Yep, Joe worked his magic, and drove a player nuts
I can remember how p*ssed off I used to get at him. Don't worry, no matter how great your chocobo ever is, his will ALWAYS be just that much better. I've had some spectacular ones in the past, and he always has a better one.
But as for beating him, that's not the most difficult thing in the world. You can beat him with just about any chocobo with enough stamina, it's speed isn't important, because he will always be faster, and his speed and stamina depends on yours.
Best advice: As much stamina as possible, start the race holding OK and burst at full speed, keep it up until your stamina bar is down a good ways, nearing empty (on the short course this should be almost to the end of the spiral, can't recall where about I stop that first push on the long course). Remember to refill your stamina, or else you'll never have enough and wear out, then you're screwed. Give it another burst roughly every 5 seconds or so, just enough to keep your lead, because he will be gaining on you, but not so much that you burn up your stamina. Then when you get near the end, burst again, and get across that line as quick as you can.
The keywords for beating him? Burst and stamina. Once you get a chocobo with 999 stamina it's not too difficult, because you can push it hard for as long as possible. Hope that was of some help, but then with my skill with explaining things it might not be
LOL. But either way, best of luck to you.
P.S. While it's nice to be able to say you beat Joe, sadly you don't get anything for it other than that, which was a let-down I thought. They could have at least had him show up to congratulate you for owning him in his own sport.P.P.S. Sorry for the tiny letters, I'm still a bit new here and didn't want anyone to jump me for saying that, I'm still not entirely sure what passes for spoilers in these parts :erm: That and I don't know how you post with the black strip over it like I've seen other spoilers. Haven't used a message board for a few years, please forgive my ignorance there. That and sorry for making this so long, I'm sure you're all tired of reading this, if you still are, LOL.