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Subject: Sim. Sports Horse Racing -- Week 1026 News Posted by: Madman - [29246911] Wed, May 09, 22:41 Race cards for this Saturday have now been posted! Where are you? Analysis and commentary to follow. I'm looking hard for claimers and betting opportunities this week, with two stables 100% inactive. Madman3 * Agriculture Bomber should break his maiden this week. He's an 8/5 favorite, and, quite frankly, I don't have much respect for his competition. There is one other horse at 9/2 that could present a problem. Is this an exacta bet? I'm not sure. . . Race 4906. Only bet if clean track. * Rakida's Plug. This poor horse. He won his maiden in California last week and came back sharp, so I looked for a cheap and easy way to get money. This afternoon, the race I thought would be open closed down. He's ranked 6th of 8, and isn't looking good. My only hope is that he had a lot left at the end of his easy win last week. Yeah, whatever. 9/1 odds on Rakida. No recommended betting. Race 1608. * Our Wool. A 78/1 longshot. This was one of the dawgs the computer stuck me with. The bastard. I'm putting Our Wool in Maiden Claiming next week. This is a pathetic waste of my time. 5606 I think. *Front Stamping. 71/1 longshot. My other dawg. (race 2708). This just bites. Why do I have these horses????? Damn. And I can't unload these two until after my 20th race. *Our Nooses. 2/1 Favorite. I'm going to bet on him to win. Definitely will Show. The purse is a small 5,400, but I just want to see what he can do in race 3003. He average 3K per race in winnings, so he has to win to maintain his average. The 4/1 horse in this race has been over-worked a bit lately. I made a mistake trying to enter Kentucky Project, so he's going to be idle this week. 5 races. 2 favorites, 2 lasts, and one 6th of 8. Not the greatest week looking forward. I have a lot riding on Agriculture Bomber. | ||||||
| 1 | Toral ID: 1418917 Thu, May 10, 10:29 |
At Missouri, Doctor Que goes under Erickson at 11-1 in the 9th. To her outside is the 2-1 favourite, The Blaster Horse, Storm Cat progeny who appears to like to go for the lead as one would expect. This creates a problem in racing style for Que. As a Marquetry horse, I might have expected a speed style, but his best Beyer of 73 came last outing, when the jock took her from behind. No other definite frontrunning attempts in the field. If Blaster weren't in the race, I'd instruct Erickson to take the lead. Go for the lead and hope to beat Blaster to the inside, and risk a speed duel, or hope somebody else challenges Blaster from the inside? Hanging back could give Blaster a wire-to-wire win. I'll let Erickson decide, probably to my regret. Blaster is stuck with White (10%/7%). Hoping for a share here. At Indiana, $517 auction pickup Fair Goddess tests my theory that routes are her thing at 19-1 in a mile and a sixteenth turf event. Jockey Nay took the 8th horse in the odds to a place last week on the green stuff, so we'll see if he can do anything with her in this maiden claimer. At West Virginia, the now sharp Chief Tom comes right back in this low-level mile MSW. Jockey Kelly will be insturucted to take the Chief to the lead at 23-1 odds, in a dramatic change of racing style. This son of Crafty Prospector is not for claimers IMO so unless he picks it up, I won't be sure what to do with him. As a side note, last week's claim pickup, Hollow Carson proved that he was worth $3500 by running a 69 but had to go and win the darn thing. Toral | |||||
| 2 | Toral ID: 1418917 Thu, May 10, 11:14 |
At Newmarket, Agriculture Bomber does indeed look like a sure thing. Anybody could finish 2nd so this handicapper will shy away from the exacta. Looking at the size of some of the fields, Europe suddenly seems very attractive to me. I'm going to take a look at the European claimers this week for horses that have been misplaced (dirt/turf) although I don't expect to find much. Toral | |||||
| 3 | Madman ID: 29246911 Thu, May 10, 13:24 |
Europe is totally overlooked, IMO. The races there are about 1/3 to 1/2 as popular as in America. Think Aggie is over there by accident?? I'd recommend sending any turf horse over there. Travel costs are a bit higher, it seems. But that's soon becoming a non-issue. I've got almost $50K in my two stables with wins. All it takes is a MSW win or two at reasonable purses. So $500-700 costs don't really deter me anymore. BTW, I'm doing an experiment with Rakida. When I saw how tough the competition was, I put him on 70% lead and 95% effort. He's kind of a lead horse. The idea is that even if he gets blown away (likely), this will be a trainer for the longer races to come. Key to the Mint is a strong stamina influence on this horse, so I didn't enter him in 6.5f thinking he'd do particularly well -- mainly just wanted a test run, and I was hoping no one would join him. Oh well. . . Distance might be Fair Goddess's thing. I don't recognize the damn-sire line. I'm a bit nervous about the Turf/Dirt thing - - she doesn't have enough history to know. From what I can see, her pedigree has some turf, but not so much as to make it obvious. Doctor Queu has been all over the map in terms of starting %. First fast, then 2 slow, then fast again. What's up with that??? Honestly, I don't think I'm very good at handicapping yet. The odds on that race seem about right, IMO. | |||||
| 4 | StLCards Sustainer ID: 2504849 Thu, May 10, 14:18 | I looked at Agriculture Bomber and liked the match-up. I agree that the exacta is not as attractive. I took AB to win. Been trying to find time to try out the sim program. I downloaded it and one of the files, but have'nt tried it out yet. | |||||
| 5 | Madman ID: 29246911 Thu, May 10, 14:46 |
StlCards -- cool. No pressure. I'm in development of version 1.1. I should have called the one that's posted 1.0beta. I've added the following features: a) Print output to printer b) Print to a generic file c) Remove multiple weeks simultaneously d) some miscellaneous error proofing and things Yet to do before I'll post the new release: a) multiple file input (so you can pull in 5 raceout.zips in all at once, instead of having to do them week by week). b) a strange problem another beta tester noted was that my flex grids were over-flowing the box on his computer . . . strange . . . I almost have (a) hammered out. Not sure what's causing (b). . . One word of caution, IIRC, AB could be running on an off-track. If so, I have no idea how he will come through. Although I think he outclasses the field. Hope so, anyway. I'd like that $20K :) | |||||
| 6 | Madman ID: 29246911 Fri, May 11, 15:32 |
