Getting Rich in SIM - Closing Thoughts

Original article written by Regina Moore posted 12 years 3 weeks ago

If you’re the type of player that can’t manage a large stable, you can apply these same principles to smaller stables; it’ll just likely take you longer to get to some serious wealth. But if you’re persistent, it can happen.

Managing your stable is a lot easier if you’re a SIMperior subscriber. You’ll have a lot more information at your fingertips when you’re looking at your Racing Barn, etc. Plus, being a SIMperior player gives you many, many other perks.


STEWARD BREDS
If you’ve happened to scrape enough money together to bid on horses at a Steward-bred auction, that’s great. I love to see newbies get Steward-breds, because they were important to the early development of my stable. But it’s not automatic that SB horses are going to perform better than the average racehorse, and there’s a reason why the lower priced ones go for lower prices. So, I’m saying don’t get crazy with spending your money because you’re determined to get a SB. If you have 300k in your bank, you really don’t want to spend 250k on a horse that has a weak dam, and had hardly any bids until the final half hour, when it got bid up by hopeful players determined to get *something* from the auction.

Also, note that, for the most part, sprinters have a lot less earnings potential than milers and routers. Their purses just aren’t as big as those for the other categories, including in the Steward’s Cup races, and it’s a lot harder for the very best sprinters to earn a million dollars. So, the more you spend at a SB auction for a sprinter, the harder it’s going to be for that horse to earn that money back, even if it’s a stakes level horse. I’ve had quite a number of SB sprinters be an asset for my stable, but they were only assets because I paid so little for them in the first place – almost always under 200k. If I’d paid as much as 300k for each of them, the majority would have lost me money.

There is a lot of demand for SB fillies, so if you happen to be able to acquire a filly, she is likely to have good resale value, even if she ends up not performing well on the track.


A NUDGE TO DIRT SPRINTERS
I’ve pointed out in these articles that sprinters, on both surfaces, have a harder time making serious money than other types, and they also tend to pitter out sooner.

But dirt sprinters also happen to be my favorite type of horses to race. The reason is that you can start racing your new 2yos Week 1, so there isn’t that loooong wait, like there is for the young milers and routers. But perhaps more importantly, if you race in North America, there’s plenty of dirt sprint races. You can almost always find the ideal race for your dirt sprinter, without shipping far, or feeling the need to sponsor a race.


OTHER WAYS TO MAKE MONEY
Don’t forget that there’s other ways to increase your bank balance in SIM, beyond purse earnings.

One obvious way is to write articles. You can get up to 20,000 for a 500-word article. There’s never any shortage of subjects to write about because, if nothing else, you can preview an upcoming stakes race, and there’s plenty of those around. You don’t need anyone’s permission to write an article. It’s not a problem if you happen to write a preview on a race, and somebody also writes a preview on that same race at the same time. Both articles will get published.

Be heads-up about contests and such that are available in SIM. Players are always putting on various contests, and many often don’t require any special knowledge or an entry fee. Yet, such contests can have very generous prizes, such as SIM dollars, game points, and free breedings to stallions. Check out the “Contests” section on the Forum. Also, be aware that The Steward is currently running an ongoing Pick 6 contest (it does require an entry fee), and there’s also the annual Triple Crown Trail (too late to enter for Year 31), which has lucrative prizes.

If you have lots of game points, one thing you can do is create some racehorses or mares, and then offer them up for sale to other players. Since you don’t have to spend any SIM dollars to make the horses, but you get SIM dollars by selling to other players, the selling price is pure profit. But don’t create a bunch of horses to sale, without first testing the market with one or two, and being certain there’s interested buyers out there, and having some idea of how much those buyers might be willing to spend.


AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT’S POSSIBLE
My favorite victory of Year 31, so far, has come from an unlikely source. It happened last Wednesday, Week 4, from a 3yo Paint route horse in a two-horse open allowance race. The victory was special because:

1. The horse is a “stiff and awkward” galloper. I only raced him because he’s a homebred, and I try really hard to get some sort of success from my homebreds.

2. It was his second victory in a row, which is all the more mindboggling for a “stiff and awkward” horse.

3. This second consecutive victory was after only one week of rest, and having shipped the relatively long distance, for a Paint, from Wisconsin to New Mexico.

Yes, the horse only had one rival for that second win, but he beat that rival by 4.5 lengths. And when he won the first time, just a week prior, it was a field of five.

His earnings are now 12,200, from just three starts, and since he’s a homebred by my own stallion out of my own mare, his only expenses are shipping, board, and the stall fee. So, he’s made at least a 10,000 profit in three races. Not bad for a horse that was theoretically born worthless.

I’ve also got a 4yo “stiff and awkward” Appaloosa. He’s never won a race, but he has just shy of 30k in earnings, because I only put him in small fields, with an emphasis on stakes fields.

I call those success stories.

I point this out to emphasize the purpose of these articles -- you don’t have to have high quality horses to make money. Try to make a little bit of money from each of your ordinary horses, and if you race enough horses, those small profits are going to start adding up to some real dollars.

I’ve earned over $36 million in purse earnings since I started SIM toward the end of Year 23. I’ve never had a single horse earn as much as $700,000. But I’ve had a whole lot of horses that I’ve made a concerted effort to squeeze the best possible earnings from.

Building up your bankroll to a few million can be well worth the effort. It’s a wonderfully free feeling to know that you can pretty much buy whatever you want, without having to worry about the cost.

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