What are externals???

Externals (Start/Corner/Out of the Box/Competing/Tenacious/Spurt)- Breeding externals are the symbols that show up for upon retirement and when breeding.

Each are set by the formula (sire+dam)/2. For example, El Condor Pass has a 9 for his start external and Ferranti's Folly has a 15. Using the formula, (9+15)/2,

the child of these 2 will have a 12 for its Start external (represented by a single circle).

Breeding externals never change throughout the life cycle of the horse, unless it becomes over-bred.

They are set at birth using the formula.

Racing externals are the blue lines that symbolize how strong your horse is while it is racing.

At birth, the computer multiplies each stat by 2 and throws a random +/- factor in for each horse, which explains why horses bred from the same parents don't always have the same racing externals at birth.

These only apply while the horse is racing. Once retired, all you will see are the breeding externals.

More information on externals or stats.

Start
Basically this stat is important for the beginning the race. The higher this stat is, the more your horse will jump out at the start.

Cornering
This is one of the most important stats your horse can have. The higher this stat is, the less speed your horse will lose when going around corners. If this stat is low,you could lose up to 5 horse lengths when hitting the first corner.

Out Of Box
This is how well your horse maneuvers through the cluster of horses. A high out of the box and your horse will maneuver it's way through the horses ahead of it, instead of getting stuck behind a horse and not able to move. (young horses will often get caught on the horse ahead of them and dragged back to the back of the pack. The higher the OOB is, the less this will happen. Very important stat for Last Spurt's and Stretch Runners)

Competing
There is some discussion on this. But this is my opinion. Competing helps your horse run faster when chasing down the leader, or staying ahead of the other horses during the race. (I believe that in the last 100 meters the level of competing isn't as important as others believe it is. But during the Race a high competing will help your horse chase down the leader. A low competing can be supplemented by strong jockey skills and knowing the horse)

Tenacious
This is the toughness of your horse. There are some trade offs on this stat. The higher the stat is, the more often you can whip the horse. The higher the stat is the better the horse will run in the red-zone of the whip meter. However, the trade off on this is that the higher the tenacious, the less effective each whip is. A low tenacious, and each whip is more effective. However, you can't whip the horse as often. And if you get into the Red zone of the whip, you run the danger of the horse giving up and slowing down tremendously.

Spurt
Pure and simple speed. The higher this is, the faster the horse will run. The higher this is, the more effective the Whip is as well.