For the record, my stables may go broke after this week. I've put down between 12K and 45K in betting $$ this week. I don't really see the point of having cash around for these guys at this point, so I might as well put it to use (note: I have a maximum of 2 horse slots left in each stable, and I'm not putting in any claimers for more than 5K. And I can't compete in the auction for real horses. And I will probably avoid travel costs. So there's no point to having the cash amount that I do, other than to build to higher amounts . . . which means I might as well bet, I think). My bets, in order of preference: 1) What Wail. Race 1004, pole 4. I wanted this horse bad, but was shut out b/c of the claimer snafu a couple of weeks ago. 8/1 odds, and unless he's hurt (gaz says he's OK), this guy should win. He was totally misplaced last time. I'm putting between 4 and 10K on a win here. It's my #1 payoff bet. 2) Our Nooses -- 3003, #6. 2/1 odds. He should win. I'm betting enough here to cover my bet in 1). 3) Agri. Bomber -- 4906 #6. 8/5 odds. He's #3 for two reasons. First, there's a turf maiden in the race that has a good pedigree. Although I think Agri. Bomber should take him, I can't be 100% sure with no history. Second reason is the low payoff. I put a bunch (could be major OUCH) on him to place. Several K to win. I'm looking for an exacta or exacta box . . . probably won't post those since I'm clueless. . . but maybe in combination with What Wail or Our Nooses. Just need to pick a 2nd place horse, basically . . . And going for an exacta box would help cover a mistake . . . probably relatively small 1K bets. . . As I said, I may go broke. But it's easy come, easy go, I think, in this game. I honestly feel that I can pick enough winners with my claimers to pull in 5-15K per week in winnings on a regular basis, so pulling my cash reserves down to 10K (if all the above bets fail) isn't that big of a deal, IMO. And, if worst comes to worst, I'll do my betting strategy which can guarantee a doubling of money -- it just takes a lot of time to enter all your bets. I'm only going to do that as a fallback strategy, since it kind of runs counter to the ideals of the sim. But you guys can call me a Madman if these guys fall apart. | |||||
| 7 | StLCards Sustainer ID: 3505622 Fri, May 11, 15:41 | I'm starting small. Placed a bet on Agri Bomber to win and found another horse in some small stakes claiming race with a total of 4 horses entered. Should be no competition. This go round I'm only betting 2K since I don't have much cash anyway and may try for another claimer next week. | |||||
| 8 | Madman ID: 29246911 Fri, May 11, 15:55 |
Actually, I totally forgot about another horse I like -- Imperial Flag by Zgreat in the Chicago Derby - - 1026.0714, horse #5. He's got the #1 jockey, and the favorite in the race is going to fall apart. At 8/1 odds, he's a great bet, I think. StLCards Starting small is wise. I put a number of penny bets down for my first two weeks to get a feel. Two of my stables have around 50K in cash and are largely stocked with horses. What am I going to do with that $$$$? Compete against the millionaires at auction? Uh, no. 4 horse races are strange. Place and Show bets almost always Pay $2.10, unless there has been an *incredible* upset -- i.e., you only get paid more than $2.10 (note: profit of 10 cents) if the favorite finishes last. On the one hand, this means that you have a great chance at a 5% return -- put all your money on the favorite to show. However, there is an injury probability somewhere greater than 2% for each race. And if the favorite gets hurts . . . . all the money goes bye-bye. Betting the winners also have pretty minor payoffs, IMO. Given the probability of injuries, I'm just not sure that the smallest races are the way to go. . . My current modus operandi was to figure out how the odds are caculated, and then take advantage of the system. I HAVEN'T done this totally. However, I've seen a few things: a) odds are weighted heavily on recent SP, this implies the following: b) odds don't take track surface into consideration enough c) odds don't take historical SP into consideration enough d) odds don't take jockeys into consideration enough For this reason, I think that Imperial Flag and What Wail are both good bets. The fav in Imp. Flag's race is off surface. Imp Flag has the #1 jock, and great history on this surface. Etc. What Wail's odds are great biased by his 1 SP in the 2 mile race a couple of weeks ago. That race is irrelevant to his performance now, I think, outside of the increased injury factor that I mentioned. | |||||
| 9 | Madman ID: 29246911 Fri, May 11, 15:58 | Oh yeah. One more thing. If you put 1K on Imperial, 1K on What Wail and 2K On our nooses, all you have to do is get 1 of the three correct to break even. Granted, it's possible that all three could lose. But I doubt it. Knock on wood. | |||||
| 10 | Toral ID: 1418917 Fri, May 11, 19:58 |
That Imperial Flag is one heck of a good betting pick, Madman. Looking at the PPs, if I saw those morning lines in a RL race, my first thought would be that the handicapper had misunderstood and handicapped it as a turf race. No other reason for making Dual Shock such a favourite in his first race on dirt. I don't like racing Dual Shock 2 weeks in a row at all. I see zgreat has been a purist/conservative in bringing Imperial Flag along -- once every 4 weeks, no more, no less. Inclines me that way for the future. Good odds on What Wail too. I expect a Beyer of somewhere between 76 and 86, which is not a sure thing. Like I said before, I've never placed a bet. I don't even know how the bet engine works -- whether the payoffs are according to the morning line odds, or actual bets (the latter wouldn't really make a lot of sense in this game). Anyway I won't poach Madman's ideas -- for now. My Toral stable is low on money, eventually I may not be so noble! Just for the heck of it, I'll look for a track where it's muddy this week and try to find a race where my borderline-mystical off approach suggests a bet. Toral | |||||
| 11 | Madman ID: 29246911 Fri, May 11, 20:11 |
Now I'm nervous about What Wail! :) Feel free to steal any tips. Or laugh when I'm broke :). Between those 4 picks, I've got more than 100K on the line. OUCH. I'm starting to get nervous. I know that I SAID my cash is irrelevant, but I only have 130K total! I mean, I'm leveraged to the hilt . . . OUCH. But I'm glad you like the Imperial Flag pick. As I said, the computer doesn't seem to take the surface into account enough, IMO. And I'm SURE that would be the case with any off-tracks, too. | |||||
| 12 | Madman ID: 29246911 Fri, May 11, 20:15 | BTW, I got the Imperial Flag pick from Davarto's site. He recommended his filly in the race, so I checked it out. When I saw Imperial Flag, I knew that I couldn't pick Davarto's filly . . . | |||||
| 13 | Toral ID: 1418917 Fri, May 11, 21:11 |
You'll learn to distrust my handicapping soon enough, Madman. I took a look at the slop in Oregon this week. I was looking for false favourites -- horses that according to their off record and breeding should not be favourites. I didn't find anything shocking, or even worth recommending. Just to get my feet wet, I'm placing small amounts on the favourite Shelley's Group in the 11th there, and (W/P) on Royal Turf in the 13th. These are not highly recommended choices. After handicapping for an hour, I felt obligated to bet on *something*, and to put my choices on the record (what the heck, Andy Beyer got like 10 Kentucky Derbys horribly wrong until he got hot a few years ago. Monarchos was his second choice this year.) As a side note, Ratty Lass 29502 will show you what the record of an off-type horse looks like -- 2/7 on the off, 0 for 18 otherwise. The scary thing is that the horse's whole lineage suggests poor mud breeding. I'm starting to get the scary feeling that my off methods may not work in the sim. In which case I'll have to find some other angle! Oh yes -- I will cover my Oregon losses with a bet on Imperial Flag. Why turn down free money? Toral | |||||
| 14 | Toral ID: 1418917 Fri, May 11, 21:23 |
Whoo-ee! wtracing's Missouri tipsheet likes Doctor Que to place in the 9th out there: wtracing's picks First time any of my horses has been tipped for anything. I feel like I just won a race myself! Toral | |||||
| 15 | Madman ID: 29246911 Fri, May 11, 22:08 |
