Your stable is 6 horses and 2 jockeys, chosen from the game card each race week. You have a total budget of £100m to spend across the whole stable. You can spend it all or hold some back — a full bank sits with you and can be used later in the week if you sell a horse (see Sales).

One horse per race. You can’t back two horses in the same race hoping one wins. If you pick a horse in the 15:40 you can’t also pick another from that race — the game grey-outs the rest of the field to remind you.

One of your six horses is your NAP — the horse you’re most confident about. The NAP’s points are doubled. Pick it right and you set the tone; pick it wrong and you feel it more than any other choice.

Why: The one-per-race rule is the constraint that gives the game its shape. Without it you could back the whole field of a big handicap; with it you have to choose.