically impossible with the scores shown on the horse results page...

Maybe he/she has a bunch of imaginary friends they referred to the contest?

[mbahadur]

Originally Posted by mbahadur

However, I did send them an e-mail about the time lag asking if there is protection built into the game to prevent stables from being created and earning points for races that have already run.

Here is their response. They must be making adjustments on the fly as I noticed I have went from 17 points to 12 points from yesterday to today (not sure where as 1 Velazquez race got me 12 points and 3 Bejarano races got me -5,+15,-5 and the race that Bejarano won was after I activated my jockeys). Maybe they took alway all my Bejarano points from yesterday as he got me 5 total points I highly doubt these small point changes will make or break me in the contest.

Hello,

Great observation. Yes, there is protection. Every result carries a time and new contestants will not get points if they sign up after this time. We experienced a case which made us aware of the scenario you described, but the point standings have been corrected.

Regards,

Finn
DerbyDreamer.com

[MISTERGEE]

Originally Posted by mbahadur

My impression that Congaree was an awesome miler (it was not an authoritative statement). I have another Congaree, Kettle River, in my RTTR stable. In the DerbyDreamer game, I decided to take Misremembered from post 13 instead (I personally prefer the Candy Ride pedigree over Congaree at 10 furlongs and Misremembered has done well from outside posts in the past).

For what its worth Congarees offspring AWD is 6.9 fur