Are ANY of the base Support Cards useful for general purpose stuff?

Also, does Energy Level matter for races? Is there a "minimum" I should try to stay above on any race day, like "never race with sub-30% energy" or something?

>Good start with early charming
>Wins all races
>First favorite and for some reason decides to give up 3 times in the last Arima Kinen
TACHYOOOOOOOOOOON