Unless you're a new fan of horse racing, you won't like this. Even if you are a new fan, you still might not like it.
Given that it had the Breeders' Cup logo and Tom Durkin doing to the race calling, I assumed it would be a great game. Many thoroughbred fans feel that it's a dying sport as it is, so why not put out a decent game to catch the interest of younger people and potential fans? This is could've been a great promotional tool for their sport, but they failed to do that.
You can't beat the price at $19.95, although someone will beat that when I return it for a credit, allowing someone to purchase it used. This isn't a game anyone would want to keep playing beyond the first few times. Thank God it wasn't $40-50 though, because I would've still purchased it (since I love horse racing) and been even more disappointed.
I think back to ESPN games from last year and know that a good game can be made for a relatively cheap price. Sure, there has to be added costs due to advertising and such, something ESPN probably was able to forgo because they cross-promote so much already. Still, I'd rather pay more for something that is appealing, regardless of the price, than to feel like I burned $20 over nothing.
The game is way too easy and you'll lose interest quicker than watching paint dry. There's really nothing to managing the stables, acquiring or breeding your horses, that even a novice shouldn't understand. In real life, it would cost way more to manage than the game lets on, so why not make it more life-like so a person doesn't get bored once they accumulate a $100 million bankroll in the game? At that point, what's the desire to wager any longer? To get up to $200 million?
If you're a beginner and want to learn how to wager, this is probably a good tool. The game offers every straight and exotic wager that most tracks implement. So, if you have the money (easy to do on career mode), why not practice on there if you are heading to your local track in the near future? That part of the game isn't too bad for a beginner.
As far as graphics, I'd rate them good, although I really don't have anything else to compare them against, like Gallop Racer (I'll have to find that game). Whether the simulated rain actually affects the track conditions or not, I can't tell, but I did like the outlay of the game.
Racing your horses can be too easy. Never mind if your horse is a stalker or closer. Just go to the front and try to control the pace by slowing things down a bit. It seems to work for me and I had more success that way.
I really don't think it would be asking too much to make it a bit more life-like. The ability to skip races would be nice if you don't want to bet on every single one of them. Maybe being able to ship horses to another track in the same week would be good too, since that's what happens in real life, especially since in the career mode you need three stakes wins to qualify for the Breeders' Cup at the end of the season. In the game, winning a stakes race, regardless of the purse amount, doesn't seem to qualify as a stakes win unless it's done in the feature (last) race. Therefore, if your stable has the cash, it would be great if you could actually spend the money to ship horses (or at least make the stakes races in earlier parts of the racing day eligible for qualification).
Lastly, the library of 2004 Breeders' Cup races is nice to watch, if you're into that sort of thing. However, it has nothing to do with the game.