QuarterPole Plus can be played in many ways. You can simply play a betting-only scenario where you bet and enjoy the exciting races replete with past performances, pari-mutual pools, announcing and typical track sounds. Or there are scenarios where you get a stable and can win purses and get to the Winner's Circle as well as betting on the outcomes. In an owner's scenario, you hire a trainer and let him run the stable or run the stable yourself. In that case, the examples given below will help players improve their play and also appreciate the way QuarterPole Plus mirrors live racing. For these examples, it is assumed players are already well versed in reading charts. If not, QuarterPole Plus fully explains them in an easy to follow way.

Improving class.

QuarterPole Plus uses conventional Speed Figures (SF) to summarize the race performance of a horse and, in some measure, for selecting race entries. The use of Speed Figures as part of entry selection results in competitive races. Horses that run well and achieve higher Speed Figures perform better in future races and are worth more. This enables horses to move up or down in class depending on how well they've done lately. Owners that run their horses in the right spots (class, distance, track surface and condition) optimize their horse's performance. Claimers may be moved into Allowance or even Stakes company with good results. The opposite is also the case; horses that finish poorly drop in performance and value. As in live racing, proper entries are important to a horse's success.

In QuarterPole Plus, players determine whether their horses are front runners, stalkers or closers as well as the best distances and track surfaces for them. In the process, the player picks good spots for horses in their stable and goes from there. If the horse wins or runs well, the player enters the horse in better and better class races until the horse reaches his full potential or is no longer competitive. In QuarterPole Plus, track condition and surface affect some horses as does distance and the time between races so players have plenty of opportunity to probe where the horse does its best. This is the same process trainers and owners use in live racing; and is one of the many authentic touches built into the game. Full examples including past performances and charts of an owner successfully moving horses up in class are shown below - see Examples of moving horses up in class. . While such moves are not like 'falling off a log' in live racing or QuarterPole Plus, they are the essence of racing and players will find great enjoyment in being successful. Players wishing to learn the ins and outs as well as the joy and frustrations of being an owner in live racing will find this aspect of QuarterPole Plus scintillating.

Selling horses.

Horse values change in QuarterPole Plus with the performance of the horse. Players can check current values as they may find it better at some point to sell a horse if they feel the horse has peaked. And, of course, a disappointing horse can be sold at a distressed price or entered in lower and lower claiming races until they perform well or are claimed.

The trainer auto-entry.

When checked, the stable trainer in QuarterPole Plus determines all the entries for the horses in the stable. Action Games recommends players determine their own entries as it's more fun and the auto-entry will often lead to horses getting claimed.

Claiming horses or buying them privately.

There are plenty of opportunities in QuarterPole Plus to pick up bargains from claiming races or private purchases. Players study the horse's past performances and decide whether they may be able to improve the horse by running them in the right spot- see Examples below.

2 YO bought at Auction.

As in live racing, the early races for 2 yo are short. Players may not want to give up on them too early if they don't run well especially if they show signs of life late in the short races. They may want more distance and show marked improvement as distances increase later in the year or the greater opportunities provided in the new year. You can also check the initial speed figure shown in the past performances when a 2 YO horse runs for the first time. Figures in the 80-90 range indicates higher quality.

#1.  Artesian Flo - We found Artesian Flo, a 4 yo bay filly, running in a $10,000 claiming event after some poor showings in Allowance company as shown in her past performance chart directly below. In her 3 allowance starts on Sept. 9,15, and 22, 2004, she ran 9th, 7th and 7th with speed figures of only 65-77. So QuarterPole Plus dropped her into a $12,000 claimer where she ran a good 2nd but was dropped further into two $10,000 claimers running 5th in the first of these. We claimed her for the $10,000 in the Oct 21 race in which she ran 2nd. We decided to claim her because of the early speed she had been showing in long races as well as she seemed to be overraced. We thought she could be improved by entering her in shorter races with more time between starts. So we gave her a month off and put her in a $15,000 claimer at 6f on Nov. 25 - continued after the chart.

As shown on the following chart, she won the Nov 25 race after getting off to a long lead and managed to hold on by 1 length. But we know that Wynnefield Race Course has a closers' bias because of the uphill stretch, so we were very pleased she held on and looked on that race very positively. We moved her up to a $25,000 claimer but waited until Jan 19, 2005 at Overbrook where the track bias is kinder to front runners. She won this one by 8 lengths and got a Speed Figure of 102 in the process. At this point, we didn't want to chance her getting claimed so we moved her into Allowance company in a $40,000 purse event on Feb 5. She came in 3rd losing by 8 lengths in a 1:09 race. So we dropped her into $32,000 purse Allowances and tried several different distances and also a race on the turf (Apr 6). She was competitive in all but her turf showing was well below her performance on dirt so back she went to the dirt on Apr. 27 - continued after the next chart.

