I love this update and absolutely adore the game overall, and I definitely enjoy the racing aspect of it the most. The tracks are always creative, well-paced, and can be tricky but mastered with practice.

But I did notice something, though it may be just a "vibe" I get from the most recently added races - the Azure Coast races are much harsher in timing when it comes to placing in top 3, especially in placing 1#. Right now when progressing normally, as I unlock new race difficulties I always place 20-30s above the second place in beginner, around 15-20s above the second place in intermediate, etc. And that's in ALL races... except Azure Coast, where I'm often barely 1-5s faster than the second place in all difficulties, and that's with a fully trained horse, cutting all corners and no denies on the jumps!

My guess is because the tracks are full of long running stretches, even a high speed high endurance horse has to slow down often to refill the bar, the Azure Coast races are always very close calls, and unlocking the new track really slowed down my game progression because I had to grind-train a horse in speed and stamina just to keep up... And that happened to me only with this track. All others facilitate smooth skill progression.

I think it just needs a bit of re-balancing on the time it takes to place in top 3 spots, that's all. :)

I noticed this same issues with regards to the racing in Azure Coast! I have multiple maxed out horses and for some reason, no matter how hard I try, once I get to advanced and expert in Azure Coast races I have not been able to obtain first place! I'm still going to try!

Love the updates, but when are you going to add controller support?