Warning: the first time I had a horse tipped to Place, it finished 3rd (Rate Learn, week 998, I think). I'm a little worried about Eclipsing (#2) in your Doctor Que race. It's going to be a very interesting race to watch tomorrow. Not trying to dis your horse, but I don't see anyone beating The Blaster Horse. But you never know. It's a reasonably close call. I'm not betting on that race at all :). Doctor Que has shown some good improvement, and 3 yo's are supposed to start showing their stuff about this time of year. According to my SuperSimSearcher, RattyLass has an average of 75.5 in 7 races in Dirt Slop. Interestingly, enough, however, RattyLass has run faster in good dirt (83) than he has in the slop (81). His last owner, stakes, seems to have realized his dirt tendency, and taken moderate advantage of it. | |||||
| 16 | Toral ID: 1418917 Sat, May 12, 01:46 |
Madman: little question The Blaster Horse should win. The question is, if he doesn't, who else should? He might lose because of injury, of course. He might lose to a closer after getting into a speed duel. Unfortunately the only horse who seems really likely to take him on in a speed duel is the Doctor. A duel he is likely to lose, and taking Blaster down with him would be of little comfort. As I said before, if Blaster weren't in, I would order Erickson to take the lead and bet money to win myself. With Blaster there...I have no idea what will happen. Toral | |||||
| 17 | Madman ID: 29246911 Sat, May 12, 02:28 |
Agree about the speed duel. I think the most likely sort of loss is if someone in the pack is setup for a loss. That's also why I'm a bit nervous about Doctor Que. Blaster may set a really blisetering pace, and if Doctor Que tries to hang too close . . . But I dunno. Especially since Doctor Que hasn't settled into a speed horse or a back of the pack horse. . . 2 races of each tactic. It'll be interesting to see what he does, even outside the race itself. Dang. I can't wait for tomorrow! | |||||
| 18 | Madman ID: 29246911 Sat, May 12, 12:48 |
Good news, Bad news? First, a betting summary, evaluating my bet recommendations: 1) What Wail -- 8/1 odds. He wins with an 86 Beyer rating! Pays $18.30 for a $2 bet. I had between $4K and $10K on him to win, paying between $36.6 and $91.5. 2) Our Nooses -- 2/1 odds. He led Wire-to-Wire in a very impressive race, and career best 93.0 Beyer. He paid $6.60. A $4K bet returned $13,200, a $10 bet turned into $33K. 3) Agriculture Bomber -- 8/5 odds. Bet he had you nervous, eh? He started out in the mid-pack, and gradually worked his way up. He was 9 LB with about 3 fuloughs to go. But this guy can CLOSE. He ended up winning rather easily in a mediocre 77 Beyer. I think he was just playing with the field. I hope, anyway. He Paid $5.20 to win, $3.10 to place. Unfortunately, I chicked out with one stable, and put 25K on him to place. . . kind of silly. Oh well, that will increase my value by $13.75K, paying off $38.75K. If you had the guts to go for a win, you got rewarded. 4) Imperial Flag. This is why you put down multiple win bets. YOU NEVER KNOW. Aaaargh. He finished with a very disappointing 87 Beyer. He went with the early pace set by the favorite, Dual Shock. He fell off the pace (wisely) after a bit, but then had no kick. This race turned into a closers race, big time. At least I pegged the vulnerable favorite . . . Dual Shock finished out of the money. Sorry. I can't win them all. . . Misc Race Results Rakida's Plug in 1608 finished 5th. I had him on 95%, so I was happy with the 79 Beyer. Maybe he'll be a runner after all. I'm going to bump him back up to the longer distances (8.5 or 9f) next race. Front Stamping and Our Wool. Geez. Uh. Uh. No comment. Sub 45 speed for both. At least Front Stamping was told to take it easy . . . Our Wool . . . maybe the off-track? Whatever. They both are going straight to Maiden Claimers. They are KILLING my W/L record! Madman3: 3 wins, 1 place, 1 5th, 2 lasts in 7 starts. . . And those 2 lasts were truly awful. . . now the stuff stuff begins, as all my runners have broken their maidens. You guys think it's hard to break your maiden? Just look around and try to get a non-MCOS win . . . :) OK, so what is the bad news? All of "My Bets" have disappeared with the server move!!!!!! Aaargh . . . . After taking risks like that . . . | |||||
| 19 | Madman ID: 29246911 Sat, May 12, 14:56 | Wow. Congratulations on Chief Tom! He's turning into a runner, Toral. 83.7 Beyer. The next question is whether or not the 68 last week at 8.5f represented his real skill or this 83. . . | |||||
| 20 | Toral ID: 1418917 Sat, May 12, 17:39 |
Ugggggh. The kind of day where you rip up your Form on the way out; on a good day you review all your wise selections, line-by-line from the PPs. All my bets lost. I had two-thirds of a trifecta box in the 11th at Oregon but Too Much Smoke, who I had eliminated, snuck in there. The one Madman betting idea I stole was the one unsuccessful one. As I feared (1), the absence of a serious speed challenge gave Blaster a wire-to-wire win, although I'm glad neither I nor Erickson ordered Que up to the lead to challenge him. Chief Tom's new speed style was interesting, as he held the lead into the 3rd call before fading to show, at 23-1. Now I have to figure out what to do with him next. My one semi-successful race was where I made the call, instead of leaving it to the jockey. Madman, your bets have to re-emerge when the server move is complete. Otherwise, there's no justice in the world. What's that you say? There *is* no justice in the world? Oh. I forgot about that part! Toral | |||||
| 21 | Madman ID: 29246911 Sat, May 12, 20:13 |
Good News The bets are reinstated. Well, good if you won money. Sorry about that, Toral. I apologize for the Imperial Flag snafu. I thought he really looked good. Who would have that that Tasmania Mica (or whatever his name was), would come from the outside on that race? I.F. really didn't look that impressive, IMO. I guess you can't win them all. Let me know what you're thinking with the Chief. He's had two strong speed starts. I'd probably move him to 7.5 or so on the Dirt next time. I've used jockey select in all my races except for Rakida's 5th place finish today (and that wasn't a fair test). In general, I've simply gotten the best jockeys at the track and gone with it. I've heard that different tracks are better for front runners than others. Maybe that's what's going on here? Found a good front running track? Or maybe a good front-running jockey? Bad News Claims were very tough to come by this week. I still haven't figured it out totally. I've only got 2 open slots per stable, and I think that makes it harder. I read somewhere that only my first two claims count. I count any race where you get breeding points a successful run. Looking at the cards, there are many worse things than being a maiden for a few weeks. . . One last thought regarding betting. I probably wouldn't have been so bold under ordinary circumstances. But rotciv stables were coming off 4 wins, and I just have a gut instinct that I can squeeze another one decent one out of December Chop, and I've got a few higher tier claimers that will get me cash (Diver and Babified -- my two auction horses are worthless for anything besides BP, I think). Even if Aggie Bomber didn't come through with Madman3, I knew that he would break his maiden -- just a matter of time. And I've got 3 solid high claimers, low allowance horses there, I think. And, lastly, my poor old first stable acquired a half-million dollar CPU horse in a claimer last week (3x 90 beyer), so I felt confident that I could hit the boards with it, too. Although that stable is indeed hurting right now. If I was less certain that I would have been able to recoup 20K or so via racing, I probably wouldn't have put the 120K+ (3 stable total) on the line that I did. Now that I have some resources, I'm probably going to "bank" 75 or 100K in my two richer stables and just not touch it unless I have a week like you just did, Toral. And getting 2 out of 3 in a Trifecta taint bad. Rather hard to do, actually. Unfortunately, it just doesn't pay. | |||||
