Beta Racing Classes V.1
**Originally published 2020/07/08**
Beta Racing has seen over 1,500 races have been successfully run and with that, a hell of a lot of data and community feedback.
Today, we are excited to be launching the evolution of racing by introducing the first iteration of Classes (v1).
Our objective is to build a racing community that motivates and encourages everyone to race.
If you are new to ZED, it is essential that you check out our Racing Guide in order to get your stable of racehorses race ready!
What are Racing Classes?
The introduction of racing classes is intended to make racing more competitive by allowing comparable racehorses to compete against one another.
To ensure competitiveness remains lucrative, both lower tier and higher tier classes have the opportunity to compete for similar prize pools; you do not have to have a strong performing racehorse to be able to race for bigger prize pools.
Important:
- With the introduction of Beta Racing Classes (v1), all racehorses will be automatically placed into classes based on their past performance.
- Once ZED comes out of Beta, all race statistics and classes assigned to each racehorse in the ZED ecosystem will be reset.
How does Beta Racing Classes work?
Beta racing classes will work as a sliding scale — the more consistently your racehorse performs, it will begin to graduate into higher classes. If your racehorses perform inconsistently, it will be relegated to lower classes and will have to work its way up the ranks again.
For example, a consistent racehorse is described as a racehorse that finishes from 1st to 5th. An inconsistent racehorse is a racehorse that finishes from 9th to 12th.
How many Racing Classes are there?
As we begin to roll out classes (v1), we will be initially releasing three tiers (3) of racing classes:
- Griffin
- Class I
- Class II
To see what class your racehorse is in, visit the nomination module/popup from the buy-in page as seen below:
We are aware that this is not the ideal way to see which class your racehorse is in, however, we are adding a class filter functionality from every user’s stable in a future update!
What Race Class can I race in?
Griffin Class
The Griffin Class refers to a racehorse that has never placed in a race. A place is defined as a racehorse finishing 1st, 2nd 3rd or 4th. If your racehorse finishes in any of these positions, it will progress to the next class, being Class I.
The purpose of the Griffin Class is to allow a level playing field for new community members that join ZED and also gives a chance for newly bred foals to be competitive. However, if you are a confident stable owner and believe that your racehorse can go toe-to-toe with the best, then you can also enter Class I and Class II races.
Class I
Class I is where a racehorse has placed either 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th in a Griffin race. To enter Class I, you must continue to race in a Griffin race until a place of 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th is achieved, at which point your racehorse will graduate to a Class I ranking.
Class I racehorses are also eligible to race in either Class I or Class II events but not Griffin races.
Please note that if you do not perform well in Class I races, your racehorse will again regress to Griffin status.
Class II
A Class II racehorse is described as any racehorses that have consistently placed in the top four (4) positions in Class I races.
Class II racehorses can only participate in Class II races only. As with all classes, your racehorse can regress into lower classes if it does not perform well consistently.
To achieve a Class II ranking will take time-based on how often you race and how well your racehorse performs.
Which racehorses are eligible
On the buy-in page, we have added race class filters as well as an additional column to identify the class of any given race.
To see what races your racehorse(s) are eligible to compete in, simply click on any free gate number so that the nominate a racehorse module/pop-up appears. Within this module, you will notice a warning (!) icon will appear if you are entering a lower class racehorse into a higher classed race (i.e. you are entering a Class I racehorse into a Class II race).
For larger stable owners, we have made it easier to see which racehorses are eligible to race in by hitting the same class only toggle switch. Doing so will display the eligible racehorses that are ready to race from your stable.
An important note
We want to reiterate that racing classes (v1) is in Beta. What this means is that as we gather more data, we will continue to improve how racing classes will work. Once we get closer to finalising our classes system, we will share the finer detail with the community.
The future of Racing Classes
Classes will play a pivotal role in ZED and as such we will be continuously working towards the following:
- Introduction of additional classes
- Refining the ‘sliding scale’ system
- Adjust the minimum class entry requirement
- Displaying class status against each individual racehorse in a stables
- Creating a range of prize pools that are specific to certain classes
- Creating Class-based events
Frequently asked questions
Q: I just bought a racehorse, how do I know what class it can race in?
A: If a racehorse is newly born or has never raced, it will a be Griffin classed racehorse. You can also click on any race from the buy-in page and if a gate is free, simply click on it to bring up the nominations module/pop up. From here only your eligible racehorses will appear.
Q: Can my racehorse compete in any races?
A: Every racehorse in ZED is assigned to a racing Class. Only eligible racehorses can compete in certain races. Ensure your racehorse is in the correct racing class before selecting which race to enter from the buy-in page.
Q: I cannot see any of my racehorses being eligible! Help!
A: You need to ensure your racehorse is ‘race ready’ from your stable. To learn more about making your racehorse ‘race-ready’ please check out Racing Guide here.
Q: Why can my lower-class racehorse compete in higher class races?
A: Stable owners may consider that their racehorse(s) is ready to compete against a stronger field of participants. If you have a Class I racehorse, you do have the ability to race against racehorses in Class II races and above.
Q: My racehorse is a God! I need more Classes!
A: Yes we know. More classes and class types are coming!
