Blacraft Forum

New Years 2020 - Leikigo
Okaloi Raceway

Okaloi Raceway is a purpose-built track, designed with spectating in mind and taking into account the various shortcomings of previous New Years tracks. This year, the horses from the Vrus and Alteus New Years events were transported to Leikigo to create what is known as the New Years Racing Herd, a group of eight horses with similar speeds specifically for the purpose of horse racing on Blacraft. They were named in a contest where members could contribute and then vote on permanent names to be used for the race horses. Yqt1001 contributed the necessary nametags and therefore was allowed to name a horse whatever he wanted. The winners of the naming contest were Dinnerbone, Crippling Anxiety, Yqt1001, No Strats Just Skill, 2020 Vision, and Horsey McHorseface. Yqt chose to name a horse The Hero of Central Blacraft. Due to the addition of an eighth, unplanned horse, another name—Grayson—was chosen by Yqt. Dinnerbone, Yqt1001, No Stats Just Skill, Horsey McHorseface, and Grayson had participated in past races (Vrus, Alteus, or both). Crippling Anxiety, 2020 Vision, and The Hero of Central Blacraft were new horses added to the Herd and had their debut here in Leikigo.

Like the previous two races, this year's race was planned to be run with two qualifying heats and a final heat. Since the Okaloi Raceway is pretty short, the qualifying heats were to consist of six competitors racing for three laps, with four competitors qualifying to the final from each heat. The final heat was planned to be five laps long. The races were primarily officiated by Kalassak, however Tuto and Ganxi did the countdown and released the starting gate.

The first heat ran without incident, however after the second heat it was noted that one horse which had not run at any previous New Years events, The Hero of Central Blacraft, was much faster than the rest of the field, despite speed testing prior to the event. It was decided that the horse would be removed from competition in the final, reducing the field from eight to seven. This meant that the 4th place qualifiers would need to face off in a Head to Head to decide the seventh finalist.

Heat 1 Results (3 laps)

01	Ventus	Q	The Hero of Central Blacraft
02	l_l	Q	Yqt1001
03	Kalassak	Q	2020 Vision
04	susxy	HtH	Horsey McHorseface
05	Blanoxium	DNQ	Crippling Anxiety
06	Ganxi	DNQ	Grayson

Heat 2 Results (3 laps)

01	Tuto99	Q	The Hero of Central Blacraft
02	Yqt1001	Q	Dinnerbone
03	Darvince	Q	Horsey McHorseface
04	Tugagon	HtH	Crippling Anxiety
05	AeV	DNQ	No Strats Just Skill
06	bryonj2255	DNQ	2020 Vision

After the incredible performance by The Hero of Central Blacraft, the new horse was disallowed from participating in the final, resulting in the creation of a two lap Head to Head event between susxy and Tugagon.

Head to Head Results (2 laps)

01	Tugagon	Q	No Strats Just Skill
02	susxy	DNQ	Horsey McHorseface

The Head to Head race was extremely close. With Tugagon in the lead on the uphill straight before the final corner, No Strats Just Skill reared, allowing susxy to pass. However the crowd got another shock as Horsey McHorseface reared shortly thereafer, returning Tugagon to the lead on the front straight, resulting in his win and qualification to the final.

Final Results (5 laps)

Pl	Jockey	Horse	Total
01	Kalassak	Grayson	1:57
02	Darvince	Yqt1001	1:58
03	l_l	Horsey McHorseface	1:58
04	Tuto99	Crippling Anxiety	1:58
05	Yqt1001	Dinnerbone	1:58
06	Ventus	2020 Vision	2:00
07	Tugagon	No Strats Just Skill	2:01

Despite the 5 lap long race, the field in the final all finished very close. On the final lap, much like the drama in the Head to Head, just before the final turn Crippling Anxiety reared while Tuto was the leader of the race, resulting in him dropping to fourth in a photo-finish across the line less than a head in front of Yqt1001. Positions beyond the top 3 were not originally able to be tallied at the time of the finish. Review of footage recorded by Bla allowed for the completion of the results tally.

After the completion of the race, a ceremony was held to present the winners of the heats and the top 3 finishers in the final with trophy banners. The banners were a vertical rendition of the Dotrugan flag, with a green and red border superimposed for the heat winner trophies or a bronze, silver, or gold flower superimposed on the flag for the podium finishers of the final.