| 22 | JKaye Sustainer ID: 4711592917 Sun, May 13, 00:17 | Only had one horse going tonight. A sharp Late Beau ran a very respectable 72 speed and finished 4th in a 5.5 furlong sprint. He set the pace for the first half of the race. Finally a positive sign out of him. | |||||
| 23 | JKaye Sustainer ID: 4711592917 Sun, May 13, 00:18 | BTW--that was 4th out of 14 horses. | |||||
| 24 | Madman ID: 29246911 Sun, May 13, 12:07 |
Just looked it up -- congrats, jkaye. Interesting to note that the run was in the slop . . . he may like that. BTW, you should ignore that 10f D speed rating. He was totally unprepared for that race. You have to increase in 1f increments or less, basically. Especially with young horses. My guess is that you may have a guy who likes the off-track. Or maybe turf, and probably over 6-7f. Just a guess, however. | |||||
| 25 | Madman ID: 29246911 Mon, May 14, 04:12 |
Ok. You guys won't believe this, but I'm thinking about breeding my first horse. I'm going to try to pick up a $10 auction horse with rotciv this week. That would finish the rotciv stable out with 10 horses. . . I'm thinking about the following: Sire: Christmas Storm. From Storm BirdxKey to MintxNorthern Dancer. Dam-Sire: Miracle Heights. Gate DancerxCyanexSovereign Dancer. Dam-Dam-Sire: ???? Christmas Storm costs 16 points, and is the real bargain here. DP of 5-1-5-1-0 is good, and the two Christmas Storm sires in the game (75 speed for a 2 yo on dirt, and a 65ish from a 2yo on turf) are adequate. The Storm Bird influence should help them quite a bit, I would think. Miracle Heights Costs 27 points and was ranked as the #9 overall sire through 2001 here. The DP of 3-1-4-0-0 is unexciting. But . . . with this breeding, guess the name??? Yep. Christmas Miracle. How could you NOT breed that horse??? So, With my first two selections, I'm at 43 points, 21 with the bargain discount. This means I could spend up to 102 points on a dam-dam-sire and get the bonus (the 102 is halved b/c it's a dam-dam sire, which means my horse would cost 99 which is under the 100 limit for the 50% discount). Any suggestions? Is the match-up between these two horses incompatible? Unwise? I really have no clue . . . From the two horses, I think I have a moderate who could take to either surface, but more likely dirt. Not really sure. Cyane is an endurance dirt influence, I think. Same with the inbred Northern Dancer lines. So, any suggestions? Or do you think this cool name thing would screw me over and leave me with a dawg? (more dawgs than what I already have, that is). (Get this. I COULD choose Willing Worker as the Dam-Dam-Sire (70ish points) and call the horse: Christmas Miracle Worker :) ). But I actually really do want my horse to be able to run . . . | |||||
| 26 | Madman ID: 29246911 Mon, May 14, 04:31 |
Oh. Another option would be to create a Stormy Prospector clone: Christmas Storm x Proud Truth x Caracolero . . . Christmas Truth ?? Or True Christmas . . . But that would cost (16+57+18)/2 = 45 points . . . IFFF prices don't rise until I can put one of my horses to rest . . . which won't be until Saturday . . . | |||||
| 27 | JKaye Sustainer ID: 4711592917 Mon, May 14, 17:26 | The game is finally becoming fun for me now that I am putting more time into it. I am not set to breed, but I am looking at some possible claims to make this week, and I have found about 5 horses I like so far from those who have been entered. Soon, I will hit race 20, and Light Award, my blocked horse can be used. I will probably race him six times, then consider breeding. Not exactly sure. I am still getting a hang of the game. | |||||
| 28 | Madman ID: 29246911 Mon, May 14, 17:41 |
Cool, JKaye. Some brief comments: a) Regarding Light Award. AffirmedxQuackxNever Bend for a 7 year has a great chance to really do some damage. But you do need to get him unblocked soon. The stellar 3 yo crop will quickly start going into the 3yo+ ranks, making it tougher for all the older horses. You have until the end of the summer, probably. You'll want to have at least your Maiden and one Allowance race won, I think, before then. b) See the message board. I just found out that the racing performance of the horse you wish to breed (in this case light award) is relevant. This could be very important info. for you (and me). This means never race your horse at under 100%. It also means that you need to make sure that your horse performs well. No margin for error. c) I wouldn't look to breed him this year. I might wait until next year, and go for a 2 yo and the 2003 Derby. Assuming that an Affirmed dam-sire can still do that. Logic is that this will give you time to experiment. Also, it will give your new colt a chance to get the feel for things. Finally, it gives you enough time to build up points for a stud sire. . . This game is about PATIENCE . . . unfortunately, as you can tell by my plans to breed a Christmas Storm horse of some sort, I don't have that sort of patience. It may come back to haunt me. . . my rotciv stable that looks successful right now is loaded with over-the-hill horses and never-has-beens . . . I'm under no illusions. When the 3 yo crop goes to 3yo+ or 4yo+ races in the fall / next year, this stable is in trouble. Many of you are in better positions -- you're already facing that 3 yo crop, and your horses can develop. Rotciv has nowhere to go but down . . . d) Don't get too anxious about claimers this early in the week. Right now, concentrate on getting matchups in races. AFTER the race cards are out, start browsing for claimers. Maybe even wait for Davarto's Claim Helper, which usually comes out on Friday. It will save you a lot of headaches . . . Also, note that it's very hard to get the primo claimers . . . Even for a newbie. But you should definitely try this week . . . | |||||
| 29 | JKaye Sustainer ID: 4711592917 Mon, May 14, 18:25 | Currently, I am at race 12, so I only have 8 more races before Light Award is unblocked. This should happen reasonably soon. I'll confess I have not had time to read the message board and I have no idea what Devarto's claim helper is. I certainly intend to find out though! Thanks again for all your help so far. | |||||
| 30 | Madman ID: 29246911 Mon, May 14, 19:19 |
Davarto's web site His claim helper is just a series of posts that he makes listing all the claimers up for sale in a given week. . . Totally awesome information. I've written a VBA program to do the same thing, but I've found his listing to be just as helpful if not more so, since I have to limit the number of searches (there are usually between 2500 and 3000 claimers available in any given week, and I only check the cheapest 1000 or so with my Excel program. Davarto looks at ALL of them). Also, Davarto has a useful DOS sire checker program to help with breeding. It lists all the progeny of a given sire in the game. . . Very nice. Regarding the time factor, I totally understand. It's totally killed my baseball this year. Oh well. We all have to make sacrifices and such. | |||||
| 31 | JKaye Sustainer ID: 11117817 Mon, May 14, 20:36 | I'm sorry you couldn't find enough time for SW Baseball. I know how good you'd be at 100%. But you are pretty damn good at this game, so more power to you! | |||||
