In the first generation, BC Distaff, after soo many 2nd place runs in G1 races on many horses. The stud I started it with is over 20 now ... it is 2033 game year. He's the one I mentioned in best horse off auction, and he's good, not great.



So, what I did wrong, so we can all laugh.

1. Not reading the manual in the base directory in steam, if I'd known it was there and read it ...
2. Not selling all three starter horses. Two were bad, one was marginal. Not selling it kept me short of breeding barn.
3. I was trying to understand the legends screen and seem to have made only one spawn EVER. So, no betting on them.
4. I finally buy a breeding barn, and start with 2 stallions in it. This problem should be obvious. No money for mares.
5. I had 2 mares I was going to use, but spent ALL my money on the barn, so they needed to race.
6. Did I mention NO MONEY and 2 studs in the shed, and 2 mares at the track? Only 4 horses total, sold rest to buy barn.
7. Spend rest of season trying to win with average two mares to buy two cheaper ones, manage to afford two.
8. Get told, "Too Late In Season To Breed". I dislike this dialog box intensely.
10. Start next season with loan, and breed 2 very bad mares in shed. Race the two very average mares to pay loan.
11. I'm rattled now and it is late at night, so I often misclick the "Jockey" (ride as) mode instead of the "Instruct Jockey" button.
..... I have no idea what the controls are so the 2 mares that might win modestly lose, badly, often. Lose money.
10. Send the worst stud to retirement so I can retire both average mares now degrading. I THOUGHT it capped at 5.
11. Am very excited now for next season, as I have 1 stud, four mares, somehow survived season and foals are coming!
12. WHERE ARE THE FOALS?!?!? What is that box in the bottom left? How do I get them out?!?!?!
13. Stare at empty racing stable, negative bank and become happy I can't accidentally click the bleepin jockey button at least.
14. Get a loan, and fast forward the year with everything on cheap and no horses. Finally foals!
15. WHERE ARE THE FOALS?!?!? What is that box next to the other box in the bottom left? How do I get them out?!?!?!
16. Stare at empty stable, decide too frustrated to sleep anyway.
17. Read boards while fast forwarding second year well into negative still with no horses.
18. Foals!!! Sell 'em for bills. Fast forward third year with no horses, negative again.
19. THERE ARE MY FOALS! Keep one, I'm really bored and want to race something. Sell rest for bills. Go to bed.
20. Continue selling or retiring perfectly good mares, thinking I am capped at 5 slots in breeding shed for another 10 years.

The main thing is you are surviving!
It's now just a slow process of building a bank and being smart about placing horses in races.
Race this filly for another year or two and see if she can win a few more races - then breed with her.
I find that 5yo can be a break out year for a lot of horses - so race locally and see what else you can pick up

This is quite the nice board. You also encouraged me after I posted about the stud of this horse as my "not great but best I'd seen" from auction!

I think I have this, my first working barn, set to continue. While this filly was my first G1, those two studs produced quite a bit of Handicap, G3 & G3 winners. I was just "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" until that filly in G1s. Though, clearly, mistakes were made. So, I do have a few questions. but maybe I'll do that as another post, since they are questions.

I'll leave this post is an invitation to share in the laugh at myself in my rather tortured path to my first working game barn.

With this game - once you get a stable/barn up and running it will only get better!
Now you have your first G1 horse - soon you will have many G1 horses.
Then your next goal will be to have a G1 winner overseas and once you achieve that goal you will have many G1 winners overseas.

Agree with that, seasons can fly by until you get that first g1 Colt, after which everything get easier you just need to find him, good fillies help but a good colt is key to early breeding as you can sire many per year.

I hear you on a colt. Though, I'm not sure how much faster it will be for me. I have issues! I refuse to do close family pairings. Yes, I understand it does not matter at all in the game. It is just a hold over though from my real past and makes me feel uncomfortable. So it is just more fun if I don't!

But, the over seas thing! Oh yes! I have sent some over for races thinking that my horses's rating, surface liking and all looked like a good fit. Sometimes was even the game's betting favorite. Then ...

I'm left waving to the field as they go by.

Tough crowd overseas!

Used to do the same for the sake of realism, until i got my ass handed to me in the league....... That changed my view

Hahaha
It's a wake up call, your first season in the league!

Yep - I was the same with breeding but not so much now but I always try to import outside blood/stats.
Don't worry how fast it takes you to play this game. I went for about 40 seasons before I started breeding (I just didn't think to do it) I was just buying at the auctions - after a while I was just buying the most expensive horses - and I also realised that some real talented horses come up in the mid week sales. So basically around my 35 season or so I had bought a colt and filly that both picked up wins overseas THEN the breeding idea popped into my head. Breeding made a big difference to my stable - I went from just winning Listed races, to just trying to win G3 and then G2 then onto G1's and entering in every Group race. Now 95% of all races I enter are G1's - the only time I enter a horse in less than G3 it's when they are either 2 or 3yo and I am riding them to see what race pattern they prefer.
My goal now is to breed top liners that can compete in the league and it's all about breeding stats for me.
Basically there is always a new goal to reach and there is always something new to learn with this game!

Doug