She ran a strong race on Apr. 27 to win by 5 at 6 ½ to 1 odds. But we noted from her past performances that she had a good record on the turf so we wanted to try her again and put her in another turf race on May 16 - see below- where she ran 3rd losing by 5 with a speed figure of only 93. Her 2 turf races were her poorest showings in our hands so we decided she would stay on the dirt. We kept her in allowance company going up to a $40,000 purse Allowance race before trying her in the $100,000 Wynnefield Distaff Sprint H. on Wynnefield Cup Day. She ran a competitive race losing by a little less than 4 lengths as shown in the full results chart - see full chart below the next past performances chart - when she couldn't quite stay with the quick early fractions. Artesian Flo has been a trip for us and you can believe we were rooting her home in the Wynnefield Distaff Sprint H. even though she didn't get into the winner's circle. We'll be looking for other good spots for her now that we know what she can do.

#2. Starched Linen was a 7 yo who showed up when we checked horses for purchase on our stable page in June, 2003. He was available for $32,500 having won his last two races for $15,000 and $25,000 claimers. He was knocking around at the lower ranges of the claiming ranks and not doing well in the short races on Mar 13 and 23 in 2001. But he came to life when entered in a longer race on Aug. 25 in that year. He was then off for a year and a half when he ran again at 8f in a $25,000 claimer. He won that and earned a Speed Figure of 101. We thought he would be an exceptional buy if he ran long and was given enough time between races so we went for the $32,500. We ran him first on July 23 at 8f in a $50,000 claimer where he came in 5th beaten by less than 2 lengths. He was repeatedly blocked down the stretch in that one and we were encouraged. We got rewarded in an 8f Allowance race with a $32,000 purse on Aug.11 - continued after the chart..

We entered him next in a 9f Allowance which he won but at a lower Speed Figure of 86. So we went back to 8f in a $40,000 Allowance on Sept. 23 where he ran a good 2nd closing too late to win. He ran 2nd in two Allowances on Oct 9 and Oct 22 before we took the plunge in a 10f race on Nov 21. We were concerned that his 9f Speed Figures were a bit lower than the 8f and also that he lost the lead late in the 8f race. But he closed well and won at 10f with a Speed Figure of 100 - continued after the next chart.

Encouraged by the good showing at 10f, we put Starched Linen in another 10f Allowance with a $40,000 purse on Dec. 13. He won it with a late move and ran up his best Speed Figure; 110. Because of this, we rolled the dice with his entry in the $400,000 Lord Redmond H. on Dec. 26. We were richly rewarded as he layed well off the pace, got in gear after a mile, shot into the lead, began drawing out and held on for the win despite tiring as the others were getting to him late as shown in the full results chart - see full chart below the next past performances chart. This is one purchase that really paid off as we've got ourself a solid closer who can compete in the longer distance Stakes and Handicaps.

#3. Neuron is another closer we thought we could do something with. He had been running in short races and we thought closing a bit so we decided to claim him from the $4,000 Claiming race on June 17, 2004 - see chart below. He came in 3rd in that one at 8f so we entered him in a 9f race for $6000 claimers on July 9. He ran 2nd but was 12 lengths behind and earned a SF of only 65. In a disappointing race. We tried him on the turf at 8f on July 23 in a $10,000 claimer where he ran 3rd and closed a bit. Our next step was a $12,000 claimer at 10f on Aug. 8 where we thought the distance would suit. He closed well to get 4th but with a low SF. So back to a $10,000 claimer at 10f on Aug 22 where he ran his best race and won with a SF of 76. We decided to try him again at 12f on Sept. 19 where he ran 4th in a disappointing SF of 67. At this point, we checked his value as a sale and found he was worth $6500. We decided to spend our energy on other horses and sold him. All in all, we did OK. We bought him for $4,000 and sold him for $6500. While he ran for us, we picked up the winner's share of a $6500 purse and a couple of minor awards from a second and a third. At $35 a day, he cost us about $3300 in training fees. We did net out a small gain from Neuron despite our disappointment in not being able to move him up in class.

Well, we had good success in getting 2 out of 3 to move up in class while having a lot of fun trying. Good luck with your own efforts to find bargains and turn them into solid QuarterPole Plus performers!