The Road to Equinics 2024

by Darcy “dingo” Magee

2024 is an Olympics Year, and that of course means that in Derby Fever it has to be an Equinics Year.

With Mike and his henchman Frank planning some major changes with the game in 2024, (necessary changes both coding and economical wise), there was a lot of doubt early on in 2024, if the tradition of the Equinics would falter or continue this year.

First was the major overhaul to the Residency aspect of the game, with the ridiculously crazy list of Residencies finally being reduced to a very manageable 18 that were True and Active Residencies. There are definitely more changes to come before the ability to open a new Residency becomes available again. The outlook for the Equinics to go forward in 2024 was quite bleak in the early months. However, the majority of people spoke up loud and clear that they wanted the Equinics to be run, so a decision was made by Mike that we would have a 2024 Competition, but it would be as a slightly reduced format of Older Horses only, and 16 races. There were some minor glitches with who would run them this year and and into the future. The baton was passed from Chris (metallinut) at URC to Linton (dingo333) at DUR, and I would like to take this moment to thank Chris for his hard work since he took over the Equinics from Pastures of Green.

There is also another person who needs thanking who has remained mainly quietly in the background, Pete (denovo) He has been the keeper of the webpages databases and many other things that I am unaware of, so many thanks to you also Pete. Hopefully, once this abridged version of the Equinics is completed, Pete Mike Frank and myself, can organise an Equinics section in the new rewrite of Derby Fever’s webpages. This will keep the history of the Equinics alive and more readily accessible to all players rather than having it squirreled away on a single Residency’s website as has always been the case.

The Major Changes to This Year’s Equinics.

1. The shortened program of races as already mentioned
2. The removal of any entry fee / donation charged to the Residencies (and thus any Prize Credits)
3. The removal of a compulsory Equinics Diary to be completed by all Residencies that entered the Equinics

How have these changes effected the Equinics (the writer and organisers opinion only)

1. The shortened program is not optimal, but was necessary if we were to get an Equinics this year due to Mike and Frank having much more pressing items to contend with.
2. The removal of the entry fee / donations I believe should remain in effect and therefore so should the removal of any credit prizes. There was quite a disparity between the amounts donated from various people and Residencies over the years. These disparities have been known to cause friction at times between Residencies and individuals. This all created an unnecessary workload on those organising the Event and Mike having to step in at times to arbitrate. It also makes entry for the smaller Residencies much easier as evidenced by 16 of the 18 current Residencies submitting full teams into the Event. Of the 16 races all but one filled with 16 entries the remaining Race has 15 (URC missed out).
3. The removal of the compulsory Equinics Diary, it was made a voluntary aspect of these Equinics, and as evidenced by the lack of even a single submission, seems to be the correct decision. Again, this will reduce the workload tremendously on anyone organising this Event, as chasing Residencies for their “Diary” and in the relevant time slot was an extremely painful experience, I am sure.

Down Under Racing and The Equinics 2024 (a Diary of sorts)

As the 2^nd youngest of the current 18 Residencies, the shortened program of only utilising older horses probably affected us more than most. This is evidenced by the Graded Races won by our members so far this year as 26 of 44 races were 2 or 3 year old winners. With a lot of our members shifting their focus this year to breeding for the future rather than the amassing of Breeder Points, we will be coming for you all in 2026!

So here at DUR we come into the Equinics with low expectations but High Hopes for a couple of unlikely upsets. An example would be Kim who created his own personal catch cry on a recent twitch stream with Mike and Frank. Where being such a lovely man he wishes everyone Good Racing BUT don’t beat his F@*%ing horses!

One thing is certain though the Residents of DUR are all excited that The Equinics have arrived and we are all looking forward to the Event starting with a BANG on Thursday with Mike and Frank putting on another twitch stream to “LIVE” Broadcast the 1^st two Equinics Races – Starts 8:30 pm Game Time Thursday 13^th June. 1^st Equinics Race is scheduled for 9pm so don’t be late!

Kim our Resident Live Host is also Planning in conjunction with resident Rapscallion Pascal a Live Discord stream on the 15^th June for all DUR Residents. With “LIVE” Broadcasts of the 5 Equinics Races and our 2 Residency Races The Stradbroke Handicap and The Brisbane Cup.

I believe that Pascal will be hosting some Live HOT races as well on the day and I have heard a whisper there may be some special surprises afoot. So to all DUR Residents if you haven’t already, come join our discord server (a link is on our Forum) to join in the fun. Start Time is 13:00 Game Time Saturday 15^th June.

To keep the excitement alive for the 4 days of the Equinics DUR is running a Special Tipping Event, Unfortunately, this is open to DUR supporters only, Players select a horse in each Equinics Race and earn Points. Points will be awarded in each race on a

10 – 7 – 5 – 3 – 1 basis for 1^st to 5^th

Top Point Scorer wins a Prize horse using a 500 BP Sire and a Mare from the Residency Mare Pool, (if you select a Mare that has not been previously bred your sire can be 900 BP’s)

2nd Top Point Scorer wins a Prize horse using a 300 BP Sire and a Mare from the Residency Mare Pool (if you select a Mare that has not been previously bred your sire can be 500 BP’s)

3rd Top Point Scorer wins a Prize Horse bred by Yellow Dog using a Mare from the Residency Mare Pool

And There is MORE, for every point a player earns they will receive 5 credits

TO ALL PARTICIPANTS AND RESIDENCIES TAKING PART IN THE EQUINICS GOOD LUCK!!

AND TO PARAPHRASE KIM (BUT DON’T BEAT DUR’S F$*%ING HORSES!

          Equinics 2024 Webpage: https://downunderracing.weebly.com/equinics-2024.html

Equinics 2024 Results and Medal Tally: https://downunderracing.weebly.com/equinics-races.html

DUR Special Tipping Contest Scoresheet:  https://downunderracing.weebly.com/dur-equinics-tip.html