Local Hall of Fame Horse Requirements and Speed Comparison

(This chapter covers the criteria for awarding Local Hall of Fame Horse titles, the established speed settings, comparisons between central and local races, and finally some transitional plot about heading to the capital. Skip it if you are not interested.)

As for the local circuit, aside from the information Zhang Jun already knew, the most important things were the requirements for Local Hall of Fame Horses and Huaxia's minimum requirements for stallions.

Huaxia's stallions either had to stand out from among 660,000 horses and win a Grade 1 race to become a central Iron Hall of Fame Horse, or achieve three CN1 or G2 victories during their careers.

(There should be roughly one such horse among every 1,060 active racehorses. With 200 to 210 stallions entering or retiring each year, plus those still active and the mares that received corresponding honors, the larger number of victories should offset the number of horses, so this should be about right.

The total number of stallions was maintained at around 3,250, with each one covering an average of sixty broodmares.

This figure was extrapolated from Japan's 9,196 active racehorses this year, 177 stallions in Derby Stallion, and 189 stallions in Winning Post 2025. [I couldn't find out how many active stallions Japan has; it should not differ by much. I had only just played from 2025 to 2028.]

An average stallion covered forty-eight to fifty-one mares per year, which felt a little low. Since I set age limits for active stallions and broodmares in Huaxia, I raised it to sixty.)

If they failed to meet the standard, then unless their bloodline descended from a Gold Hall of Fame Horse and the central authority personally preserved their lineage by selecting them as a stallion, they could only breed at their own ranch. They could not be registered as stallions and offered for outside breeding.

Local Hall of Fame Horses did not have the authority to freeze names and were only divided into Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

For the Bronze Hall of Fame, all that was needed was three CN1 victories or three central Grade 2 exchange race victories, the same requirement as for stallions.

The Silver Hall of Fame required at least six CN1 or G2 wins, including at least one victory in the Huaxia Breeders Series. Alternatively, a single win in a central-local exchange G1 would directly qualify a horse for the local Silver Hall of Fame.

The Gold Hall of Fame required more than ten CN1 or G2 victories, more than three exchange Grade 1 victories, or one Founding Celebration Series victory.

However, virtually no one fulfilled the latter two conditions. Most Hall of Fame Horses earned their status through more than ten CN1 or G2 victories.

After all, local racehorses had been filtered from the very beginning. Those capable of snatching a G1 victory while surrounded by powerful central horses were few indeed.

Having learned quite a bit from Luo Fei that he had not known before, Zhang Jun felt he had benefited greatly. After arranging to meet Luo Fei again tomorrow, he said goodbye and left.

On the way, Zhang Jun silently compared Shadow Hunter's peak attributes with those of Jianzhou Swift Cavalier, Jianzhou Senior General, the other two stallions at Jianzhou Ranch, and several mares that had won Grade 1 races.

He suddenly felt that Shadow Hunter would already be doing very well to earn a local Bronze Hall of Fame title. There was no need to hope for the central exchange races, since its most crucial speed attribute was far too lacking.

Jianzhou Swift Cavalier had a full B+ in speed, while every other visible attribute was above B as well, yet he had only won three central Grade 1 races. Jianzhou Senior General had A-rank speed and had still only claimed five central Grade 1 victories.

The other two stallions at Jianzhou Ranch were both central Iron Hall of Fame Horses, with speeds of C and B respectively. Jianzhou Vanguard, the one with C speed, had only won one short-distance Grade 1 race, and even that had come from an upset as the twelfth favorite.

Jian'an Flying General, with B speed, had only two Grade 1 victories as well. Both had come as one of the top three favorites, but his luck had been poor; he had lost several races by a nose, a head, or a neck.

Princess Jian'an, a broodmare who was likewise a central Bronze Hall of Fame Horse, also had B speed and had won four G1 races. However, her visible burst power was a full S rank, the highest Zhang Jun had seen so far.

Working backward from that, Zhang Jun concluded that winning a central Huaxia Grade 1 race required at least C-rank speed, and even then it was only possible. C+ was needed to reliably secure a victory.

B rank could guarantee multiple G1 wins, but to achieve Bronze Hall of Fame results, either the horse needed B+ speed and a sufficiently high ceiling, or its other attributes had to be high enough to compensate for its lack of speed.

To win the Founding Celebration Series and enter the Silver Hall of Fame, speed needed to be at least A rank. As for the Gold Hall of Fame, it probably required A+ speed, or A speed along with several A+ or higher attributes.

As for the Rainbow Hall of Fame, which no one had obtained to date, Zhang Jun felt that S-rank or S+-rank speed might be necessary.

Extending his reasoning to lower-level races, central G2 and local CN1 victories probably required D+ speed. C rank could guarantee a local Silver Hall of Fame title—several local Silver Hall of Fame Horses at Jianzhou Ranch had C speed.

By the same logic, G3 and CN2 race champions needed D-rank speed, the same as Shadow Hunter's current speed. However, Shadow Hunter's growth type was most likely early-late. After entering its peak period in the latter half of its three-year-old season, its speed could rise to D+, with a small chance of reaching C rank.

In other words, Shadow Hunter had a very high chance of winning a CN1 race and earning a local Bronze Hall of Fame title during its peak. There was even a small chance it could gather enough results for the local Silver Hall of Fame or the central Iron Hall of Fame.

Central open races and local CN3 races corresponded to E+ speed, while E rank was the level for local open races and central three-win races.

F+ was the level for local Class A races and central two-win horses. F was the level for local Class B Upper and Class B Middle groups and central one-win horses. G+ corresponded to local Class C Upper and Class B Lower groups, as well as central maiden races, while the lowest G rank was the level of local Class C Middle and Class C Lower groups.

Thinking of this, Zhang Jun suddenly felt that the horses that had appeared at the auction had actually been quite good. Several had E+ speed and could win CN3 races with total prize money of 1.8 to 2.4 million on the local circuit, yet their auction prices had only been two to three hundred thousand.

After returning home, Zhang Jun composed himself and went to bed. He silently swore that he would breed a racehorse with an S-rank speed attribute himself, make it a Huaxia Rainbow Hall of Fame Horse, and achieve something unprecedented, with no telling whether anyone would ever follow.

Early the next morning, just as the clock struck seven and a faint mist still hung in the sky, Zhang Jun got out of bed and headed for Jianzhou Ranch.

The flight Luo Fei had booked for Zhang Jun was scheduled to depart at eight thirty. Including the time needed to travel from the school to the ranch, from the ranch to the airport, and wait at the airport, it would take about an hour. Adding the time to wash up, seven o'clock was just right.

After washing up, Zhang Jun rode the small electric scooter he had specifically bought and kept at the school to Jianzhou Ranch.

Liu Li had already prepared breakfast for the four of them, all food that could be eaten in the car: steamed buns, mantou, soy milk, and some pickled side dishes. She was packing them individually when Zhang Jun arrived and greeted him.

Zhang Jun returned the greeting, then greeted Luo Heng as he came downstairs. After exchanging a few pleasantries while seated on the sofa, he accepted the breakfast Liu Li handed him and joined the others in Luo Fei's car to head for the airport.

As for Luo Yong, he had left for the capital the day before yesterday after the race to make preparations in advance.

The flight from Mindu to the capital took three hours. Luo Fei had bought four adjoining business-class tickets. He and Liu Li sat together as a couple, while Zhang Jun sat with Luo Heng.