I have finally given up on SO7 and have decided to go back to SO6,I don't know if it is just me,but I am on season 4 with my first crop of 2 year olds bred from ny own stallions.No change,the win and even place ratio is very low.I assumed if I started the game on easy mode,it would play similar to the previous game,especially mating own stallions.Like SO6 I don't expect to win every single race,but I expect with the very few that do win in SO7,the form should more often than not,carry to the next race.

Some horse do win consistantly and some, no matter how good they look on paper never do well. Look at the two horses below. Whisky Nest has full potential and done very little in the game, while Propoganda has less potential but runs consistantly.

Also, don't judge your horses on their 2yo career. I find some horses are good as 2yo and some don't come good until 4yo.

Lastly, breeding only with your own stallions will not improve your horses significantly, you need to breed with gamebred stallions.

I have read a few things on here recently about having to use game stallions rather than your own to improve your stock. I find that a real shame – because the ‘fun’ way is to get horses you have bred into the lineage of winning horses. To feel that the hours you put into the game is actually having an impact. Not winning every race by any means, but getting satisfaction that you are maybe slowly building an empire. I have wasted a lot of time using my own stallions. Which doesn’t matter as I have lots of time on my hands. I will go back to using game stallions exclusively, though when I tried that initially it still didn’t work particularly well. I did get a few with stats like Propaganda but they got nowhere near to C1 races and produced nothing from breeding.

The important part of dignitaries post for me, is that it is being played in easy mode. I have played just over 1000 hours on SO7 (which I am sure still makes me a novice) also in easy mode, and I am finding it incredibly hard to move racing and breeding standards forward beyond a few inches each year. As I said, I have plenty of time available to keep going season after season until I maybe find the magic recipe. But I do wonder about people who have just bought the game, and those with limited time who want to play casually. I did not play SO6, but I have read on this forum that SO7 is more realistic and harder to master. Which is great. But a less relentless AI in easy mode on SO7 would actually enable players to stick around and try the harder levels later on. Get over a few learning curves. I am not advocating a game where you win all the major races inside six seasons. But something just a little more satisfying, earlier. I guess my own personal battling stat must be high because I will keep going and going. Others can’t or won’t – which is a great shame for the SO series in general.

I don't use gamebreds exclusively. I find a gamebred that maybe improves a few horses, hopefully a stallion, and then I use these improved horses to breed that improvement into the rest of my stable. Most of the time these improvements take 5 - 10 seasons to breed throughout the stable.

As a rough guide, if I have 100 mares in the barn, I am probably breeding about 15 - 20 with gamebreds and the rest with my own stallions. Breeding with gamebreds is very hit and miss. Out of the 200 gamebred stallions in my barn, probably only 2 or 3 would improve the stable and finding them is hard. I tend to look for gamebreds who have either sired lots of group winning horses or who have had a distinguished career of their own. Not neccesarily having won more than 5 x G1 races but having placed high in most of their races.

I think that the description "Easy" mode is wrong. The only difference I have found between easy mode and harder modes is the number of horses you are given at the start of game.

I play in league mode so can't see all the green bars, but when I used to play an ordinary game, the extra speed, cruising burst bars are probably the most important to improve after potential. Look for stallions that improve theses bars.

You said you had a stallion like Propoganda but didn't have success breeding him. I reckon only about 2% of all the foals I breed go on to do anything in the game. I have one stallion in my barn at the moment who is probably 3 -4 lengths faster than anything else I have bred but he has never produced any foals as good as himself in the 6 seasons he has been in the barn and breeding 10 foals a season.

SO7 is supposed to be more realistic and if realism is what you want from this game that's great but some people just want a game that they can play and have a modicum of success in the game. I agree with you, if you are the in the latter category and just want to play casually, SO7 is too hard to master on what should be an "Easy" mode.

