Hi guys I have been playing S04 for about 2 months now and love the game but Im just struggling a little moving onto the next step of getting horses to challenge for good races.

I play on the normal difficulty setting and so start with three horses I have started a few different games and each time these horses dont seem to be that good. I also tried the method of selling these horses and buying new ones but again they weren't that great.

My horses seem to be no better then class 4 quality and everytime I have tried to enter them into a class 2, 3 race they get beaten easily. I only seem to be able to win lowly class 5/sellers & claimer races.

I guess what should I be looking for when buying new horses at auctions etc? and it seems all the decent bred horses go for wayyy more money then I have.

Id love to have some horses capable of challenging in the big races but mine always seem way out there depth.

Thanks for any advice/tips

**Also a bit of a sidenote my CAPS lock button seems to have no effect when playing the game although its not a big problem its a bit annoying my name and when I eventually get to breeding horses I only seem to be able to use lowercase letters anyone know why?

i gather from the last statement that you have bought the breeding barn as to get to the next step of getting better class horses you really need that breeding barn to get things moving

I dont actually have the breeding barn etc yet but from reading the forums I now you get to name horses etc. But I havent got enough money yet to do that yet.

When you start a new game advance 6 months on the option at the beginning, this will start you at Royal Ascot (assumed UK schedule). Horses should have a little bit of form and it should be relatively easy to pick a few winners (I find group and listed races the best for this). Back these stand out winners for as much money as you can. Sell off your 3 donkeys and buy from the auctions (seller/claimer winners that have only had 1 or 2 races are great for buying and running up a sequence).

Alternatively, cheat there are many threads on the forum which describe how to 'make a quick buck'.

If playiing properly, there is no easy way to make a fortune quickly, just buy from the auctions and have a punt on other races. There will come a time when you will have made more money than you ever need in the game (I currently have £98 million), the idea then changes to trying to breed your own world beaters.

I was in the same boat as you mate and i am sure many others was. Another way of getting there is to do what i did. In the auctions look for horses (between £5000 and £15000 ...no more and dont bid more then that) that have not been raced in their prefered distance ie breeding indicator, hence the reason that they are cheap and not v good. Then run them in their prefered distance and let the jockey decide the instructions and if the horse likes the new distance run and the jockey instructions given ie even pace ridden handy then put the horse in a seller race for that new distance and instruct jockey to the prefered style, your horse should win and you more often then not will receive double or more what you paid for him. Keep doin this till you get enough for the breeding barn and a spare £50000

Then when you have the breeding barn find a couple of mares or studs depending on what sex horses you have that are cheap (£15000 to £30000) but have won a group 1 and the rating is above 110. Mate them with your horses (which will be poor i know but this doesnt matter yet) and then just skip days till the foals are 2 years old then sell em, trust me they will probably not be great (Class 2 or listed at the most) but you should get up to half a million for each.

Continue this til you have a million in the bank then at the 2yr old auctions at the beginning of the season bid for a 200k - 300k horse and if other bidders are bidding up to 450k for this horse then out bid them if not then just dont bid anything. These horses mostly end up very good group winners so then you can breed them with group 1 horses in the breeding barn, this will get you going in the game

I would always sell the 2 year old off before its raced you will get around 50k, then try and get a 80-90 rated horse which is a miler if possible and try him in the dubai races with the big prize money, if he doesnt perform drop him in to claimers or conditions races, the conditions races are good for getting the rating of the horse up if your going to sell him, also they are a good stepping stone for listed races,

If you get a good handicapper which can win off a mark for example of 80 run him over the wrong trip with miss break challenge later instructions, that should get his mark down, then lump on over the right distance,

good luck

also buy any 2yr old horses which are under 5k that have ran over the wrong distance ie last in a 5f or 6f, and its ideal distance is 1m 4f to 1m 7f

cheeers for the advice people. Id rather do it without resorting to cheating first lol but can see why you could get tempted lol.

Heres another pieceof advice for you. Find a horse that wins regurlarly at say 0-70 handicaps. run it in big races till its rating drops below 70 then place in its fav conditions in 0-70 handicap. I just landed 18 million plus in a gamble on a 50-1 shot. Its the best way to make money without cheating