I'm quite interested in setting up a save that works in a similar fashion to godolphin/coolmoore, but I don't want it to become too easy, eg winning the derby every year, so wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to how I could keep it interesting ?

The sad truth of the game is once you crack your breeding you will win everything year in year out, only way to keep it more challenging is to deliberately cripple that. One method would be not to bred at all, another always bred yours with a game horse or finally sell your best 2yo's let other trainers have your horses and try beat them. Pretty sure that one would be a sickener though.

You could sell your horses back into the game.

I have five or six (or more!) good colts and breed them with everything I possibly could. I must have about 50 mares in the barn, and I normally end up covering all the decent game-bred mares too. I make it my mission to breed as many yearlings as possible. Then I end up selling 80% of them who don't meet what I'm looking for, though I try to be as strict as possible.

I've been in Group 1 races like The Derby and the July Cup where the top three or four horses have all been bred by myself. Only recently I sold a 3yo because I didn't think he'd amount to anything, only for him to explode as a six and seven year old and become the best horse in the world.

Which is why I retire mine but yes selling your horses will make the game more challenging.

at the end of SO5 online League 6 months before SO6 to keep the game fresh
i made a rule i had to breed to a gamebred no homebred to homebred breeding
then i would randomly sell half of the 2YO it was great fun


not a good idea if you are playing for the league but if you are not really shakes
things up give it a try

Thanks Guys.