Asked this question a long time ago on SO5,nobody answered,so will ask again.
I read about players with horses that are unbeaten in numerous races and have won top group races,some not far apart in the calendar.
I wonder how many are using the training mode,because I think that they aren't,as some of the races are too close together to be possible
Do they just use the easy game with horses needing no training at all?
been playing SO6 for quite a while and am finding it difficult to get together a good stable because I don't use any of the easy options and don't want to use any cheats
Any good tips would be welcomed
thanks

Still no replies
Has anyone succeeded in the game by playing the game on medium or hard difficulty without using the automatic training?
Does anyone use manual training?
Thanks

Hi Dave

Most players use automatic training - certainly the top players do as it speeds the game up.

Play on normal myself, but I think there is quite a spread of difficulty being used.

I have been a manual trainer from the very first incarnation of the game. I love micro managing my horses. Over time having a stable of more than ten horses becomes too much so I usually keep it below ten.

The fastest I bring a horse back to run after a race is always after the Kentucky Derby in the The Preakness ~ 14 days. The Belmont after that is 21 days and those three races always saps the horses yearly condition bar big time. Normally the days off after a race I give my horse depends on how bad a hit the current condition bar took after a race. A big hit I give them 28 days or more depending on the recovery rate. A medium hit I give 21 days. A small hit I give 14 days off.

For a horse coming off a lengthy rest I try to find a race roughly a month ahead. For horses coming off a medium or short rest I look for a race roughly between 14 and 21 days ahead of time. I amber train (medium) until 14 days (12 days for short rest horses) before the race where I then switch the training level to red (heavy). The day before a race I switch the level back to amber and then skip to race day. If my horse isn't at green condition level on raceday I scratch them.

I retire my keeper horses to the transfer pool at the end of their 4yo season. Undefeated careers are few and far between but I get them and it is most satisfying. I have never considered trying the simple training method.

I also play on hard mode with proper training. It's a bloody hard slog trying to scratch a living buying cheap horses in claimers/auctions and then selling them for small profits. I make a bit of money betting but limit myself to only three maximum bets on a given race so can only make around £50k a time and lose a fair bit too.

It's often about five seasons in before I can even afford a breeding bard.

Hugely satisfying playing this way and harder than it's even been in SO6 with the increased costs (e.g. travelling to tracks) and prize money that has not changed.

Like Sirius above, I only play manual training mode. Rarely have more than eight horses on the go at once due to the amount of time and detail required.

This kind of training generally guides you toward a small but elite string of homebred pattern-race horses, with unsurprisingly, extensive use of the transfer pool to "reserve" surplus juvenile homebreds for future use.

I have bred and trained multiple grp 1 winners, and in over three centuries of breeding and training have made three horses reach a rating of 140. All three of them fillies, two of which were 12 furlong runners, and the other was a 10 furlong runner. Rarely race the flat horses beyond the age of 5, to achieve maximum years of use of them at stud.

In all these years of playing, the two hardest races to win have been the Dubai Duty Free (extended 9 furlongs), and the Melbourne Cup (2 miles). Never won the former, and won the latter only once.

In manual training mode, wednesdays are the crucial day for going red and getting your horses "fit and ready to race". I never run my horses unless they are absolutely spot-on (this puts more pressure on the condition column), which means they rarely run more than six times in any one year even with a maximum constitution bar.

In all this training time I haven't once found/bought at auction a potential top flight female sprinter with racing longevity.