Once you've unlocked the ability to ride Chocobos in Final Fantasy 15 you can immediately start racing them. Directly across the road from Wiz Chocobo Post is the Chocobo Racetrack. Visiting the booth there will let you partake in races and field events that will reward you with medals you can use to customize your Chocobo.

Trying to just beat race after race is going to turn to frustration though quickly. While your first FFXV Chocobo race isn’t very difficult, from the second one on the challenge greatly increases. Following the information in this guide will help you make sure your Chocobo is ready to race at its best and will give you the tips you need to take down the competition and become a master Chocobo jockey!

Leveling Your Chocobo

When you first unlock the ability to ride Chocobos, your personal steed will start at Level 1. Before you start trying to take on races, you're going to need to raise your Chocobo's stats. Each level you gain your Chocobo will learn new skills and become stronger. To gain levels with your Chocobo all you have to do is ride it for a certain amount of time. You're going to find yourself riding all over Lucis, so you may want to wait to tackle the Chocobo races until Chapter 6 at which point you will have rode around a lot. The following list tells how long you have to ride your Chocobo to get to each level and what stat boosts your Chocobos get with each level:

• Level 1
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: Starting Level
• Level-Up Perks: N/A

• Level 2
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: 2 minutes
• Level-Up Perks: Dash de Chocobo ability gained, lets you summon your Chocobo to sprint you away from battle.

• Level 3
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: 6 minutes
• Level-Up Perks: Max stamina increases, base running speed increases.

• Level 4
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: 8
• Level-Up Perks: Kick de Chocobo ability gained, allows your Chocobo to come to your aid in battle with powerful kicks. MAx stamina increases, sprinting speed increases.

• Level 5
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: 12 minutes
• Level-Up Perks: Max stamina increases, sprinting speed increases.

• Level 6
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: 16 minutes
• Level-Up Perks: Dance de Chocobo ability gained, allows your Chocobo to give you beneficial buffs in battle.

• Level 7
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: 20 minutes
• Level-Up Perks: Max stamina increases, jump height increases.

• Level 8
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: 20 minutes
• Level-Up Perks: Rush de Chocobo ability gained, allows your Chocobo to unleash a series of powerful attacks.

• Level 9
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: 24 minutes
• Level-Up Perks: Max stamina increases, stamina recovery rate doubles.

• Level 10
• How Long to Ride From Last Level-Up: 30 minutes
• Level-Up Perks: Link de Chocobo ability gained, allows your Chocobo to perform Blindside attacks with Noctis.

Get Ready For the Races

As you can see, at Level 9 your Chocobo starts regenerating stamina at double the rate. As you race your opponents' Chocobos almost always seem to have more stamina than yours does, which is the real key to victory. You need to even the balance between the AI racers and yourself and to do that you need to enter races with the highest stamina reserves possible.

So you've leveled up your Chocobo all the way and you're still having issues? Check our Final Fantasy 15 guides to get the tips you need to come out on top no matter what FFXV-related issue you're having.