| Horse Derby | ||
|---|---|---|
| Season | Summer and Winter | |
| Date | Summer | 5 days after the Summer Animal Show (third Wednesday of Summer) |
| Winter | 5 days after the Winter Animal Show (second or third Wednesday of Winter) | |
| Time | 12:00PM – 3:59PM | |
| Location | Equestrian Park | |
| Festival Items | N/A | |
| Prizes | Horse Derby Trophy, Horse Treats, villager Friendship points, horse Friendship and Training points | |
The Horse Derby is a horse racing festival that takes place in late Summer and Winter each year.
It’s a competition where equestrians ride their horses through a course to compete for the highest score.
The Horse Derby course differs depending on the season, but both courses can be completed more easily with higher Friendship and Training values with your horse.
How to Enter
On Summer 14 of your first year, Ramon will visit your house to offer a free horse. This will unlock the Equestrian Park, where you can take your horse to practice on the derby course up to three times a day.
On the day of the derby (in Summer or Winter), ride your horse to the Equestrian Park and speak to Felix near the entrance gate.
First-time entrants will only be able to compete in the Bronze course. But the Silver course becomes unlocked after winning Bronze, whereas the Gold course unlocks after winning Silver.
Horse Derby Event Details
The Horse Derby course differs depending on the season.
The Summer course is about optimizing jumps over obstacles, whereas the Winter course is all about collecting as many bells as possible.
Summer Course
Completing more jumps within the Summer horse race time limit makes speed an important factor for the Summer Course. But the biggest goal for the Summer course is to make consecutive successful jumps and build a larger combo. You’ll earn the most points by maintaining a combo of at least ten jumps or more.
Here is how the points break down in the Summer Horse Derby:
| Jump Combo | Score | Points per Jump |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Good | +100 |
| 3-9 | Excellent | +200 |
| 10+ | Amazing | +300 |
A combo of one to two jumps will add 100 points to each jump, while you’ll earn 200 points for an Excellent combo of three to nine jumps, and 300 points for an Amazing combo of ten or more.
The scoring requirements to win the Summer Horse Derby are displayed below; however, it’s important to note that these are the points required to guarantee placement based on the game’s official guide book. It may be possible to still win with a lower score.
| Rank | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze Rank | 3,001+ | 2,491 – 3,000 | 1,491 – 2,490 |
| Silver Rank | 6,001+ | 4,991 – 6,000 | 3,491 – 4,990 |
| Gold Rank | 9,001+ | 8,491 – 9,000 | 5,491 – 8,490 |
Winter Course
The Winter course will have a series of bells placed along the track. Each bell earns you:
| Points | Type of Bell |
|---|---|
| +20 | Yellow Bell |
| +200 | Red Bell |
Unlike the Summer course, there are no combos with the Winter course. So just focus on collecting as many red bells as possible for the highest score.
The scoring requirements to win the Winter Horse Derby are displayed below; however, it is important to note that these are the points required to guarantee placement based on the game’s official guide book. It may be possible to still win with a lower score.
| Rank | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze Rank | 4,501+ | 3,991 – 4,500 | 2,491 – 3,990 |
| Silver Rank | 9,001+ | 8,491 – 9,000 | 5,491 – 8,490 |
| Gold Rank | 11,501+ | 10,991 – 11,500 | 6,991 – 10,990 |
Prizes & Perks
The exact prizes you get will vary based on your placement and the number of times you’ve already won. But you have the same prize pools for both the Summer & Winter horse races.
Trophies can only be won once; however there are different trophies for 1st/2nd/3rd place, and different trophies for the the Summer and Winter variants of the derby. Thus there are a total of six trophies to win overall.
Bronze Rank (Prizes)
| Place | Rewards |
|---|---|
| 1st |
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| 2nd |
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| 3rd |
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Silver Rank (Prizes)
| Place | Rewards |
|---|---|
| 1st |
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| 2nd |
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| 3rd |
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Gold Rank (Prizes)
| Place | Rewards |
|---|---|
| 1st |
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| 2nd |
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| 3rd |
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Titles
Participating in the Horse Derby (in either season) will also earn you a Horse Rider title, regardless of your placement.
Earning at least 11,000 points in the Summer Horse Derby will earn you the Summer Champion title, whereas earning at least 10,000 points win the Winter Horse Derby will earn you the Winter Champion title.
