Here today visiting Night Rider Stables. Its a real privilege to visit you Raj, I also really appreciate you taking the time out of your super busy racing calendar to meet with the SRF!
One of the reasons I decided to focus on your stable this week is I understand you are a jockey in real life (awesome). It would be good to get to know you a bit better and listen to your views on the game. Gotta say I am starting to love your bullish views on your horses and yourself 🙂 and becoming a fan.
Q OK let’s jump to it. How long have you actually been a jockey for please?
I’ve been a jockey since december 2003
Q You don’t look old enough mate 🙂 nature has been kind to you… Is it true your Cousin just turned pro and racing Princetown also? Is racing in the family blood? Tell us more!?
I hail from a racing family from Jamaica. My dad was a jockey also my uncle was a jockey. 4 of my aunts married jockeys as well. my brother was a jockey and currently 3 of my cousins are jockeys. also many other family members work with horses so there’s strong racing in the family blood.
Q That’s awesome and yes, racing is in your blood! Nice pedigree 🙂 I could not spot you in the crowd Raj 🙂 What height are you actually ? and weight?
im 5’4″ and a half, please make sure to mention the half lol. and 115 pound, after 1 hour in the sauna :}
Ha i Must certainly will, every little helps 🙂 I am curious what where your racing stats in RL last year?
Honestly not sure of my stats last year, wasn’t my best year though as i moved across america and back for the first quarter of the year.
Q We all have bad seasons 🙂 What was your best highlight so far in your real life racing career?
My first breeders cup win aboard Calebs Posse was my biggest dream come through.
Q Nice! Curious What age did you actually learn to ride a horse?
Im still trying to learn how to.
Lol will defo improve your stats when you do 🙂 OK I am dying to know .
Q Ever failed a drug test as a jockey?
Never failed a drug test. there’s random drug testing. also everyday before racing all jockeys have to pass breathalyzer , no drinking and riding.
- Should HRP introduce virtual drug testing :)?
if so it would be only you and i playing. DJC is actually a drug lord that smokes at least 25% of his product.
Q Errrm yer. OK moving on! Alcohol (lots off) logging into stable training virtual horses. Is it a recipe for disaster? Should HRP put a warning saying ‘don’t do’ ?or let me ask question another way. For or against Alcohol and training virtual horses?
To each is own, just don’t take a shot every time Mb wins a race, you will likely die from alcohol poison. oh and don’t ready AER post you will just deactivate your stable and drink yourself to a grave
Q You are a jockey in RL and involved in horse racing day in day out which is great and I would value your opinion. Do you feel HRP mirrors RL and gives a good sense of realism?
HRP gives you all the good stuff about real life racing without all the bad stuff. in hrp you are never off the turf and horses never get sick or injured. The race engine is amazing great job whoever built this game.
- As you know we have a choice of many (some think to many)riding instructions.So I want to ask as compared to real racing,say your mount in a race at 1 1/16 miles likes to run on or near the lead and there are 2-3 other horses in the field that also prefer that style.Is it realistic that you could make your mount trail or close in a race like that as we can here at HRP or is that not realistic at all? Some insight on this subject from an actual jockey would be great.
Q1 there’s no straight specific answer. That’s because in real life horses have personality traits, likes and dislikes. Some horses can adapt and some cant overcome adversity. At hrp any horse can still perform at their best even if you completely change instructions to adapt to the race scenario. Not so in real life. Also in real life horses can capitalize from an easy lead on a slow pace I don’t feel like that happens often at hrp. I do feel like instructions should be only something you would tell a jockey like go to lead or stalk it close. I also don’t think you should be able to give horse pace based instructions
Nice, good to hear your views. So we talked RL highlights, what about highlight in the game? What was your best moment to date at HRP?
My highlight was winning Gr1 races with A Class Angie being that she’s my first top class homebred. that makes it extra special
Q Low light? Ever felt like quitting HRP?
I actually quit the game about a year or so after i started. my horses just weren’t running true to the form i was reading so i just didn’t get it. then i just put all horses on farm and walked away from game. I’ve always been a gamer and a racing fanatic so i kept searching the web trying to find the best horse racing game for my desire and it led back here so i thought id give it a shot again. i realized i was running on blown meters and blowing the distance meters as well. since then i focused on getting green green and i never try to tweak horses with the distance meter.
Q The last Auction I said something along the lines of ‘I think you fell of your horse and bumped your head with pricing couple horses 🙂 It certainly made a talking point within the community. Can I ask upon reflection do you think they where they priced fairly?
There’s a method to my madness. that was phase 1 of a plan. i accomplished what i wanted to.
Going to press you on this one as that was a politicians answer lol. Are you glad you didn’t sell them?
