Choosing a Division Specialty

Original article written by Regina Moore posted 9 years 0 weeks ago

I’ve enjoyed SIM very much from day one, and decided early on that I wanted to experience everything it had to offer. Therefore, I’ve been one of the few players in SIM to breed and race horses in every breed/distance/surface category.

Most players, however, seem to want to focus on just a few divisions, or even just one, once they feel comfortable that they've learned how to play. Of course, for those who don't succeed in a chosen division, they later look for a different one to focus on. While I think the idea is often exaggerated that a player has to “know” a certain division to be successful in it (in terms of knowing the bloodlines, available races, etc.), there’s no doubt that some divisions are far more difficult than others to break into and have success.

If you’ve decided you want to focus on just a specific category or two, and specialize in them, which ones should you choose? The following are my observations on which divisions are the most tough to be successful in, and which are the easiest, to help you decide what is the best fit for you.


THE TOUGHEST DIVISIONS
Thoroughbred Dirt Routers -- This is hands down the toughest division in the SIM. It’s the dirt routers that run in the prestigious Triple Crown (Louisville Derby, Baltimore Crown, Long Island Classic), the lucrative Dubai World Cup, and the lucrative Steward’s Cup Classic. Because of its intense popularity, it has been the focus of many of the SIM’s most successful, long-term players. Therefore, a lot of “scary good” yearlings are bred, and there’s not enough stakes races for them all to be successful. It’s a division that has a lot of heartache, but also a lot of glory and prestige if one can get their hands on an outstanding horse.

I’ve owned a lot of “wow” galloping Thoroughbred dirt routers, and most are fortunate to do more than break their maiden, or earn more than 20k in their careers. It’s difficult to make any headway with them. Still, the division has no trouble attracting new players, who dream of having a Derby winner or even a Triple Crown champion.


Standardbred Trotters and Pacers – These are two different breeds, but I’m discussing them together because they’re super tough for mostly the same reasons. They only race at once distance – a mile – but the divisions are so competitive that many finishes are like stock breed races, in that most of the field can hit the wire just noses apart. The bad news with that is that you can have a high quality horse that keeps finishing off the board, despite healthy speed figures and finishing close to the winner. The good news is that sometimes your more modestly talented stakes horse can luck out with a nose victory. Both breeds are full of scarys, but it is possible for wow horses to win the lower level stakes. Still, most wows, and lots of scarys, can only win a few races and often earn less than 30k in their careers.

Between the two breeds, I would consider pacers a tad tougher, because player Josh Lamp thoroughly dominates the upper levels of the breed. The power of his stable is so over-whelming that he reported having 81 scarys and 138 wows in his Year 39 yearling crop! Still, while I have an extremely modest stable in the pacing breed, I’ve beaten his horses in lesser stakes on rare occasions. So, if you like the challenge of going up against a giant and perhaps one day unseating him from his throne, this would be a good breed to consider.


Quarter Horse Mid Distance – In recent years, the stakes schedule was expanded to more closely mimic real life, and now there are races with huge purses, and which require time trials to be eligible to enter the final event of various major stakes races. When added to the fact that there’s a few players devoted solely, or almost solely, to the Quarter Horse breed… well, good luck making any headway in the upper levels of this division, even if you have a scary youngster. Lesser stakes, however, can still occasionally be captured by a wow level horse.



VERY TOUGH DIVISIONS
Thoroughbred Turf Routers – While none of the top stakes races have quite the prestige of the Triple Crown or Dubai World Cup, there was still a whole lot of lucrative stakes in the division, which means a lot of players breeding top horses to compete for those riches. Still, it’s possible for a wow horse to make some noise in the better races. What’s more, turf routers tend to have a lot of longevity, so many stakes level horses can also build up earnings from simply having a longer than normal career.


Quarter Horse Sprinters – While not quite as tough as the mid distance division, in my opinion, the sprinters still have a few highly devoted players with a lot of powerful runners. Therefore, some scary horses can take many tries to break their maiden, and it’s difficult to achieve any degree of success at the stakes level.


