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Confessions of a Veteran SIM Breeder
Original article written by Regina Moore posted 9 years 2 weeks agoI've been breeding 175-200 foals in recent game years, and that's probably more than the vast majority of players. Actually, it doesn't feel like that much to me, once breaking them down into breed/distance/surface categories. Since I breed and race all breeds and types, I try to not have more than eight foals per breed/distance/surface pod. However, I've bred as many as twice that in one division, if I had a new stallion at stud, or otherwise acquired a lot of new mares.
In any case, despite all my experience with breeding, and having been responsible for such outstanding racehorses and able sires at turf miler War Lock, Paint sprinter Ohio Charmer, and Quarter Horse router Attack Mode... I really can't claim to know much about what I'm doing, when it comes to breeding. My standard deflecting line, when others ask which stallion (of many dozens available) they should breed their mare to, is "I'm a lazy player when it comes to breeding." I don't study pedigrees, except in the most cursory way.
I love playing with the toys SIM provides. I always bloodstock check a newly retired/acquired mare. I always pay to nick a breeding, even though it's at least a 95% certainty that any particular Thoroughbred mating is going to be a B+. I just like to be sure. I will also access a spreadsheet that I keep on stallions that have been featured in the Edge newsletter, as such articles often suggest how best to use those stallions. These tools are mostly what I rely on when making breeding decisions; and yet, they sometimes don't narrow down a stud choice much more than going eeny-meeny-miney-moe.
While higher quality mares usually nick higher, there's reasons I might want to breed a lesser quality mare. She just might have been a really solid racehorse, so I really want to breed her, despite Anna Liza Doolittle's assessment of her potential as a broodmare. She might be from unusual bloodlines, and I want access to those bloodlines, even if the mare herself isn't the best representative of such. Or, she might be the descendant of a favorite female family, and I really want to keep that family line going, even though it hasn't produced much of late.
Likewise, while I generally will breed a mare to a stallion that is among those she nicks highest with, sometimes I won't. Sometimes, I'll breed a mare, which can nick A-, with a B+ stallion because there's something about that stallion that I like, including that he offers alternative, out-cross bloodlines. Or, I might go with the lesser nick with one of my own stallions, simply because I want to use my own stallion for that mare.
I'm always somewhat amused by those who are hardcore believers in "only the best" for their stable. When you only play with the top, there's nowhere to go but down. The very best that can happen is a sideways move -- ie, you can only get the same result as what you already have. It's very difficult to get a foal that's *better* than what you have, when you have a top mare that you're breeding to a top stallion. There can't be any pleasant surprises.
In contrast, when one breeds a so-so mare with a mere "pretty good" stallion, or vice versa, they are very likely to get a very ordinary foal -- one of the tens of thousands that are ordinary. Duh. Or, they might get that rare foal that's better than either parent, and puts their stable on a path to glory.
A TALE OF TWO REAL SIM SCENARIOS
My favorite example of successful "breeding up" -- while just breeding what I felt like breeding, and not knowing what I was setting into motion -- is with a line of Arabian sprint mares. I started out in Year 24 with a CAM mare, that I later found was only of lowly "has potential" quality. Back then, in the early years of mixers, there were only two player-owed Arabian sprint stallions available at stud. The top racehorse stood for $25,000, which I considered unacceptable for such low purses in the breed. The other was arguably not even stud-worthy, having never won a stakes, and stood for a mere $1000. I reluctantly bred to lesser stud, and got a multiple stakes-winning daughter that retired to be "formidable" broodmare. She, in turn, produced two Steward's Cup winning daughters, who both retired to be "blue hen" mares. That's an example of successful line that came from dubious beginnings, and that original mating between the CAM and the so-so stud is something that "serious" breeders probably wouldn't have considered.
A couple of game years ago, the successful racehorse and Steward-approved young turf route stallion Court of Miracles was put up for sale. I already had a turf route stallion, but he was a homebred, Authentic Royalty, that had been totally ignored by other breeders, with his mere 400k in earnings. He looked like he was going to be something, when he won three Grade 2 races as a three year old, so it was highly disappointing when he went bellyup at four. Still, he was the best turf router I'd ever had and, dang it, I was going to stand him at stud, even if just for my own few mares. Over the years, he never got a stakes winner, though he did get a 200k-earning hardy gelding. So, when Court of Miracles came along, I happily paid $3 million for him, with the anticipation of greatly improving my ailing turf route barn.
I bought some nicer mares to breed to Court of Miracles. One of those mares nicked A- with him, and with just about everybody else, including Authentic Royalty. I wasn't ready yet to give up on my aging homebred. I decided, this one year, I'd breed that mare to that lesser turf route stud -- one of only two foals he had in the crop. When the foals turned to yearlings and were galloped, I had nothing higher than a wings by Court of Miracles. Yet, I was grinning hugely about my turf route division. Despite the gallop adjustment that took place that year, I got a "scary good" filly. The sire? My ignored, struggling old stallion, Authentic Royalty.
Sometimes, when SIM friends, or players I'm mentoring, want to have a serious discussion about breeding, beyond the mechanics of the process, I find myself resistant to participating in any meaningful way. For one thing, I don't feel qualified, because I can't "talk pedigree", beyond the "breed like to like" basics. More importantly, I want breeding to remain a mystery. I don't want to "figure it out". I don't want to get too smart about it. I want to leave room for the gollygeewow moments. Just like real life, where a champion like California Chrome can come from a mating between a nothing mare and a stallion of dubious worth, I want SIM to always have room for the unexpected, wonderful surprise.
In a recent forum post, The Steward seemed to be encouraging players to try new things with breeding, especially between distance/surface types. ( "....when lines started to get scary stagnant, I'm making a much bigger deal about pointing it out. People don't want to "risk" poking around on their own, which I understand since it's real money to hypo and a mare only gets one foal a year, but I keep hoping that trying it will become a bigger, more common movement and eventually it won't take my prodding to make it happen.") Added to the fact that there's going to be some cross breeding for some of the mixer breeds, starting in Year 41, and I have both colts and fillies by various Game Point stallions.... Well, after 18 game years, I find myself chomping at the bit to get away from my usual routines and processes, and go a little crazy in future years, with trying some experimental things -- or, at least, things where I'm not quite sure what type of foal, let alone quality of foal, I'm going to come up with.
Please don't misunderstand the point of this article. I'm not trying to say that players should be content to breed to any old mare to any old stallion, and maybe they'll get a good one. Doing such will surely result in the consequence of a stable full of lousy horses.
What I am saying is that, when you just plain want to breed a certain mare to a certain stallion, for your own reasons, even if others advise against it... go ahead and do it. It might result in nothing good. Or it might result in the golden nugget that puts the wheels in motion for the long-term success of your stable.