Hi,
New here.
I've read about people's stories about how many group wins they have etc...but I've found this game really difficult.
How the hell do you start the game off and earn money with the horses they give you? I'm playing it on normal and my money just runs dry as my horses are crap and i dont really know how to train them properly.
I'm also incredibly crap with 2 y o's, any advice?

Hi Acko

Most people on here cheat.

Apparantly, the most used cheat is to check out the results, then drop the game onto the desktop, log out and re-start.

Then back all the winners, especially those that win easily, or better still do reverse forecasts on the first two.

Then buy some quality horses and breed them with group winning horses that appear in the breeding barn each year.

There are other major cheats, but you would have to ask Luke Wilson and company about that.

Can't see the point of it personally, but then I do own the moral compass.

Best Of Luck

Steve

Haha, I'm really surprised by that.

I struggle loads when starting a new game. I've got one game on Easy where I've got about 4 mill but every new game ive started since then has been a disaster!

I don't like cheating...

I usually run what I have in maidens first to see if they have any ability whatsoever...

2YO - keep running them til they win, then move into conditions races towards the end of the season. Should get their rating up to about 100 and they can be sold on at a decent price. If you can get them placed in a Group 3 or even sneak a win then you'll be sorted.

3YO + up - run them to their top handicap rating then run them in claimers, setting the weight correctly and backing them, over and over again. Their rating will go up and you can flog them at the end of the season for a reasonable price which with the winnings you have built up should be enough to buy an above average new 2YO.

Takes a while sometimes but your conscience will remain clear!

Have you got to the stage where you have a breeding barn yet acko????

Lol I used to do this until I got ArtMoney which makes it alot easier. And this I don't consider cheating.

Having money in this game is pointless. Its very easy to make money. The games is not about money.

It just slows down what eventually will happen which is make you a billionaire. When you get to about 3 million, money becomes useless.. If there was a point to having so much money then yes I'd consider it cheating. But being rich means nothing. Even if you have so much, this does not mean your will get a champion. You have to breed it yourself to get one.

If there was a real concern about the Alt-Ctrl-Del then there are ways to safeguard against it. But there isn't, it doesn't affect critical horse data which is the really important stuff.

If I was to reprogram this, I would update the dbase after each race. Although the load times would probably double Therefore even if you try to Alt-Ctrl-Del the data is already saved. Or even better is to lock the mouse/keyboard out while the race is in progress and save the data after each race. But money isn't important so there's no need.

If you want a strategy thats (moral lol) then try this trick. Buy a bunch of mares (doesn't have to be good ones) and breed them with gamebreds or yours doesn't matter. Sell the 2years olds. Do this until you think you have enough and you're set.

I wont cheat and never will, if i did and mastered the game i wouldnt be so proud knowing i didnt do it properly. I understand your point thunderspark but i really enjoyed the first part of the game, having c2 to c4 horses, trying to make enough for a breeding barn by looking for bargains and trying to get em better and flogging em, then getting a breeding barn but not being able to straight away use the best in game stud to breed with my horses so just using good g1 winners with my poor horses and slowly but surely breeding better and getting a good blood line, and so having a great sense of acheivement now when my own breed horse wins a G1 classic, proud because it took me a while and using every penny wisely earlier on in the game to get where i am. Its how Mark intended the game to be and iam happy doing it that way

I understand what you mean. I remember when one of my horses first won. Or the accomplishment to finally afford a breeding barn. Cheering loudly when I first had my first Group 1 win. That still brings a smile on my face. I don't want to steal away that feeling from anyone.

But later on when you've played thru many ingame decades and want to start a new game. Its an option you can take. I'm not suggesting everyone should do this but its an option.

...i couldnt have put it better myself doveyy...totally agree with everything u said

I have in the one game I did well in.

But that was in easy and now i'm trying in normal where I last about 2 seasons and then run out of money!

Problem i've found is that only starting with £100K and having 3 horses is that I simply can't run them often enough and to a good standard so that I actually make money. I can imagine once you get one good horse, its easy. UAE Derby seems to be the easiest race to target haha

keep an eye on the entries especially in the first couple of seasons, I once managed to win a Group 1 (Grand Prix de Paris I think) with an 80 or so rated yak as there was only 1 other runner. He was sold on for almost one million and away you go. That was a bit rare mind but opportunities are out there.

How do you get all the French Racing on it?

Just won the 2000 Guineas with my own bred horse, first classic winner!

There are races from all over the world in the game



Matt

Acko, to earn money at the start of the game (without cheating in any way) look for horses in the auctions between £2000 and £10000 (no higher) that may not have done well but it looks like they havnt been raced in their preferred distance. Then race them in their preffered distance and let jockey decide the tactics then put em in sellers at that distance (if of course the jockey said the distance was right) and you should earn a bit of profit on the horse. Then just keep doin this till you have enough money for a breeding barn and a spare £50000 to use a decent in game horse to breed with yours