| 32 | cab ID: 194411021 Mon, May 14, 23:48 |
I've been lurking around the horse sim boards for a week or two now ,so it is time to ask some questions! I have my stable (2 now actually-cab,pepe31)but i really have no idea what to look for when looking at breeding -which lines influence which surface and distances a horse should run?...I have looked at the various sites suggested (here and at the sim) but am still pretty clueless really... I ran all 4(all rtg)(cab) of my horses at 6.5F last start(wk 1019),3 on dirt and 1 on turf...none of them put in very good races i thought..all finishing a long way from the leaders...what to do next?...Up in distance on dirt? or try on turf at same distance and see what comparision there is? I think i would lean towards the latter? I will get the stable reviewed at Iago,but i think i read somewhere that you should have a few races under the belt first.. The CPU values perplex me a bit too, initially 4 had cpu value of 5k and 1 of 25k...after their races,one came back with cpu of 200k,(pepi undercut,was 5k)does this suggest he may have an ounce of something going for him? The rest came back with values less than 100k...From what I've read so far, cpu values don't mean a heck of a lot though.. How long will they stay sharp for and how often should you run them?...After their first races,2 came up sharp,I ran one again the following week(a big mistake i think)and i plan to run one this week(a 5yo). Two weeks off is enough?...Having to wait 2,3 or 4 weeks between races will be frustrating i think..lol..Thats racing though.. How much can or do you read into watching the actual race? Is there anything to look out for when watching the races? I guess that's enough for now...I will come up with lots more questions though..lol.. BTW...the 2yo and clam carnival are claimers i got (cost me 5.5k total)..Am hoping i can at least get the money back with them!! Actually Clam cruised home to win his race, so am hoping to get some wins out of him...The 2yo?..who knows...Am thinking the previous owner saw the poor sp(39) in her first race and then gave up on her..Am thinking she may need to go a little bit longer(5.5-6f)?? or try on turf...not sure..Shes a few weeks away from racing again though.. Nice win by AB,Madman...I put a few pennies on him myself!! Being a long time small bettor and longtime wannabe owner of a race horse this sim really appeals to me(has always been a dream since i was fairly young)....having the patience though...do i have the patience? ..this is the big question with the sim!!..lol | |||||
| 33 | Madman ID: 29246911 Tue, May 15, 00:27 |
COOL! Glad to have you on board, cab. You asked a ton of great questions. One thing the sim really lacks is a comprehensive place for Newbies to get good information . . . You may not believe this (I hardly do myself), but the lack of information may have been what really drove me into this game. Talk about a challenge! I didn't even know who Seattle Slew was back in mid-April. Toral showed me a couple of websites back in a chat session a long time ago, and while we were chatting I tried to memorize as many names and characteristics as possible. And it's been this challenge to master a foreign language (essentially) ever since. Hopefully I'll stay as excited about it once I figure it out . . . At any rate, to your questions! I'll look at your stable in a bit. So let's post-pone that one. Regarding a stable review. Toral advised me to go ahead and get one early. I actually just put a request in for rotciv. Kind of dreading it. Not many players in the sim have a stable as old and over-the-hill as my rotciv one. I know that snowchief doesn't go for the 6+ year olds . . . My take on the stable reviews is that most of the reviewers have a good idea of breeding lines, etc. And they can give that advice with or without race experience. Zgreat posts that it's useful to have one race each on Turf and Dirt at the same distance. I agree. But I haven't seen ONE single instance in the 2-3 weeks I've lurked there where the stable reviewer gave BETTER advice b/c of the race information. If anything, I'd go the opposite way. All of us can see a speed factor and begin to interpret it. But not all of us have all these books lying around with breeding information. Therefore, I recommend getting a review early if you can stomach it, simply because an early review forces the reviewer to give you the information you likely need -- breeding information. He/she won't waste time looking up the PP's for your horses, and will put more words down that give you value added. Just my 2 cents. I felt guilty asking for 3 reviews at once, so I just put the one in that I had the most questions about. . . CPU values -- I'm starting to get the hang of this. They mean something, but in a very weird way. Younger horses tend to get higher values. Horses with more wins tend to get higher values. Horses with more earnings tend to get higher values. A generic 3 yo out of the draft will probably be worth either 5K or 25K. After the first race, she'll probably be worth 60K, after the second, probably 90K. Roughly speaking, of course. Speed factors may play into it, as well. Over time, the CPU values reflect better success instead of better potential. Thus, how well you place the horses is critical for CPU value. Therefore, I use them as a gauge -- if I'm increasing my CPU values for my well-raced horses, I take that as a good sign. A CPU value of 200K is pretty high off the first race, and might indicate some serious potential. As I said, I'll check out your stables in a bit. . . How Long will they stay sharp and how often to run them? Sharp -- probably just one week. Yeah, that sucks. I wouldn't race 2 yo's back to back weeks regardless of the sharp status. But everyone else -- I run when sharp. Biggie2 does this, as well. If they come back sharp an awful lot or very quickly, they may be asking for more distance. General consensus regarding waiting times: 1 race every . . . 2 yo's: 4-5 weeks. 3yo's: 3-4 weeks. 4-5 yo's: 2-3 weeks. 6+ depends on horse. Low level claimers: once every 2 weeks. Sharp stakes horses: once every 3 weeks. Of course, in the first few races, the horse is coming off a long layoff, so I'm working my horses a bit in the first month, but will be backing off here shortly. It also depends on your perceptions of their fatigue, and if you are putting them at less than 100% . . . Watching the actual race, what to look for? The critical thing to watch for is the starting effort. Different horses have different tendencies, and different tracks play differently to those tendencies. I've even heard that jockeys have certain tendencies. But all this revolves around the start. You'll want to get a feel for whether your horse has to have the lead (if so, be sure to enter races without an overpowering sprint-to-the-lead horse in it), or if they sit back and relax (if you want a good speed rating, make sure there is an adequate lead horse or two in the field to separate the pack out a bit). Next, you have the middle. I've cracked a number of the pieces of the raceout.zip files, but the series of data elements that I believe are related to in-race position is not one of those success stories. You should know that how you view the race will make a difference. If you View the Race via the HTML link on the official site, the in-race tactics are largely replicable, and you can draw inferences from them. But if you use Coker's viewer, he had to fudge a bit, using some random numbers. Therefore, with