Whale....
To maintain feeding and housing, Digiturf charges you a $15/month service fee. It costs nothing to enter your horse in a Barrier Race as this is looked upon simply as practicing and getting your horse in shape. The horse itself costs only $15 dollars. All the horses cost the exact same amount which makes them all equal ability starting from scratch.
The
supplementary fee enters your horse as a championship candidate. Only the championship candidates may race for over $100,000 in stakes money on Digiturf's Championship race days. Paying the fee now, instead of later, entitles you to a 50% reduction in price. Your horse will also now be eligible for valuable qualifying races which determine the participants on the Championship race day. The fee is $50 bucks and is the most expensive fee involved in maintaining a horse. I would suggest paying the fee b/c the Championship Races are the ones that contain a WHOLE bunch of Money!! The great thing about the Championship races is the fact that you do not pay ANY nomination fees; which brings me to that aspect...
Each Stakes Race requires a nomination fee from each horse. It is usually around $10 bucks but is based upon a certain % of the total purse. Digiturf gets their 15% cut in every race so it's a no lose situation for them and they could care less about the outcome...
You also have the option of purchasing
blinkers for your horse. You can remove them and put them back on as many times as you like. It's up to you to determine if your horse performs better with them or without them. There is a one time charge of $5 bucks.
You also have the option of purchasing
alumites or racing shoes for your horse. These racing shoes will last for exactly 30 days b/c they do wear out. Purchasing these will help your horse obtain faster times. They cost $2 bucks and you need to purchase a new pair after thirty days.
The
VET is also another option you can choose. He provides food supplements to your horse and will heighten your horse?s overall level of fitness. You need to buy these vitamins every 30 days and they cost $2 bucks per batch. You are welcome to buy more than one month?s supply at a time, but each horse you own must possess its own batch of vitamins if you wish to take advantage of the benefits they provide. The amount spent on vitamins will be deducted from your credits. Remember, each horse reacts differently to vitamins. Some horses will experience a more pronounced boost to their fitness than others. However, every horse will experience some kind of boost, so be careful not to over-condition your horse.
And last but certainly not least; the dreaded
GELDING. Your colt?s performances have been lackluster and disappointing. He?s ready for the cruelest cut of all, but it could transform him into a racing machine! Take your chances and allow the Digiturf vet to neuter your colt with an instantaneous snip. A one-time fee of US$5 will be deducted from your credits for this service. Don?t forget that once your colt is gelded he cannot be used for breeding purposes and will automatically become inactive at the end of his racing career.
In all there are about 5 things you need to spend money on before you have yourself a decent horse. But, as you can see, it's quite inexpensive. I promise you, it will be worth every cent!
And don't forget that you also have the option of betting on other people's horses as well as your own. You can study other horse's forms to give you an advantage in picking some winners. I will tell ya this, if ya see "Pillpusher" in a starting lineup, DO NOT bet on him!
I need a couple more weeks till he's in tip top shape.
Hope this answered a few of your questions, but if they didn't, I'd be more than happy to explain some things I probably left out.
[This message has been edited by Neemer (edited 05-09-2001).]
