From the thread on the replay flag and crashes, I think I want to restart my barns again. I just restarted them all due to a bug, and deleted the saved horses file then and I'm less than 6 seasons into any of the new barns.

So now is the time to re-restart. before I have too much time in the new ones.

Since I also read that setting it to auto run some season helps with both pools and race stats, what is the recommended number of seasons to autorun a new barn save file from those that have experience?

While it takes my computer a while to do it, I always go the max autorun season which I think is 10.

it helps you get a better handle on how horses run, and how breeding stallions produce. Esp. if a stud produces horses that run better older, or longer distance horses or you are going to do a jumping or jumping combo, then you have enough seasons to see some form on offspring for those types.

There are trade-offs. The pluses are better form on horses in racing for more consistent results, and breeding stats more reliable as they start with more data. And you will be dependent 100% on game studs your first few years.

The bad is if you fish for good starter horses as you don't see what you get until after the loooooooooong form build. So you might end up devoting some time to that. Or if you rely on lack of form to make big bets early.

I only autorun the single season but thats due to the time it takes. I think I'll start making some save slots ready to play ahead of time with the 10 year autosim so I can really dive into the breeding analysis early.