Attic of the Underdogs

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Review by Underdogs:

Arguably the best horse racing game ever made for PC, Quarterpole Plus from Action Games combines the best of the company's earlier Quarterpole and Hooves of Thunder to create the ultimate horse racing simulation. Whether you want to simulate the experience of owning a horse stable, or just place bets from the sideline as a spectator, Quarterpole Plus is everything you have been looking for -and then some.

Here are just some of the staggering array of features in Quarterpole Plus: simulate up to 3,120 races a year (10 per day). Stakes, Handicaps, Claiming, Maiden, NW1/2 and Allowances are simulated, as well as different terrain (dirt and turf). The game includes a wide range of horses at all performance levels, categorized into front runners, stalkers, and closers. As in real life, each horse's performance varies from race to race but within its own range, and changes as it gets older. Also as in real life, race results depend on the horses' past performancem track conditions, pace, race positions, running styles, jockey and trainer patterns, weather, and just plain old luck :) If you just want to place bets, you can choose from standard or exotic bets including keys, wheels and parlays, or place casino-style bets (useful if you want to hedge their bets. If you want to play as a stable owner, you can pick trainer, jockey and silks, claim, buy or sell horses in private or at auctions, and enter your horses in races or let the trainer do that for you. The game keeps complete records of results charts and handicaps, and continuously updates horse and jockey records for you to peruse at any time.

If you are new to horse racing, don't panic. Quarterpole Plus includes an excellent on-line introductory course in handicapping, as well as comprehensive Windows help file that explains everything. The graphics are not superlative, but more than adequate to portray the action. The game even has a nice gallery featuring real-life artists' works about horses and horse racing. All in all, if you have just a passing interest in horse racing, Quarterpole Plus is simply a must-have.

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