Some very interesting information there TK. You are clearly a more experienced player than I am, and have already jumped through some of the hoops I have prepared myself for. Interestingly, I decided a few days ago to use 100 mares in my next breeding season, up from 77 last year and 52 the year before. Right now I will settle for two good horses out of a hundred as a result. But having to play the numbers game has lessened the enjoyment for me. In the early seasons I really got to know all my horses. But now I buy and sell so much, many are just names and statistics. I have seen the game described as a complex simulation aimed at racing enthusiasts so I guess the high level of difficulty is intentional and that SO is not made for casual players.

Thank you for the helpful replies.I will give SO7 a miss for a few weeks,then try it again.If I thought around season 8 the quality of horses bred in my yard would improve,I would be happy to be patient.But I just don't see that happening.It did say a few months ago if you started the game in easy mode after the latest upgrade,the game would be playable on par with SO6.Perhaps if they could upgrade to a very easy mode,for that particular purpose,then those that want the challenge as it is can still play as the game is set up.

SO7 is about patience.. honestly I thought the same but I have slowed things down a bit and I export all my 2yos now to the CK and see how well they run against eachother, Ive sstarted to pick up on which ones will do well in the game, Also on the breeding side of things my experiences are finding the right mares. you'll learn to see which mares throw good horses and continue to use these and dicard the ones that produce poorly, I tend to buy anything that has a higher rating of 105 and has won at least 3 races and also placed well. once you get in that rhythm you'll start to have more fun. At first breed to the game horses, breed with those that have multiple group winning horse with a high stakes percentage. Eventually you'll get that 1 or 2 good 2yos that will be the begining of your breeding operation.


Its definitely frustrating when you get a great potential horse but does nothing, I usually use these as pacemakers for long distance races when my prefered horse is a hold up or slight hold up because the one thing i have found is its very hard to win races with no pace if you dont have a horse with at least even pace. I'm playing league mode too. I have found this a more fairer way of playing, I eases pressure on what you think a good horse may be.. you can have all the high stats in a horse but does nothing you expect, this relieves that pressure and you just go off the main stats of potential speed stamina and acceleration.

hope this helps you a little bit to find the patience to enjoy the game, its really not that much of a let down. but thats my opinion.

I certainly think you should keep going dignitaries, rather than taking a break. Strangely, in my first session after posting on this thread, three breeding mares popped up in the sales and they all look good. Cost just under £3.5mill for the trio but could be a turning point in my breeding plans.

Never considered using pacemakers MLD. Thanks for that, will give it a go.

I have used 3 of my own stallions that have some group one races,including Irish Derbyshire and Japan cup.I am now racing their offspring,of at least 15 only one has won a two year old race,and less than 5 have been placed.But I will give it a week and return to SO7.I do want it to be pleasurable to play,but frustrating seeing highly bred two year olds finishing way down the field.I was saying SO6 yesterday,unraced two year olds I entered were destroying fields that had two year olds that had already raced,some with placed form.
Again thanks guys for your advice.

Predictive text fails,should have said Irish Derby,and won group one races

Yeah, as good as SO6 was, most players just found it far too easy, and of course it's not very realistic to be able to breed winners that easily.

SO7 is far more challenging, and also far more realistic on the breeding side.

I can totally understand why some of the more casual players would want a mode that offers something in between though.

Played SO7 again last night,tried the advice of using a pacemaker in a 3 year old handicap over 10 furlongs,the pace maker took a while to get in front,but it did seem to pay dividends as the hold up horse ran on to be third,so will continue that technique.Ran several two year olds,most got well beat,but I did get a dead heat win

What process do you use to decide what stallions you use? I don’t know how you’re struggling so much with 2yo winners

I have 5 stallions that have won group one races.Three have won 2 group one races and the other two just won one.I try and select mares that I own that have a high bar that can race several times a season.I have around 150 breeding mares,some bought at sales,and some my own that I have raced.In SO6 I mated middle distance horse's with milers or sprinters,I am basically doing the same now.Unless the potential bars are very lo.I mostly pair up my own stallions,but still use the in game ones. I an reluctant to sell many foals in case I sell another trainer the next Northern dancer or Frankel.But I will persevere.

Where was it stated that Easier mode on SO7 is now actually, truly easier like SO6? Because I'd start a new SO7 game if that is true. Can someone link me to that post?