A short guide on how to most easily trigger the race challenge that unlocks maximum speed for your horses.
Introduction
You may have noticed, when you look at your horse’s speed, that there’s a third bar that’s grayed out. Well, Rockstar thought it would be a wizzo idea to keep your horse below its maximum speed until you do a race challenge. It’s not a horrible idea; the problem is running into these racers and triggering the event is generally super random and doesn’t happen for most people.
You don’t just have to win a single race; you have to win, then run into the same racer and win again. Plus, not every racer grants maximum speed. For instance, the lady you race in Lemoyne just grants faster bonding (or something like that). I found a post online that gives a pretty good method for getting a dude to consistently spawn, and that will unlock the third bar of horse speed.
First Encounter
This is the dude you’re looking for.
This is where the first encounter takes place. The dude comes riding up, usually from the south, and challenges you to a race to Diablo Ridge (it’s near the Appleseed Timber camp). I’m not sure what triggers his spawning, but if he can spawn, he will usually do so right as you show up. I’ve tried reloading and riding away, then back to the crossroads, and it doesn’t seem to matter.
You want to try as early as possible; I’m not sure why, but the later in the game it gets, the less likely it seems that he’ll show. If he doesn’t, do a mission, then come back. I definitely got him to spawn after doing “A Quiet Time,” but I recommend just checking as often as you can. Take the train to Wallace Station, ride down, and hope he’s not busy being a ♥♥♥♥ somewhere else.
Last Encounter
This is where he shows up the next time. You can’t go right from the first race to this one; you have to wait like a week in-game. Win the first race, then go do other stuff. I’ve gotten him to spawn here in Chapter 3, so this one seems less time-sensitive. This time he’s going to race you to Owanjila. If you’re worried about losing, just save when you see him, but it’s a pretty easy race if you have a decent horse.
Once you’ve won, you’ll get an alert that your speed has improved, and that’s it! Minor spoiler warning: after he loses, the dude shoots his horse. There is a very short window when he gets off that you can get on his horse and ride away to save it. If you miss the window for some reason, it won’t let you get on, even if you kill the guy; the horse just runs away. Its stats aren’t great, jsyk. If he really did pay a lot for it, then he got swindled, but he seems like kind of a chump.
