SO7 definitely rewards the casual player. Chess bred season 19 has won a group race this season in NH. That never would have happened in older SO versions

The game maybe, but I was really talking about the schedual (this season and the future) and its need to adapt to the ratings with auto handicapping.
(as well as digging my old mate Josh as we like the banter about who deserves a win )

You have mentioned a way forward in a new thread.

I am the very definition of casual player stu , though I bet I play less than you think, 8 seasons between my two games in the last three weeks.

I will have one new batch of NH horses from 4 seasons of breeding trialled by the window (338 horses in the barn now), and I am aiming for two cycles of three breeding seasons on the flat, there are 98 in the one that is cooked now. Trials for those start today.

That's a huge amount. I have played half a season. Will more than likely only play a total of 3 before uploads window

Not really since each cycle starts with an empty stable so there are four seasons where all I am doing is breeding, that takes a while on the NH granted but only a hour or so on the flat. I bet we have people doing a season or more per day.

I haven't played since the league started other than getting my barn in order by culling a load of horses and putting in the horses i knew went on to be in my league team after speeding through some seasons.

So I need to play before upload window to catch up. Will do a few seasons next week!

Not sure there is any catching up to be done, at best I’ll churn out another bunch of clones, of the 338, NH types I figure 15 will pass muster at trial, when I get too it, the oldest are only 5yo right now.

I just need to breed with To Toulose as she is my best 12f flat horse, best novice hurdler over 3m and best novice chaser after going so close at G1 level in Auteil.

If only she'd kept Snow King at bay!!! Huge swing in prize money that was.

I actually disagree with you josh on “it never should be easy” small trainers deserve a better chance in them handicaps, it’s never gonna happen if big trainers but there horse in it. Some are targeting them races so they can pick up wins easily, it’s not fair on small trainers. I think I’ve explained my matter and I don’t need to say anything further than that.

I've bred a lot ( well 80 jumpers) in the past 6 weeks because i've been in lockdown but now I can finally leave and go home and see my girl those horses will be part of next season's team. Will put a few of my stallions i've been breeding to into the window to see how they get on.

That’s your prerogative.

What then do you suggest we do?

I suggest no big trainers in them races and not trying to get a low handicap mark for them races for the big trainers like yourself.

How do you define a big trainer?

I have one top quality horse who won the 2000 Guineas. I have 4 other horses who have won races in flat h'caps. Does winning the Guineas make me a big trainer this season even although my other horses are only average?

I have had lots of success in the past seasons and so has Paul. Look at this seasons NH logs on TOM. Paul is 10th and I am 11th with 3 wins and 5 wins respectively. What is the cutoff position for a big trainer.

Do previous seasons count towards whether you are a big trainer or not or do you look at what the logs look like after say 4 weeks and say the top 10 are the best trainers.

If I am a top trainer and can't run in h'cap races then it logically follows that anyone not in the top tier in the logs can't enter group races. What an uproar that would cause.

Based on this season results so far, I would have about 5 flat horses running this week and about 6 NH horses running.

I was stating a suggestion not a fact! and yes i would class you as a big trainer. you have won the guineas so clearly you are a top trainer with your past on the logs, Small trainers in big races and Big trainers in a small handicap race is totally different advantages. small trainers have the option to go in the top races if they would like, I dont think any newbie comes in saying there just going in for the handicaps and they when they enter in handicap races they havent a chance in them races either if the likes of the top trainers in it, Top trainers has won enough of group races and had lot of success in the league. so why try win a low handicap race when your disadvantaging a small trainer that has never won a race before! Most newbies dont come back because of that. '

I explained my matter and i dont need further explaining to do

I not sure I agree with that statement. I think SO7 is a big lucky bag. If you are lucky a good stallion comes into the barn and you manage to breed a nice foal to continue your breeding lines, that is great.

My main game has gone wonky so I was forced to start a new jumps game. I was "lucky", I bred a colt in the 2nd season who went onto be 100% as an 8yo. My game is now 20 seasons old and I have not bred another decent looking foal from any gamebred stallions. My one good colt produced several very nice looking foals but I have just trialled the first batch of foals in the CK and they are no match for the horses I uploaded to the league from my 50+ seasons game that went wonky.

As I said, if you are "lucky" you can breed some average\decent horses but in my experience with SO7, nothing beats putting in the hours.

Leon, you are a very experienced trainer and can breed good horses through good breeding technique\tactics but I am not sure new trainers can do this unless they get that "lucky" starting horse.