Get ready for the Grand National with Starters Orders

It’s less than a fortnight until one of the most anticipated events in the horse racing calendar year takes place. The Grand National, at Aintree in the UK, is a handicap race that is set over four miles, three and a half furlongs and it’s one of the most difficult steeple chase races around.

It attracts more than 600 million TV viewers who watch the race live, along with the thousands of people who actually go to Aintree on the day. Betfair and other betting sites expect to see frantic activity on their sites in the lead-up to the big race. And for any Grand National fans, it’s good timing that the new Starters Orders game from Strategic Designs Ltd will be released in beta version in late April.

Starters Orders 6 is the latest update in the in-depth horse racing game series and will be the first to feature 3D race sequences. A little bit like Football Manager, Starters Orders puts the player in control of making decisions on all aspects of managing a race horse, from breeding through training and owning to the actual racing and betting.

The last version to be released was Starters Orders 5 in 2012, which featured a 40 runner field for the first time, making it possible to simulate the Grand National for the first time. There are hundreds of different world-class races that can be played on the game, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Melbourne Cup, the Breeders Cup and many more.

Players have the choice of playing alone or in an online league with other players. There’s a choice of flat or jumps and you can choose to play in UK, Irish, US or Australian game mode. To add to the authenticity of the player experience, the game also has features such as stewards’ enquiries, photo finishes, non-triers and accurate handicapping.

If you can’t wait for Starters Orders 6 to be released, you could always trial the Starters Orders 5 for free for a week, but with only a few weeks to go, you may as well hold out to purchase until Starters Orders 6 becomes available.