Coker's viewer, you can see the exact same race and see your horse with an awesome kick one time, and a relatively steady win the second time. In general, right now, I just look at the race tightness. If it was a very easy effort, I think that means the speed numbers generated may be underneath the horse's potential. This even goes for guys who finish 2nd but all by themselves. It really looks like there is this tendency . . . if the race is neck and neck, then the race probably represents something closer to the horse's max . . . this is just a theory, however. Is that it? I think I got all the questions. Thanks for the congrats on AB. I think he'll be a decent low-level Allowance horse on the turf in Europe. I dunno. We'll see. I think he should be able to run mid 80's consistently. But that may be optimistic. If so, he can surely compete in the upper tier claimers . . . JKaye I haven't quit Smallworld, but I just don't watch or pay attention to baseball like I need to in order to perform there. As I said elsewhere, I had Ortiz on my roster for several days after his injury. I haven't yet finished a full pitcher rotation. I've accidentally missed two Pedro's starts because I forgot to rotate into him, etc. Frankly, I'm shocked that my best team is in the top 5000 with the way I've treated it . . . OK. To the review! | |||||
| 34 | Madman ID: 29246911 Tue, May 15, 01:06 |
Pepi 3 yo Colt. First off, I think I've been persuaded that the 3 yo's do indeed do better if they are in 3 yo only races. Until Fall or so. So he might have been a bit intimidated in race #1. You've got a strong dam-sire influence here in Northern Dancer that gives this colt some real hope. IIRC, Northern Dancer progeny can be good over either surface, and tend to be best around 7-8.5f in the sim. I don't recognize the dam-dam-sire line. Of course, in the sire line you have Mr. Prospector, similar to N. Dancer but a bit shorter, and also very high quality. What a Pleasure brings some main track speed, as well. So I'd guess 6-8f on dirt for the horse. But there's a chance he could take to turf with that breeding. And you might be able to stretch him out. I'd stick with dirt for two more races, going shorter (6f) and longer (7-7.5). Either order. Then look for a turf race. If he hasn't gone over 80 yet. Sloppy Station That 8f turf try was a bit disappointing. My guess is that he didn't like the turf. He finished strong, so I think he can handle the distance (note: probably best to increase by 1f increments when possible. Especially with 2-3 yo's.). Storm Bird brings speed influence, slight emphasis on dirt. Lyphard is also speed, but inclined toward turf. N. Dancer we had before -- classic speed, slight dirt influence. This horse should be similar to Pepi. Maybe a bit shorter. I'd go back to dirt and bring him down from 8 to about 7. If he closes well at that distance, you have all options open. Red Sal I'm a bit worried by a weak sire line here. There isn't much in that line. I think you have a bit of distance influence by Naskra (a Nasrullah progeny) but this weak line has me worried. The weak sire may be rescued by a relatively good dam influence. You'll just have to see. Nashua is a solid influence, mixed turf/dirt at moderate distances. Drone is a popular dirt (sprinter?) in the sim. I'd switch this colt to dirt, and I bet he'll perk up. Whether it will be enough to make him useful or not, I don't want to guess. I'd try a 6.5D at first for direct comparison, and then increase distance if it looks like he can handle it. 3 year olds are hard to slip through maiden claim races, but this colt could probably do it. Give him 2-3 dirt tries, getting up to 8f in distance. If he hasn't succeeded at the WI level MSW races by then, put him in the maiden claimers, higher tags, of course, if you want to keep him. Yankee Alphabet Nureyev -- powerful turf influence, stamina, IIRC. Cutlass via Damascus brings some more speed. Cutlass was more on dirt and Damascus turf. A dam's dam sire line that I'm clueless about. Horrible dosage contribution from there. Hopefully this guy doesn't take after them. That first race is interesting. You can either increase distance first, or go to turf first. Experiment around. I'm rather hopeful that the Nureyev/Damascus lines will come through and make this guy improve on the turf. Worth the test. Bee Stacking Wu-hoo! Got a Seattle Slew connection going strong here in the sire lines. This guy could be a runner. Tsunami Slew's dam-sire of Barbizon should bring speed to the classic mile+ specialty of Seattle. We already talked about the strange (IMO) Cutlass line -- probably turf influence here . . . sprints, anyway. I don't recognize Import . . . Here's hoping the dam-dam-sire doesn't mean much. Otherwise, you should have a nice little sprinter here. . . Although you can never be sure. Cherokee Judge 2 races in 3 weekends. Give this guy awhile off. Train for a race 4-5 weeks from his last one. Any 2 yo pickup is a good one, I think. You've got a nice little dosage index with this one. Libanon via Tom Rolfe and Ribot brings a lot of endurance, probably dirt. Nodouble is another endurance influence. 2 yo's who specialize in endurance won't show it until the fall when the races get longer. I think you stole this guy. Raja Baba brings some nice little dirt speed to mix it all up. Nice horse, and I think if you're patient, he'll develop into a decent horse. Probably not Derby class. I'd try to stretch the distance with him as soon as you can. Don't push it too much -- he is young. But he should be as ready as his peers. Clam Carnival You may not believe this, but he was on my short-list of claimers last week. I decided against putting a bid in on him, but he was one of the more accomplished horses out there last week, IMO. He's still very young (first race in early December). B/c of Trempolino, he was tried on Turf twice to begin his career. But he seems to like the dirt routes better. I'd stick with him there and stretch him up a bit. That's what I was going to do if I had gotten him. If that doesn't work, drop down to 7.5 or 7 and try there. | |||||
| 35 | Madman ID: 29246911 Tue, May 15, 01:30 |
Crowded for Water We talked about Beaufort Sea. This horse should be a solid one. Gallant Man is a strong dam-dam sire influence, and this horse's breeding is OK across the board - - assuming Beaufort Sea can do squat. I'd flip to dirt for a go, probably at 8f. Then play around from there. I'm not sure she was ready for 8f her first time out. Amy Donkey Do you know something I don't about Beaufort Sea??????? At any rate, the sire and dam-dam sire lines are also solid. Great mile potential on main track. In Reality also brings some incredible dirt speed to the table. I like this horse a lot. The horrible turf effort doesn't surprise me too much. It was too long for her first time out. It was against older company. And she probably likes dirt better, anyway. I'd drop down to 6.5f or 7 on dirt. If she can hold that, then move back up. If not, there's a chance she should go shorter, but I'm betting on 6.5-7 being good for her. And then eventually maybe 7.5-8.5 for her main potential. Rule in the Burns Riverman in Dam-dam sire brings speed. Vice Regent nice main track miler ability, maybe a bit of sprinter. OK turf ability in some progeny, as well. Cox's Ridge look for dirt distance ability (relatively). I'd say try this guy at 6.5f on dirt, then 7.5 then 8.0. Assuming she likes dirt at all. If not, then of course go turf. Girlfriend Parking Very interesting. I would have guessed 8.5f was too long for this