A Look at One Stable's Profitability

Original article written by Regina Moore posted 8 years 2 weeks ago

Since I'm a bookkeeper by trade, it was instinctual for me to track finances for my fake SIM stable, just like it was a real business. I started out in Year 23 with keeping a spreadsheet of the various income/expense categories, and putting in totals for each day, to make sure I matched my actual SIM bank balance. After a few game years, I was flustered that a spreadsheet didn't tell me profitability by horse, or by breed (since I played all breeds). So, I switched to Quickbooks, where I could associate transactions with a specific horse, and therefore a specific breed.

In year 41, with SIM 6.0, the SIM gave us a Financial Summary, which broke down all income and expenses for one's stable, by category for each game year. That was very helpful. Still, I kept up my Quickbooks data for another year, though only with lump sums. My horse population got large enough that I no longer wanted to track expenses by horse, but I did want to by breed. Finally, with the beginning of Year 42 and a huge yearling crop of some 375 horses, the Quickbooks input was becoming tedious, so I decided to drop it all together.

Still, I have 18 full games years of income and expense data, that can be broken down by breed. I thought this data might be at least interesting, and at best informative, for other players to consider in how they manage their stables, or structure their future goals.

In short, I started Year 23 with 100k. By the end of Year 41, I had 31.3 million in the bank, which means I had a net profit of 31.2 million.

Here's an outline by breed, based upon profitability.


PAINTS - 17.2 Million Profit
Along with Appys and Arabians, Paints are one of the breeds with the lowest purses. Yet, an outstanding horse is an outstanding horse. Right about half of the breed's profit is due to homebred sprinter Ohio Charmer. He was a dual Steward's Cup winner than won 570k on the track. Even though he stood for a mere 5k his first couple of years at stud, he was getting so many mares that the he was racking up stud fee income, and is still a leading earner for my stable, despite his fee having been at 25k the past few seasons. He is such a high nicker, that everyone with a sprint mare wants to breed to him.

In short, in 18 games years, Paints have grossed 15.3 million in purses and 8.2 million in stud fee income.


APPALOOSAS - 11.8 Million Profit
Though structured very similar to Paints, Appaloosas never got a foothold with players the way Paints did. They are the overall easiest breed in the SIM, with the 400yd mid distance category being, in my opinion, the easiest division in the entire SIM, if only because there's so few horses running.

For a long time, Appaloosas were my best breed. At one point, 25% of my Appaloosa racing stable had earnings of 100k or more. It's a pretty simple formula -- enter, race, earn money. In recent game years, my Appys have found stakes runners to be fewer and farther between, but I still win a lot of races with ordinary horses, because the fields are so small.

Appys have grossed 14.8 million purses (almost as much as Paints), but only 3.9 million in stud fee income, which isn't quite half that of Paints. Even if I had an Appy equivalent of stallion Ohio Charmer, I don't think he would earn near as much income, because there's not near as many foals being bred.


QUARTER HORSES - 11.5 Million Profit
Way back in Year 30, I had a winner of the mid distance Grade 1 Moon of Moons, and also a sprinter that was the champion two-year-old. That's about the whole story of my 18-year success in the sprint and mid divisions. When the major stakes races got into the millions in those divisions, my stable was churning out nothing but lousy horses. Just about everything else good that has happened to my stable with Quarter Horses has happened in the much softer (and much less lucrative) route division. I pension more Quarter Horse maidens, by far, than any other breed. In the sprint and mid divisions, even 4yo+ maiden races are tough.

While my overall stable has always hovered around a 16% win clip, Quarter Horses tend to hover around a 12%-14% win clip.

Yet, Quarter Horses are my third most profitable breed, due primarily to the route division. What's more, my stakes level route horses pretty much all descend from one fantastic broodmare. Her top offspring, Attack Mode, earned almost a million on the track, and he's one of those rare studs that is a super nicker, so he's been pulling in quite a bit of stud fee income, especially now that he can be bred to Paint and Appy mares.

My Quarter Horses have grossed 18 million in purses, and 7.7 million in stud fee income. That totals more than Appys and Paints, but I spent more on Quarter Horse racing and stallion prospects (none of which have panned out), so Quarter Horses have also cost me a lot more than those two other stock breeds.


STEEPLECHASERS - 8.2 Million Profit
I've never had a large chasing stable. 15 active horses is about all I have at any one time. They can be a difficult breed to manage, because they only race in three different regions, and one of those regions (Australia), is quite a long distance from the other two (Europe and eastern USA). There's few races to choose from, so it's not uncommon for a youngster with a single victory to have to run in an open allowance, and for fillies to have to run against males.

Still, they don't cost much to breed, and they tend to have a lot of longevity. In general, I'd say that most chasers are unlikely to earn a lot of money, but they also don't cost much.

I've done well with my small string, and steeplechasers often lead all breeds in win percent for my barn, with a 30% clip not being uncommon. I virtually always have a stakes winner or two every game year, if not more.

Still, a significant amount of profit has come from stud fee income, as I've stood two fairly popular stallions, in Broadsword and then Akward. In 18 game years, there's been 4 million in stud fee income, and 6 million in gross purses.


