What would be a reason for a horse not finishing a race two times in a row, other then injury obviously, and assuming they were entered with an A for energy?
A known bug. 
lol ok
Is it a bug that is specific to that horse or completely random?
I had the same thing happen today with Little Miss Chrome. She hasn’t finished both of her races, so I’m wondering if I should just not race her until the bug is fixed.
Random.
I know you said it was random but my colt Vertigo hasn’t finished 3 times in a row. I’ve entered him with an A for energy every time. His last race I don’t think he ever left the starting gate. Is it possible that something else is wrong?
Thanks
Fleet Feet
I don’t know about that, but you’re probably wearing him out shipping him back and forth from the stable to a track every week or so. Try leaving him at home for over a month and see if he’ll do better.
You may also try and enter him in some shorter races. I had a horse that DNFed twice in a row when I tried to enter them in longer races and as soon as I started entering them in shorter races they started winning again. So maybe until the bug is cleared steer him towards 8F and shorter races. If you notice the two races he finished were at 8 and 8.5…all the others that he DNFed in were 9F and longer.
Well it’s just that he was doing so well before and now he hasn’t even finished in 3 starts and never left the gate today. He always regains his energy back quickly and I’m not shipping him that far. That could be a reason but I feel like there’s something else that is wrong.
That doesn’t matter. Every time you ship him, he loses Natural Energy. Basically the energy you see, A or not, is his physical energy. Natural energy is more of a mental energy, whether or not he feels like running or not, despite having really good fitness. It is a factor and it will decrease performance.
I understand that, but would it keep him from leaving the gate completely? I doubt it.
DNF doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t leave the gate. It just means he didn’t want to run, most likely because he has negative NE or he doesn’t like his distance (or both).
The horse only did not finish the race if the very last line says DNF. The only things that will cause this to happen is if the horse breaks a leg or has a heart attack. Running the entire race in last place does not mean that the horse never left the starting gate.
I agree that giving the horse even 2-3 weeks of solid farm time is a good idea. I believe it’s also remotely possible that he’s over his peak. I forget what the minimum age to start a decline in abilities is, but it’s possible that’s what’s going on. Personally I’d run him under 8.5f and on the lead.
Lol, Andrea he’s only 3 I think it’s 5 or 6.
No, I know it’s at least 4. Because the old code used to guarantee that the horse would be mature for one year (3yo). I think the new code has a lot more variability (ie some horses now don’t mature until 4 or 5, some are done at 4, etc). I just don’t know what the earliest a horse can start to decline is.
If I have a horse that does really well as a 2yo or early 3yo but then starts doing a lot worse, I tend to assume that the horse was an early maturer and so could bully the younger horses around, but that then all the horses matured so the horse doesn’t have that advantage anymore. Since in this case the horse went from winning/placing stakes races to coming in last in allowances, I have to wonder if horse has gone past it’s prime as well as the others maturing. Just like with real horses, 2yo champions rarely (with the exception of Street Sense) hold up/succeed at the highest levels as 3yos.
I’m just going off form here though, so it could completely be a need for a month at the barn resting plus a change in running styles to run on the lead.
Really? I did not know that! Learn something new every day 
The code does still guarantee at least one “year” (though not nec. 12 calendar months, I don’t think) of maturity. That doesn’t mean your horse can’t be mature in Feb of 2yo year and past its prime in June 3yo year, though. And yes, horses can be immature from ages 2-5, and has-been from ages 3-10.
Shanthi,
so is there no possibility this might be a bug?
thanks,
Fleet Feet
Yes, the DNF is a known bug.
Except her horse is not DNFing at the end of the race, he’s simply coming in last.
There is no bug in the race code that would let it “pick on” a particular horse.