horse. Honestly, I don't see a lot I like here, despite Seattle Slew and Riverman in the mix. I would cut down the distance. Since he survived on turf the first time, might as well stay there. Drop to 7.5 and then 6.5. Riverman progeny tend to like turf, so maybe there's a strong turf-sprint influence here that you can ride. Boldly Wrap Red Ransom is awesome in the dirt sprints in the sim. Northfields brings some very solid mixed-surface stamina. Exclusive Native is mixed surface, average distance. This guy could be an OK horse, probably dirt, but he really could be anything. You'll just have to experiment. I'd start him very short -- maybe 5.5 on dirt. And work my way up, flipping to turf if it looks beneficial or convenient. Fourth Bingo I've heard Octagonal is an ok sire, but I'm not a big fan. Compliance brings some serious dosage to the table. I'm not sure where this horse is headed, however, based on pedigree. I would try back on dirt, and increase distance to 7.5 then 8 or 8.5, looking for a maiden claimer if an attempt at a route also fails. ________________________ Now, I hope you get stable reviews from the big boys, so we can see where I went wrong. | |||||
| 36 | cab ID: 194411021 Tue, May 15, 09:34 |
Awesome Madman!!...Thanks a lot..you have pointed me in the right direction about placing horses which i desperately needed..I think after a little bit of research(i did some,but not enough time to do enough) i couldve sorted out distances to suit the horses,however throwing dirt tracks into the mix made things a lot harder...Downunder there are no dirt tracks(not in NZ anyway)... You will probably understand why i picked up the octagonal horse now!..He was a fantastic horse a few years back(leading stakes winner in Australasia at one point in time i think)and Zabeel is one of the leading sires in Australasia at the moment...At least two of his offspring has won the Melbourne cup(3200m,2 miles?)-Jezabeel and Might and Power-and he has sired numerous group one winnng horses...I'm sort of hoping the sim takes this into account!! lol..Of course it doesn't mean that Octagonal will be a great sire...Also Beaufort sea rings a bell with me somehow,i'm sure he must of had progeny racing(successfully?) in NZ over the years but i am unsure about that... I am in the midst of finding a race for Pepi,(3yo race this time)I had him trained for next week-will this make too much difference if i run him this week instead? Yankee and Rule in the burns ,i had already sorted out races for and they fell within the guidelines you set out..so i guess i am sort of getting it right,i think...Have found a 3yo fillies race for Rules.. Btw i ran Yankee at 97% last time...for comparison's sake i guess i should leave it at that for this race?? or go to 100%??..I think i will go all out especially if he runs on the dirt again at 7f..(i'm going to enter him in a 6.5f turf and 7f dirt) I will try and get a stable review at Iago's...you have convinced me!! I guess thats enough rambling from me...Thanks again Madman for the advice and help and best of luck! | |||||
| 37 | cab ID: 194411021 Tue, May 15, 10:06 | Oh gee..I just noticed Bingo is sharp too..how did i miss that??...The staus doesn't change during the week does it?...I guess i should find a race for him too,although it will be back-to-back races....hmmmmmm...And Amy donkey is sharp...I spose i may not have taken too much notice because i was going to rest them for a week or two.. | |||||
| 38 | Madman ID: 29246911 Tue, May 15, 14:38 |
Don't worry... after the first few weeks your horses will need more rest. Right now, the first race is almost a warm-up in many ways -- even if you put them at 100%. . . I recommend putting the second race at 100%, anyway. It's harder to interpret 97% speed figures. 97% only means that the jockey has instructions to save a bit if he/she thinks that would be wise. It may or may not be wise, so your horse may or may not have saved much. The first race is usually a bit sub-par, anyway, so when comparing, keep that in mind. To get a real feel for dirt/turf ability, you may have to try again later. To your questions: *No, status doesn't change during the week. *Some trainers even purposely train their horses for races 3-4 weeks down the road, but then put the horse in a race in 1-2 weeks if the horse comes up sharp early. Therefore, I don't think it would be a problem to put pepi into a race again, even though it "interrupts" their training. It also seems that you know as much about many of your sires as I do . . . so keep that in mind when taking my advice. Especially with Octagonal. I have heard he was recommended in the sim -- one of those over-looked sires that can be productive. BTW, there seem to be a large number of simmers from AUS and NZ . . . For example Mr. Coker himself is a NZer. . . | |||||
| 39 | Toral ID: 1418917 Tue, May 15, 15:17 |
welcome, cab. I can appreciate your fondness for down under horses. One of the minor disappointments for me in the sim was that it pays no attention to local breeding restrictions -- I been been planning to stay around Ontario and specialize in Canadian-breds. But it don't work that way. Took a look at your horses. Where we differ, I'd go with Madman, given his success so far. But a second opnion can't hurt (unless you take it). Pepi Undercut, I agree with Madman. Sloppy Station I'm inclined to try to mile on a dirt (and maybe then go back to to 6 or 6.5 on the turf). Red Sal looks to me like a 6f dirt horse. Bear Hunt and Drone were good mud sires so don't avoid the slop if you run into any. Yankee Alphabet -- Zilzal's turf Tomlinson # of 300 is one of the highest I've seen. Go to turf, either to 6.5, or to 7.5, with an idea of stretching him out there. ------------------------------------ That's it for now. I've got the breeding heebie jeebies. I'm ready for my first -- Carson City x Slew O'Gold x Relaunch. But I messed up my stable management. The stable this horse belongs in already has 10 horses, and none I'd want to give up; my other stable has a space, and a horse I could eliminate, but a 7 year-old I may want to breed with. I'm having a hard time stopping myself from just wiping out a horse I paid $2501 for (too much) at auction and just doing the breeding anyway. Toral | |||||
| 40 | Madman ID: 29246911 Wed, May 16, 01:42 |
Man alive. This breeding thing is HARD. I've given up on the Christmas Miracle because of Miracle Height's poor record as a dam-sire. . . I've worked through dozens of combinations over the last 3 hours. I finally got one to work: Stark Secret -- Graustark, Secretariat, Ribot Society Max -- Mr. Prospector, Hoist the Flag, Raise a Native Caracolero -- Graustark, Prince John, Ribot Kind of inbred on a couple of lines, but I hear the sim doesn't care about that. The above breeding costs 31. . . I'm so far away from my original intent that I don't know which way is up. I still really want to breed a Christmas Storm . . . For a faster horse, I could do: Christmas Storm: Storm Bird, Key to the Mint, Northern Dancer And Society Max and Caracolero. . . Right now, Christmas Storm, Earl Nijinsky and Stark Secret are at all time low prices, I guarantee it . . . All are under 20. That WILL NOT LAST. I guess I'm going to wait a day. Both of the above combinations cost 31 and 33 points, respectively. Toral's Carson City x Slew O' Gold x Relaunch will kick these horse's arses. . . But I think there's a 50-50 chance of a low-level allowance horse out of the above combo's. I still have to figure out a horse to drop. I may drop Our Wool from Madman3 . . . he's a 6 yo, and I'm just not excited about him. I'm off to hit the auction ranks with Rotciv and hopefully snag a cheapie to eliminate. I think I may just go for claimers with Madman999. . . It already has one 2 yo, and needs to build up more BP points before it goes stupid . . . __________________ BTW, after what Toral said about Yankee, I think turf is an absolute must next time out. Note that I said I was hopeful that he'd perk up on turf. Now I think it's almost guaranteed. BTW2, I checked out Chief Tom again, Toral. I think he's going to be an OK scorer for you. He has some speed . . . I'd like to find alternate dam-dam sires from Caracolero (which I got from Stormy Prospector's pedigree). I have no idea how to build balance. But the second plan with Christmas Storm resembles Stormy Prospector a bit. . . Stormy Prospector was Storm Bird x Proud Truth x Caracolero . . . also very inbred on the Graustark lines . . . | |||||
