Black Desert Online – Horse Racing Guide (Old Moon Grand Prix)

Horse Racing is a main Horse feature along with Horse Training in Black Desert Online. The previous horse racing system was available in the game for years, but unfortunately, it lost its popularity over the years, so it got a rework and the Old Moon Grand Prix started working in live servers!

In Old Moon Grand Prix, you can pit your knowledge and skills against other players, and get valuable prizes in return! This system, unlike before, is more focused on the player’s skills and reflexes than on the horses themselves, as everyone can take the same horses to the race. Old Moon Grand Prix is a horse race where 5–10 adventurers compete against each other on a racetrack.

If you are new to the fantastic and immersive world of Black Desert Online or would like to read more about the basics of horse training, I recommend that you read our previous articles on the subject. Last but not least, if you want to awaken your own T9 or T10 horse, read our Tier 9 & Tier 10 horse awakening guide!

1. Getting started

There is only one condition for participation, namely that at least one race horse must be in your possession. Race Horses can be bought from Gula, the Stable Keeper at Stonetail Horse Ranch, and it costs 30 million silver. It is not necessary to sit on the horse when you register for the race, and it is enough for the horse to be checked in at a stable.

Simply buy a Horse Emblem: Giorga Brisa from Gula at Stonetail Horse Ranch, or from Miles at the Old Moon Grand Prix entrance, and register the emblem at their stable. You can now keep up to maximum of 5 race horses in the stable as it has 5 slots.

2. Race horse types

Racing horses are fundamentally different from the basic horses in the game. They are currently tier 1, they cannot level up or bred like other horses, but they cannot even use autopath. They have specific skills, which are very useful at horse tracks, but although they can be used outside of races, they are not useful here. If you still want to improve on them, you can only do so by upgrading their equipment.

2.1. Giorga Brisa

2.2. Viento, Rafaga & Tempesta

At the Heidel Ball: AT HOME – 2020 Update Roadmap, the developers have announced that these varieties will also arrive in the future. As soon as they arrive, we will update our list.

3. Race horse mechanics

Gear Display: shows what level of speed your horse is currently at. It has a total of 6 stacks
Gear Gauge: it will fill up over time when your horse is running. You must press Q when the bar fills up, and the popped up mark shows you to change to the next speed level
Health Bar: shows you the horses’ health
Stamina Bar: shows you the horses’ stamina

Every race horse has their own unique “Power of Wind” and a gauge that will slowly charge as you sprint and drift in the race. Large amounts of “Power of Wind” can be charged while drifting as long as you can.  Once the “Power of Wind” gauge becomes full, “Sweeping Movement” can be activated. When used, it will immediately propel the horse into a fast frontal sprint. Use the “Power of Wind” and “Sweeping Movement” as a strategy to win the race.

In practice, all you have to do is stack up the Gear Display (up to 6 stacks), and then use F (Sweeping Movement) until your Stamina bar lasts. The timing is so important in the case of stacking the Gear Display because if you hit the ‘Q’ button too earlier (when the ‘Q’ mark does not jump up next to the Gear Display), the horse will slow down. If you can, keep the Sweeping Movement (F) ability on straight sections because while casting it, the horse becomes difficult to control.

But just as you can get stacks, you can also drop them: if you use Drift (← or → + ↓ while Running) when your Gear Display is not at the highest level. Short drifts will slow down the speed of the horse so use it with care.

4. Taking part in a race

There are 2 ways to open the Horse Racing window:

ESC menu → Life → Select Old Moon Grand Prix menu,
or
press the Race Icon on the top-right side of the screen (like the picture above).

And now that the horse racing window has opened, you have the option to select the track where you want to race. Select it, but don’t forget the only condition for participation that I mentioned above (own at least one Race Horse) and then click the Enter button. If all goes well, you will soon be teleported to the entrance of the Old Moon Grand Prix.

5. Inside the Race

When you arrive at the starting line, you can see the gathering racers and of course Miles, the special Stable Keeper of Old Moon Grand Pix entrance. Take out the horse from him, and move to the starting line, the race will be starting soon.

A 3-minute waiting time will be first granted when the first participant enters the waiting room. Every time another participant enters the room, another 3 minutes will be added to the waiting time. No more waiting time will be added once there are more than 5 participants. Two pop-up messages indicate the start of the race, one that shows 1 minute left before the race begins, and one that signals the last 30 seconds before the start.

During the race, you cannot do certain actions, you cant use auto path and etc. You can exit from the race with the ESC button.

You must pass every single checkpoint because if you reach the finish line by missing one of them, your race will be invalid.

Race Rules:

• The race starts once Waiting Time ends.
• If there are less than 5 riders, the race is canceled after Waiting Time.
• If there are more than 10 riders, the race begins despite Waiting Time.
• Players who leave during a race or while waiting will not be able to enter the racetrack for 3600 minutes.
• Riders forfeit the race automatically if unmounted for 1 or more minutes after race begins.

At the top of your left screen, there is an Escape button. Use it when you get stuck, it teleports you to the right way. Its cooldown time is 5 seconds.

6. Rewards

When the competition ends, you can see a leaderboard on the screen. The rewards will be sent via the Black Spirit’s Safe.