Im glad i didn’t sell them because i didn’t want them sold
Q Deep… OK so you are smashing it at the moment and a real threat to other racers when you are on the track. What’s your best tip for novice trainers/ new stables?
* We have had check the forums and use chat groups and buy older horses cheap in claimer and study instructions/ meters. Looking for something else that may be useful please?
For new stables i would advice you set some specific goals and try to build towards those. this game is broad on many different levels to play so if you just throw money in and wing it you can get lost real fast. theres 2 basic ways you can do this, either as a financially minded stable or as a prestige stable.
Q Looking around your barn and you have some lovely horses, I am quiet envious!
He is looking damn strong (Edwin Drood). Not won since 18 Feb 2018. Been in lot of challenging races since high level. Are you thinking of lowering of class may be in the cards soon to try get him in some winning form?
Hese had some not so ideal racing luck and some close beats , but i do think he can pop up and win a big race anytime soon. i didn’t pay $400 for a gelding to look for class relief.
Are you considering trying him in the turf?
Now that you bring that up, maybe i should, but if i do it will be a lapse in the calendar where no ideal dirt race but a lucrative turf race but the BC classic $6k is on dirt and thats where i want to end up.
Q Surprised Max hasn’t put offer in lol. OK another sweeeeeet horse in front of me – Lake Wendigo. Excellent form see purchased her back. (Love her bloodlines also) She certainly seems to be glad to be back home…. Looking ahead are you excited when the time comes to breed her and any ideas possible match at the moment.
So excited to breed her. the constant evolution of breeding makes it hard to commit to a stallion this early but for sure Copper Beast is my first choice.
Q Love asking this question! TC can it be done within 3 years HRP? Yes no?
Absolutely, not
Another non believer (please note support)
Q Who do u think is best trainer in game?
That guy Night Rider, he’s pure genius. Lol.
Come on you Mr Vain 🙂 Give me a name not yourself please!
Estero would be the guy id give my horse to train
Q OK who is the best breeder? ( You can’t say your name again).
T7 or Nightmare
Q What stable do you look up to (if any/apart from yourself)? And why?
Mb, he’s smart enough to take over and monopolize the game where they had to make changes to contain him and make stable and breeding limits to make the game somewhat of a level playing field. it takes pure genius to have the mindset to establish what he did. he dominated us for a while there.
Estero, to come into the game and just excel right away as the top trainer, kudos.
Q What aspect game do you feel needs revamp?
Weight assignments need a look at. horses get penalized too much when they have success. it also hurts state bred stakes. when you can run in a allowance race with a stakes winner and carry 117 and that same horse has to carry 126 in a state bred stakes you are forced to run in the allowance. overall when you are trying to pick races for your horse, race impost has too much a say on where you run. don’t penalize the good horses too much for the inferior horses to beat them. let the best be the best.
Q Who are the top 3 horses aged 2 you are excited about and why?
Alligator Reef, Touring Jamaica and Donkey Jawbone are pretty fast right now. I can see Donkey Jawbone being a GR1 turfer. Alligator Reef is fast and hes from a family loaded with graded stakes horse. And touring jamaica will be strong routing.
Q What’s your personal goal for season?
My main goal this season is winning GR1 races with my homebred and having big success on BC day.
Q (Random sorry) You can whip horse in rl. If we had a button or control like wee controller integrated into our races at HRP, do you like my idea of whipping horses in the home straight at HRP :)?
No, when you think it’s time to go, have you companion spank you. lol
Kinky! OK…. Q Assessing yourself as a player Raj. Would you say you are better at the racing aspect right now or breeding? Or somewhere in between? I have an opionion but what’s yours?
Racing aspect is easy. breeding is hard. i get more joy out of breeding my own good horses to race. the difference now for me is im starting to understand what i need to do to breed a good horse. and that’s rewarding.
Q.Lastly one more question and I will leave you to go back to the sauna 🙂 before your race this afternoon. Like to hear who you think is an up and coming player/ one to watch this season?
GDP inc and i also think Tiratzo can pop up with a big horse i like his breeding program, small but lucrative.
Thanks Raj for taking the time out and meeting. I wish you every success this season!
Next week we are meeting the much respected trainer and breeder Drabfantasy. Personally a big admirer! and feel he can offer some real insights into breeding theory’s/approach and much more. Going to be asking in depth questions about his breeding program and discussing HRP bloodlines.
After that we plan to visit Wayne – Our Athletes (stable). *Hese got whiter teeth than Simon Cowell! more style than Topcat! an more ladies than Hugh Hefener! I want to learn how he does it (forget virtual horses this is way more interesting).
Stay Tuned!
El Primero Rodeo
Categories: FEATURED STORIES, SRF Interviews