| 41 | cab ID: 194411021 Wed, May 16, 10:21 |
Thanks for you insight as well Toral...I guess it's a matter of experimentation,time ,patience and an ounce of luck,but with your both your help i feel i am getting started in the right diretion... I imagine there would be a fair amount of kiwis and aussies simmers Madman....racing is as much a part of life to the average kiwi or aussie(and rugby!!)bloke as football,basketball,hockey etc to the average American/Canadian... A couple of questions and observations... SP's ...I was looking around at various horses while i was looking through fields....One i came across (#769) had a sp of 51 and time of 1.42 3/5...the next race over same dist. and surface he had a sp of 57 and time of 1.43 3/5...1 second slower yet a higher sp...I have to admit i don't know what sp stands for but it seems the higher the better!!....I think that there must be other influences taken into account though...class of field maybe?..I would think that sizing up the opposition maybe easier if this is understood... The auction appears to me as though it is a place to try and cast away the glue factory merchants...The majority of horses i looked at (that did not have reserves) had been tried at the various distances/surfaces and there did not seem to be much more you could do with them...of course if you look long and hard enough there will be ones that have potential..Also all the 2yo seem to have been tried once over turf/dirt and if they don't show anything are tossed into the auction...no perseverance at all??...Majority homebreds of course(mostly)...Are they results of experiments when breeding or just trying to make quick cash?(seems doubtful when you can probably make a bucketful through betting)... I t has sort of made me realise that when picking up horses that you at least try and find one s that are of some use!! and not taking up barn space...and therefore the better place to find them is in the claiming races?..Less experienced (like myself!)people give them a couple of tries and then give up on them ???...I suppose they are in the auction ..i just didn't see any... | |||||
| 42 | JKaye Sustainer ID: 4711592917 Wed, May 16, 10:35 |
I was able to identify several horses that have some value in the auction. I have yet to bid there yet, and I don't have much cash, but there definately are some quality horses to be had there. I entered a request for a stable review. I never got around to it before, but now I figure what the heck, I'll let the experts break it down. Looking forward to seeing if my horses made their races this week. I am looking to get 3 of my horses in this week. Easy Wing, my 3 yo filly has missed out on races each of the last 2 times I tried to enter her. Making those races is tough I guess. | |||||
| 43 | cab ID: 194411021 Wed, May 16, 10:53 | I must admit i didn't look thoroughly at the auction horses Jkaye..I was just picking them at random...Majority i saw had been tried and tested and didn't look as though you could try to much differently to break their maiden or get more wins out of them(unless i am missing something here???)...The one s that probably did(that i never looked at,at all) have potential had reserves too high for this newbie..:)Those 2yo horses intrigued me though....has to be some potential there if you knew what you were looking for...and had the patience... | |||||
| 44 | Madman ID: 29246911 Wed, May 16, 14:39 |
Cab The TIME column on each horse's PP list refers to the time of the WINNER . . . strange, eh? The horse you were looking at finished 9th both times. . . His time probably improved between the two races, but by how much?? This doesn't mean that other things don't affect SP, but they seem to be almost directly related to time by what I can tell . . . I'm going to ask Mr. Coker this (he reports race times on his site, but I don't know where he gets them). I think it is MUCH easier to get solid horses in the claiming ranks . . . until after your 20th race. After that, claiming gets much harder. With that said, there are usually some great horses at auction. But you do have to pay for them. Not all people use betting, so some blokes need to sell horses . . . jkaye Make sure you pile up some activity points. This is going to be a hard week for all of us to get in our 3 yo races . . . | |||||
| 45 | Madman ID: 29246911 Wed, May 16, 14:54 |
One more reason to be in the auction. Check out my #1 pick for rotciv stables! Out on the revenge Is that a horse or what???!!!! Please don't bid his price tag up. Although I can understand why you'd want to try (LOL). (PS Going to be eliminated in breeding, assuming I can get him for under $2K). | |||||
| 46 | StLCards Sustainer ID: 2504849 Wed, May 16, 14:57 | Madman, I might just have to bid on that horse, I think he can beat half my stable! LOL. What makes him a good horse to breed? | |||||
| 47 | Madman ID: 29246911 Wed, May 16, 16:02 |
Well, I picked him because I hope to snag him for $6. I think he's the worst horse in the auction, basically. Only thing in his favor is his age (3). Whenever you breed a horse from scratch, you have to eliminate a horse. Therefore, I THINK that the best horses to eliminate are the worst ones. . . simply because they come cheap :) Now, if you want to USE the horse in breeding, then you need to make sure it has a very good record, because in that case, the horse's natural ability will be passed on. . . Actually, now that I look at Out on the Revenge more closely, I feel sorry for him. He's been abused lately by mdsdawgs. . . I still doubt he could go much above 60-65 SP, but I think I could get him to do that (am I getting cocky or what?). Nevertheless, if I can snag him, he's being eliminated for my first bargain breed. . . | |||||
| 48 | StLCards Sustainer ID: 2504849 Wed, May 16, 17:03 | That is an interesting way to breed horses. I assumed that the horse(s) that was bred was the one that would be put out to pasture to stud or to foal. I figured you could use a mare from your stable (put out to pasture) and buy a stud service or use one of your studs (again putting out to pasture) and buying a mare (dam-sire line or something). Just putting out any old horse seems a bit strange. | |||||
| 49 | Madman ID: 29246911 Wed, May 16, 17:17 |
Well, it is a simulation. The idea is to allow you to breed a horse from scratch. Therefore, to prevent the number of horses from quickly increasing out of control, he simply requires you to eliminate a horse before adding one to the game . . . I don't think it's his model of how the birds and the bees work . . . although that is similarly peculiar. | |||||
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