Jockeys and the jockey bond
You ride the race, but there's a jockey on the horse's back, and the jockey's hands make a difference. In Padooko every jockey has a style, a moment where they shine and a fee. Putting the right jockey in the right race can mean finishing a place or two higher with the same horse. This guide covers the jockeys, how to choose one, and the jockey bond.
What does a jockey do?
A jockey doesn't give your horse new speed; a jockey helps it make better use of what it has. One jockey widens the rhythm window, so the urge is easier to time. Another sharpens the break from the gate, another saves breath over a long trip or keeps the horse calm in traffic. Each jockey's card shows their effects as signs, like "RHYTHM WINDOW ++": the number of signs tells you how big the effect is.
The jockey isn't part of the power value that balances fields. A good jockey won't move you into a stronger field; they give you a real advantage in the same one. You can also race without a jockey: no fee, but no help either.
Jockey fees
Jockeys ride for a fee per race. The fee is set aside when you enter; if you withdraw or the race is cancelled it comes back, and if the race is run it's paid. Fees vary with a jockey's reputation. Padooko Plus members pay reduced jockey fees.
The signature moment
Every jockey has a moment in the race where they shine: some at the start, some on the turn, some in the straight. When that moment comes, the jockey's signature appears on screen: "Wild Charge," "Kayser's Turn," "Flying Finish" and so on. A signature isn't a new rule; it's the name of something the jockey already does well. The mud specialist's signature only shows on soft and heavy going.
The roster
Padooko has ten jockeys: five from Türkiye and five from around the world. Five ride for any yard; five ride for Padooko Plus yards only.
| Jockey | From | Style | Signature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emin Delibaş | Türkiye | Fearless: pushes the start and the finish, impatient in traffic | Wild Charge |
| Hamit Polat | Türkiye | Wrists of steel: saves breath over a long trip, keeps the rhythm to the end | Steel Lungs |
| Süha Kayser | Türkiye | Master of forty seasons: a bit of everything, takes the turn clean | Kayser's Turn |
| Will Cobbler | World | Featherweight: adds a little top speed, costs stamina | Silk Rein |
| Rico Terra | World | A man for every surface: at his best on heavy going | Mud Dance |
| Salim Kayacan | Türkiye | Plus jockey; master of rhythm, widens the urge window the most | Perfect Sync |
| Halim Taşkara | Türkiye | Plus jockey; never panics in a crowd, finds the gap when boxed in | Wizard's Path |
| Franco Volante | World | Plus jockey; big-day showman, a pinch extra in a head-to-head finish | Flying Finish |
| Yuta Takeda | World | Plus jockey; a genius of the front-running escape, a sharp start | Wire to Wire |
| Lex Longfellow | World | Plus jockey; derby master, patient in a rival's draft | Derby Patience |
The jockeys' names and personalities are the game's own fiction.
Which jockey for which horse?
Choose by horse and by race:
- Sprints and front-runners: jockeys who sharpen the start. Getting away well is half a sprint.
- Long distance: jockeys who save breath and hold the rhythm for a long time. A featherweight who adds top speed but costs stamina is usually the wrong call over a long trip.
- Closers: jockeys who wait patiently in the draft and open up in the straight, strengthening the finish.
- Nervy horses: jockeys who bring calm in traffic reduce the cost of getting boxed in.
- Heavy going: the mud specialist is weak on firm ground, useful on soft, and the best choice on heavy. Decide by the going on the race card. See Tracks.
- Riders who struggle with the rhythm: a jockey who widens the rhythm window cuts down the misses and lands the urge more often.
The jockey bond
The more a horse and a jockey race together, the better they get to know each other. That's the jockey bond. With every race, a jockey gets a little more in tune with a particular horse, and the jockey's effects grow stronger for that horse. The bond is complete after ten races together; the "Jockey bond" section on the horse's page shows how many races it has run with each jockey ("4/10 races," for example) and how much stronger the bond has made them, in words: "a bit stronger," "much stronger," "strong bond" and finally "perfect bond."
The bond belongs to the horse and goes wherever it goes. If you sell a horse, the bonds it built with its jockeys go with it. A bond makes a jockey's effect bigger but never changes its direction: a jockey who costs stamina costs more as the bond grows.
The practical upshot: once you've chosen a jockey for a horse, sticking with them usually beats switching every race. A jockey with a perfect bond can get a better result than one who looks a little stronger on paper but is a stranger to the horse.
Plus jockeys
Five jockeys ride for Padooko Plus yards only. If your Plus membership ends and your horse's default jockey is a Plus jockey, the horse runs without a jockey at its next entry; you can then pick one of the jockeys for hire. A Plus jockey never makes a horse run worse than it would with no jockey, but doesn't promise a win either: the race is still won by your hands.
How to use a jockey's moments in a race is covered in Race tactics, and a horse's tack in Gear.