Paint Sprinters – This division had sires nicking A and A- relatively early in their development, resulting in a lot of scary good horses, all crowded into the few available stakes races with mostly modest purses. Even a solid stakes competitor can have a hard time racking up earnings, compared to most other breeds, since stakes wins tend to be divided between a lot of different horses. A lot of scarys get crowded out of stakes success altogether by the other scarys that are slightly better. Your best bet is often to wait for the better horses to get hopefully retired after their 3yo season, and then those wannabe stakes horses can then often be successful in the 4yo+ age group.



EASIEST DIVISIONS
Thoroughbred Turf Milers – This division has developed at a much slower pace than the other dirt and turf categories. Back when we first got the bloodstock agent and nicks, the other dirt and turf divisions had a lot of formidable mares and a few stars, resulting in lots of B+ nicks. But the turf milers had mostly good mares, with some occasional formidable, and mostly B nicks with the occasional B+. This means that wings horses can win stakes races (I had a 3yo wings filly easily win a Grade 2 this past week), and wows can sometimes be major stakes competitors. Scarys seem to be few and far between, compared to other dirt and turf categories. In fact, in Year 33, I had a mere “hard to tell” 2yo turf miler filly that won two listed stakes in a row. There just aren’t many stakes races that see a lineup of super tough horses. I’ve had turf milers that never won a stakes race still be able to place in Grade 1 events.


Thoroughbred All Weather Sprinters and Milers – While the route division is too tough to call “easy” at the stakes level, here’s an important point about all three All Weather divisions when it comes to ordinary horses: The Alaska claiming circuit has four tracks. Two of those tracks – 50% -- are devoted exclusively to All Weather. Dovetail that fact with the additional fact that a whole lot of SIMsters have no interest in All Weather, and that results in a bottom line of a lot more ordinary races for a lot fewer ordinary horses. Therefore, everyday All Weather horses tend to have a lot more consistent records than their dirt and turf stablemates.

At the stakes level, wings can win on occasion in the sprint and mid divisions, and wows can be major contenders. Scarys are rare, as are A nicks and blue hen mares. The problem with stakes horses are that there’s only four tracks where stakes and allowance races are run. So, if there’s one standout horse in a division, the other horses don’t have many opportunities to duck that horse.


Paint Routers – This 870yd division doesn’t seem to attract much interest. That means that wings horses can occasionally win stakes races, especially those for 2yos, even with sub-70 speed figures, and many juvenile stakes fields are smallish. One of the major players in the division was no longer in the game, as of Year 38, so that makes it even easier for someone new to break into.


Appaloosa Mids – Just a few years ago, I won two stakes in a row with a 2yo worthless “hard to tell” horse in small fields. Appys were the least popular breed for a long time, and the mid distance 400yd category has always been their least competitive distance. While I think there’s been more interest in recent years, 400yds is still the easy division within one of the overall easier breeds.



MODESTLY DIFFICULT DIVISIONS
The remaining breed/distance/surface divisions are ones that I consider to be middle-of-the-road, in terms of the level of difficultly or ease, from the standpoint of trying to compete successfully.



A NOTE ABOUT ARABIANS
In the last few game years, Arabians have overtaken Appaloosas as the SIM’s least popular breed. This is no doubt due to the fact that Arabians don’t start racing until age three (resulting in just two major age groups – 3yos and 3yos+), which is a turnoff for many players. What’s more, Arabs only have two distance divisions – sprints and routes. Add that to low purses, and one is hard pressed to find anything to like about the breed.

But there is something to like about it. In the last two foal crops, Year 37 and Year 38, there’s been roughly 415 and 485 foals per distance category, which is quite a bit fewer than there had been in previous crops. Yet, due largely to the implementation of the claiming game in Year 38, there’s been more claiming races added to the schedule. If this trend in smaller foal crops continues, it results in a bottom line of more races for fewer horses.

If one is looking for a breed to try to dominate – and is willing to be patient -- I suggest taking a hard look at Arabians.



Pick a category or two that appeals to you, and put a plan into action to start acquiring horses to race and breed. Perhaps, one day, you’ll be the player that everyone else points to as being a leader in that division.

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