SIM Success – The Importance of Relativity

Original article written by Regina Moore posted 11 years 1 week ago

In a post on a recent Forum thread about players being frustrated with their lack of progress in SIM, our dear Steward informed us that, “I always think people need to be continually lowering their expectations, which goes against a thought that makes sense….. In the SIM the number of people reaching "I've been here for a hundred years" level is constantly being increased, as is the horse population…. just take each star as they come, even if you "only" have 2 stars in a year.”

Lowering expectations sounds depressing enough. But to take each star as they come, even if it’s “only” two a year?

Sheesh. How about all those players who have been playing a long while and have zero stars every single year?

I’m not exactly oozing sympathy for players who once had great horses, and now have to suffer year and year without seeing greatness repeated in their barn. Granted, I’ve no doubt that feeling one’s stable has gone backwards is not at all fun.

But still, what about those who have never reached that greatness in the first place?

Take me. I’ve been breeding horses for ten SIM years. The best Thoroughbred I’ve bred is one who just barely won 400k and three Grade 2 stakes. Anybody who has bred multiple Grade 1 stakes winners, however many SIM years ago, want to trade places with me?

I’ve had some nice Steward-breds. In fact, have gotten a Steward-bred at every single auction, except two, since Year 24. Yet, I’ve never gotten the superstar horse from any of those. Never gotten a “scary good”. Never gotten a horse where the Steward has put one of those coveted comments in the notes. Never gotten a quality runner out of any of the retired fillies. Only stood two of the colts at stud, and they get almost no outside mares. Even The Steward isn’t interested in breeding to them.

You don’t see me interviewed for the Edge, do you? Of course not. One of the main criteria for being interviewed for the Edge is that you’ve campaigned a great horse. After ten SIM years, that experience still eludes me.

In Year 25, when I was a junior player, I had a Steward-bred 2yo sprint filly that came flying at the end to finish third in the Steward’s Cup. Since then, I’ve run eight horses in the traditional Thursday/Friday Steward’s Cup races. You know how many have hit the board? Zero. Two actually managed to get up for fifth. That’s it.

You know how many starters I’ve had in a Triple Crown race, or a Dubai stakes? Zero.

Woe is me.



But wait, you say, didn’t you have the Champion South Pacific Older Female for two years in a row?

Well, yeah (I answer), and Thousands is one of the most awesome specimens of fake horseflesh that I’ve ever imagined laying eyes upon. But, you know, she’s just a turf sprinter and nobody ever pays attention to those.


You ask: Didn’t you once have such a nice Steward-bred dirt route colt that The Steward was mad at you for gelding? And he earned over 900k?

Well, yeah. But she later admitted in an article that gelding Torpedo in Motion was the right thing to do. Besides, it took him racing through the age of eight to earn that 900k. Not exactly a world beater….


Haven’t I seen your name listed as a former New Player of the Year and as receiving the Award of Merit one year?

Well, yeah. Those were really nice honors. But you can only win them once.


I’ve seen your trophy case. Didn’t you win four Steward’s Cup races, last year alone?

Well, sure. But those were mixed breeds. You know, not quite the same thing….


Didn’t you have a homebred Steward’s Cup winner (before it was the Steward’s Cup) in a homebred AW miler filly? And hasn’t she gone on to produce two multiple stakes winning daughters, so far?

Ooh, yeah, yeah. Inspired Nevada is just really, really something. Her daughters are really something, too. But, you know, we’re just talking All Weather here. Not exactly the same thing….


Didn’t you have a nicely bred steeplechaser, that was a multiple graded stakes winner, and was pretty hot stuff when his first offspring hit the jumps, and he hasn't suffered for lack of mares?

Uh, yeah. But, you know, that’s just steeplechasing….


According to your website, in Year 30 you didn’t have a single Paint that earned as much as 50k that year. Yet, now you’re churning out “scary good” homebreds regularly, despite small foal crops, and you’ve won three Paint Steward Cup races in the last two years.

Yep. That turnaround was really something, wasn’t it?


Last year, didn’t you have 61 stakes winners, way more than your prior record of 45?

Well, yeah, but there were reasons for that. See, a new mixed breed track was opened, with lots of stakes races, thereby diluting the quality of stakes fields, so it was easier for lesser horses to win…..


Haven’t you had horses finish second way more often than any other position?

Yes! And that sucks. You know how rotten it is to have the player that owns the sire of your “scary good” horse pm you to tell you how frustrated *they* are that your horse keeps finishing second? What? They didn’t think I was ten times more frustrated than they were?


Yeah, that sounds sucky. But didn’t that same Appaloosa go on to have only his third lifetime win be the Steward’s Cup?

Yes. And, you know, looking back, the great thing about having a ton of horses with records such as 18: 2-16-1 is that, sometimes, they pull off the rare win when it matters most. My mixer barn has a knack for that. Kinda cool.


Do you really want to have a pity party about you much you suck at playing SIM?

Uhhh… no.

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