Hi all i have been playing SO6 for a couple of weeks now & i'm struggling to find a decent horse either at the start of the game or at the 2YO Auctions. Im playing a uk flat schedule only on easy mode and simple training mode. Any tips would be much appreciated as on previous versions in the past i have found a group 1 winning horse after a few seasons.

Start a new game on easy (more horses to start with) and first check each horse for a high potential bar. If none are high potential quit and start a new game and look again. Do this until you get a high potential horse. Took about 4 starts to get this one...



I use the line between the "A-Post" and the "Decs" tab as a rough guide on what qualifies as a suitable keeper. The lighter green bar is high enough and the darker green bar is not far behind. If the darker green bar is way behind the lighter green bar that horse will usually be a dud. This horse's darker green bar will improve to be equal with the lighter bar after a few races. Also a plus if the horse is high in Extra Speed Rating, Cruising Burst and Finish Application.

This is a 5yo so he will be at his peak for his career unless he is a rare late bloomer. Look for high potential with the younger horses the game gives you at the start for a prospective foundation sire/mare. If this horse was a 2yo you would have a real nice find. It happens - you just have to keep starting new games until you get what you want which is boring. It's luck of the draw - you might start one game and get that superstar or have to start a hundred games. But once you've got a beast to start an empire it will be worth it

Also I forgot to mention when you find that good looking high potential horse you should put the rest of the horses up for auction. Skip ahead to the day after they sell at auction. Do not view the auction - just skip the day. You get more money for your horses by skipping the day. When you view the auction some horses wont sell or some will get just one lousy lowball bid. You dont have enough money to start with to raise the bids higher.

With the money you get from selling those duds you should have enough to buy all the upgrades or go to the weekly auction on Thursdays and buy a sharp seller winner.

Eton Fable - so far a nice little horse...

First start - Debuts at Louisiana Downs and wins in hand as the longest shot in the field with the jockey looking over his shoulders at the finish and gearing the horse down. Gets a soft rating of 68 in the win. Jock says try longer.



Second Start - Ship him back home to Bowie and with the soft rating I look for a handicap at a furlong longer and throw on the apprentice for more of an advantage. Wins readily in a romp by 7+ lengths. No secret today as he is made the clear favorite.



After two starts notice his potential bar has raised some.



I will try and raise this horse up one step at a time. He's no world beater but if I can get a group placing in him I can sell him at auction for mega bucks and use that money to get something better. Or maybe he will win a group 1?

Third start - Heads over to Keeneland to race in another handicap. Today's race is a small field but one entry is the toughest horse he's faced so far. Again I use the apprentice to gain an advantage and again he wins in hand. Has gone from a 68 rating in a maiden win to a 94 rating in a handicap in three starts. Time to step up to an allowance. I want a turf race because the head lad is not saying "This horse will be suited for dirt". In the US game if the head lad doesn't say the horse will be suited for dirt that means the horse should like the turf. The game needs to have the lad say "This horse would be suited for turf" but it never has.

Fourth start - Had to wait two and a half months to find a suitable allowance race distance wise and the one I found just happened to be the turf race I was looking for. Heads down to Calder to readily dispatch four challengers in a visually impressive performance. Two of the challengers were multiple group two placing horses. Next I will find a cheap no name group race preferably on the turf.

Fifth Start - I find a cheap no name group race at Del Mar with five seemingly over matched rivals. But the race is at 1m 2f which is a furlong longer than what I want so I put the apprentice back on for the needed weight break. The apprentice loses this race with a terribly timed ride. The winner and my horse were at the same place early in the race but the winner moved much sooner as the apprentice on my horse thought it would be wise to make her move in the stretch. Should have won this race.

Sixth Start - Back to turf and back to the top jockey in the game we head to Kentucky Downs to win the race we should have won last time. At a mile this is slightly shorter than his optimum distance. The jockey grinds out a well deserved win. Tougher than expected. Next will be his first foray into feature races. I will find a group 3 race on the turf. I think surely he is a potential group 3 horse.

Seventh Start - The group 3 Knickerbocker handicap came up relatively quickly and so I entered him. Ran his heart out and finished a nice second. He is worth a lot now at auction. Not a world class horse so I will get one more group race in him and then auction him to end this little tale.

Eighth and final start in the Obi Wan barn of The Force Farm Stables - The River City Handicap came up perfectly in the schedule. With true grit and determination Eton Fable goes out a winner for his connections and then is sold at auction for a hefty sum. I play with manual training because I like the micro managing aspect of the game. Didn't mean to hijack your thread but I thought I'd see how this horse I touted as a keeper would turn out.

WOW! What a great in depth guide SiriusChill. Howsabout doing one
for the jumping fans?
ARAPHO

a great little story enjoyed the read,i concurr with arapaho do another one maybe continue one a bit more in depth .

Thanks guys! It's always fun to plot a campaign with a middling horse. I have my league breeding thing going on so a horse like this rarely gets the time of day from me. I'll try and find a 2yo game starter and make another "Let's play" out of that.

I'm not really a jumps player so would probably embarrass myself giving a "Let's play" on jumping.

Looking forward to that, hope you find time to do it. Any jump players out there
willing to match SiriusChill's guide. What about you SuperCat ? I know you could
do it.
ARAPHO

All I can say is "YES PLEASE".
dotsy