ARABIANS - 5.5 Million Profit
Arabians are the SIM's least liked breed, and it's no wonder. They can't race until age three, they have small purses, only two age divisions, and only two distance divisions. The route division, which now has the 750k Grade 1 Arabian Desert Cup in the Mideast, is far, far tougher than the sprint division.

While I have had a multiple Grade 1 winner in the route division, most of my success has come in the much softer sprint division. Almost all my top horses, in either division, have been females, so there's been very little stud fee income. There's also been little cost involved with Arabians. In fact, after 18 game years, the only income or expense category that has reached seven figures (in fact, is at eight figures) is total purse earnings, which is a gross of 11.1 million.


STANDARDBRED TROTTERS - 500k Profit
Since the Standardbred breeds only have one distance category, I breed considerably fewer of them than for most other breeds.

In Year 30, I had a 4yo filly that finished second to a freakish superstar in the Steward's Cup. And that's pretty much the definition of my success in this breed. I do manage to have a stakes winner or two every season, but it's almost always in one of the little 50k stakes races.

The best trotter I've ever campaigned only earned 366k. Bleh.

I have spent, in 18 game years, nearly 3 million in purchases, trying to get a top horse. Hasn't happened. Most of my best horses have been mares or geldings, so stud fee income is almost non-existent. Gross purse earnings are 5.7 million (that averages out to a mere 320k per game year).


STANDARDBRED PACERS - 800k Loss
Going into Year 41, Standardbred pacers were an even worse breed for my stable than trotters. Despite a large percentage of blue hen mares, and getting lots of solid A nicks, I've only ever bred one Standardbred pacer that won a stakes race. The few other stakes winners have been purchases.

Therefore, at the end of Year 41, I was higher than a kite when my two entrants in the Steward's Cup (both purchases a year or two prior) each won their races. Gollygeewow! Plus, both are colts that can be stud horses.

Pacers have grossed 6.1 million in purses, and 4.4 million in stud fees. About 5 million has been spent on purchases. Finally, last year, the latter investment was worth it.


THOROUGHBREDS - 15.7 Million Loss
Yes, that's right -- the Thoroughbred division of my stable has lost nearly 16 million dollars! That's an average of nearly a million a game year. I admit that this was a shocking figure to me. While I was well aware, early on, that my mixed breed endeavors were supporting my Thoroughbred operation, I had no idea that such was still the case, all these game years and stakes winners later, until I saw the figures in black-and-white.

I have far more Thoroughbred stakes winners than any other breed. So, how can such a loss happen?

There's two answers, that are two different sides of the same coin. One is that I spend far, far, far more on Thoroughbred purchases (both youngsters and breeding stock) than any other breed. (I'm looking at you, Steward-breds!) A potentially great Thoroughbred costs a whole lot more than a potentially great horse of any other breed. The good news, in theory, is that a top Thoroughbred can earn far, far more than any other breed. So, in light of the latter, here's the sad fact for my stable: I've only ever campaigned one millionaire (turf miler War Lock, who was a homebred). The vast majority of my purchases, whether youngsters or stallions (as well as, of course, broodmares), don't earn back their purchase price.

Now, granted, this isn't as grim as it first appears. These profit/loss figures are all cash-basis, in that it's just money spent and money earned. A cash-basis approach doesn't consider assets on hand, so to speak. In other words, if I were to put every Thoroughbred I own up for sale, I've no doubt that the top twenty of those horses, alone, could recoup that 16 million loss. (I'm thinking of stallions like War Lock and Court of Miracles, a "freak" yearling turf miler filly, some blue hen mares, some Steward-bred mares....)

Nevertheless, bottom line, my Thoroughbreds have 58 million in purse earnings, and 26 million in stud fee income. Purchases of youngsters has cost 55 million, and purchases of breeding stock has cost 22 million.


OTHER COSTS
Some transactions don't apply to any particular breed.

My most significant "other" cost is that I own seven farms across the globe that have cost me 14 million dollars to build. (Six were built at the beginning of Year 41.) Farm fees (20k per farm per quarter) have cost me 1.8 million, and that number will get considerably higher, since I now have seven farms to pay for.

For income, the largest figures are 5.7 million for article earnings, and 3.8 million in board income. (Most of my farms are intended to be just "stations" for my horses. I placed them so they wouldn't interfere with another farm's board income; therefore, only my original Oklahoma farm will have any meaningful board income.)

The net of the "other" column is a 7.1 million loss.


WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Take your choice.

1. It doesn't have to mean anything, as this analysis just concerns my stable, as a player who is involved in all breeds and divisions.

2. It means that I'm really lousy at playing Thoroughbreds. (Let's move along.)

3. It means that the stock breeds (Apps/Paints/QH) are significantly profitable, and are the biggest sleepers in the game.

4. It means that having a top stallion can be at least as significant as purse earnings.

5. It means that if you spend too much buying horses -- more than they can earn back -- you're going to get underwater, unless you have another source of income.

6. It means... ?

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