• 1st place: High Wind Grand Prix Box
• 2nd place: Windy Grand Prix Box
• 3rd place: Draughty Grand Prix Box
• 4th-10th place: Breezy Grand Prix Box
• Failed to finish: Wispy Grand Prix Box

Inside the boxes:

• High Wind Grand Prix Box: Grand Prix Gold Trophy x1; Old Moon Grand Prix Coin x24; Grand Prix Participant Certificate x1
• Windy Grand Prix Box: Grand Prix Silver Trophy x1; Old Moon Grand Prix Coin x15; Grand Prix Participant Certificate x1
• Draughty Grand Prix Box: Grand Prix Bronze Trophy x1; Old Moon Grand Prix Coin x10; Grand Prix Participant Certificate x1
• Breezy Grand Prix Box: Old Moon Grand Prix Coin x5; Grand Prix Participant Certificate x1
• Wispy Grand Prix Box: Old Moon Grand Prix Coin x1; Grand Prix Participant Certificate x1

Exchange Old Moon Grand Prix Coins at NPC Gula:

• Exchange x2: Swaying Wind Shard x1
• Exchange x2: Rumbling Earth Shard x1
• Exchange x2: Wind Dew x1
• Exchange x10: [Race Horse] Giorgiaro Champron x1
• Exchange x10: [Race Horse] Giorgiaro Barding x1
• Exchange x10: [Race Horse] Giorgiaro Saddle x1
• Exchange x10: [Race Horse] Giorgiaro Stirrups x1
• Exchange x10: [Race Horse] Giorgiaro Horseshoe x1
• Exchange x40: Stonetail Wind’s Meal x1
• Exchange x40: Stonetail Tonic x1

Grand Prix Participant Certificate can be exchanged for a certain amount of Training Skill EXP with Gula, the Stable Keeper at Stonetail Horse Ranch.

The description of the three different colored trophies states that “You’ll be able to exchange trophies for specific items in future updates” so don’t sell them to Vendor.

Reachable Titles for different achievements

7. Race tracks

Balenos: Velia Coastal Cave

• Start & Finish line: Velia
• Number of checkpoints: 13
• Difficulties: 180-degree turns, sharp turns, the cave and cliffside
• Approximate duration: 2-3 mins
• Max Participants: 10

Calpheon: Anti-Troll Fortification

• Start & Finish line: Calpheon
• Number of checkpoints: 12
• Difficulties: lots of objects inside the city,  sharp turns, small archway, flying catapult stones
• Approximate duration: 3 mins
• Max Participants: 10

Mediah: Stonetail Horse Ranch

• Start & Finish line: Stonetail Horse Ranch
• Number of checkpoints: 9
• Difficulties: a lot of fences, rocks, and buildings
• Approximate duration: 3 mins
• Max Participants: 10

8. Race gear

Race horses use Giorgiaro Set. The set consists of 5 parts and each part can be purchased for x10 Old Moon Grand Prix coins from NPC Gula.

[Race Horse]Giorgiaro Barding: Increases Movement Speed based on enhancement.

[Race Horse]Giorgiaro Champron: Increases Acceleration based on enhancement.

[Race Horse]Giorgiaro Horseshoe: Increases Movement Speed based on enhancement.

[Race Horse]Giorgiaro Stirrups: Increases Brake based on enhancement.

[Race Horse]Giorgiaro Saddle: Increases Turn based on enhancement.

Enhancing the Giorgiaro Set:

Giorgiaro pieces can be enhanced with Gale Black Stones, which are obtained indirectly from Old Moon Grand Prix Coins. A total of 55 stones are needed to enhance one piece of gear to +10. Every enhancement level gives you a +0.1% bonus, so at the maximum +10 level, every piece gives +1% bonus to your race horse. You don’t have to use Fail stacks for enhancing, as development is guaranteed,  it will use 10 durability each enhancement. Simply exchange Wind Dews, use Simply Alchemy to combine them into Gale Blackstones, which are the ingredient for the enhancing.

Wind Dew: Use Simple Alchemy in the Processing Window (L) to combine Wind Dew x1 and Black Stone (Armor) to produce Gale Blackstone x1.

Total Set bonus at the highest level:

• Movement Speed +2.0%
• Acceleration +1.0%
• Turn +1.0%
• Brake +1.0%

9. Weekly & Daily quests

[Weekly] Old Moon Grand Prix, Rider of Honor

Quest Objective: Hand over Old Moon Grand Prix Coin x40
Standard reward: Contribution EXP 300; Mythical Feather x1
Start NPC: Miles <Stable Keeper> at Old Moon Grand Prix
End NPC: Black Spirit

[Daily] Grand Prix, Become the Best

Quest Objective: Hand over Old Moon Grand Prix Coin x20
Standard reward: Contribution EXP 100
Choose reward: Spirit Pouch of Ferocious Beast x10 or Rainbow Gem Fruit x10 or  Breezy Conch Seaweed x10 or Pure Forest Breath x10 or Deep Blue Hoof Root x10 or Stonetail Fodder x10
Start NPC: Miles <Stable Keeper> at Old Moon Grand Prix
End NPC: Black Spirit

For now, it looks like we’ll get more content for horse racing in the next patches, as they arrive, we’ll be updating our article as well.