Announcing the arrival of the EAAA residency.<\/U><\/STRONG><\/P> This week sees the start of the inaugural EAAA Residency<\/A><\/STRONG> trainer’s competition and to celebrate the event, I asked a few of the new members why exactly they wanted to join up with a new <\/EM>residency rather than a well established community with lots of Credits and Horses to give to their members.<\/P> The answer seemed to be plain and simple – the members didn’t want the track entry restrictions imposed by most residencies. With every non-US track officially deemed an EAAA track, the choice is far wider allowing for the trainers to pick the best races available to run their charges.<\/P> As could be expected, the early member list consists of mainly non-US players but it is not exclusive! Some US-based players expressed a desire to join because they felt the European racing scene represented a challenge. With plenty of turf routes to aim at on the circuit, there are plenty of opportunities of getting the very best out of those well-bred juveniles on the tracks their parents made history.<\/P> Even at this early stage, the ranks are swelling with players eager to build a successful team and the residency is already planning to throw a few ‘spanners’ into the works when the Equinics comes along. They might not be winning many but it won’t be lack of ambition that holds them back!<\/P> At this point, I think it is time I substituted the word ‘we’ for ‘they’ – yes, I was impressed by the ideas and hailing from the shores of the UK, there was only one residency for me! I don’t just jump in to things and the first thing I wanted to know was why Roddick thought we needed a new residency: We now have a good mix of experience and ambitious ‘noobies’ all with something to contribute and all willing to share and discuss the ideas on the residency forum. The newer players have brought some valuable new ideas into the breeding threads which may have been overlooked by the veterans – when you start this game, you want the cheapest you can find that may just produce a decent looking type and the thread was soon flowing with overlooked breeding lines that seemed natural compliments to each other. The progeny of these ideas will soon be representing the EAAA stables!<\/P> Alongside the new trainers contest, there are two weekly competitions – a speed rating comp for non-stakes winners and a tricky little trifecta competition. No one has yet managed the 1,2,3 in the right order but if you had boxed up the 4 most suggested horses in the last fortnight, you would be significantly richer!<\/P> Starting a new residency is not an easy task and Roddick was understandably disheartened at first when only a couple of players signed up in the first week. He stuck with it and launched the site and has been rewarded with a (currently) small but knowledgable membership; each with something to contribute in raising the profile of the European circuit. Hopefully after reading this article, you may be persuaded to pop by and see what’s on offer – we look forward to your visit.<\/P> Drop in to the forum<\/FONT><\/A> and feel free to ask any questions.<\/P> Olwhisper reporting from the ‘new home’ of European racing.<\/P>“This residency is a chance for new players to get into a residency, for old players to find something new that interests them, and for everyone to have fun while playing this great game.
One final reason, and this isn’t as much of a reason as the above, is that to me, when I look at races, the races on the EAAA side always seeemed to have shorter fields and more less than even money favorites, so I was kind of trying to improve the racing class over here to even it out.”<\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/P>