Steward Limits Explain

[Mr. Lord Rich]

So many in the sim complain that vets get all the steward bred horses and none are left for the little guy.

Meanwhile is it me or does it seem there is a high % of pinhooking of steward breds going on this season and especially these past couple auctions?

Do we really want to own stewardbreds? Or do we just really want to be able to buy them so we can try to flip it 24 hours later for a profit?

I’m so confused.

[Amy Bahama]

I wish I knew how to post gifs because I have so many that would relay my agreement to this post.

[Durzo Blint]

I have not and never pinhooked a Stewardbred, but I think some of it may be that the "little guys" myself included could not get a Steward-bred in the division we wanted. I'm trying to focus mainly on DM but I had no chance of getting a DM steward-bred foal last season. I was able to buy a steward-bred DR yearling this past auction. I debated selling him to get more cash for the next DM auction - but alas - I decided to keep him.

Now, I only have about $100K left and will have no chance at the smaller steward auctions. But, I think that is predominately the reason you may be seeing this - I think a lot of us smaller people cannot compete in DR. Just my guess.

[Rochelle Bos]

Some people seem to just want to make money from it because it's not their preferred division, winning over people who would really love to run stewies, in any division, but don't have the money

But the majority I believe, with limited stewie spaces, get an allowance, or even a stakes, and they want to sell it to make room for a "better one". The trouble is they want to sell it for more than they paid, vs the market value for an allowance or stakes. People are willing to spend the millions when there is a chance at a freak (or stakes for the not as picky types) which means only the rich buy allowance/stakes pinhooks, except they don't have room, so they sit there.

At least that is my 2 cents.

And along the same lines as Durzo said, people don't want the stakes/allowance DR stewies because they are almost guaranteed to not be competitive.

Or Danny comes along and gives away free money to cover costs of ungalloped pinhook stewies

[Louise Bayou]

A good horse is a good horse especially when you are a newer player. Passing up on a nice horse because its not in the area you like best is not a smart way to build a barn. As a new player you grab onto every nice horse you can and build the barn till you are able to be picky about what you pick up. Even someone that has been here as long as I have had that happen 2 Sim years ago or so. I hated HATED turf milers. And they hated me right back. I picked up a nice one at auction and off to the races I went! That being said, I think new players pin hook to get more cash. They can spin it how they want but that is what I think. The bad thing is all that money is spent in a way that doesn't help their barn long term.

[Dave Trainer]

A good horse is a good horse especially when you are a newer player. Passing up on a nice horse because its not in the area you like best is not a smart way to build a barn. As a new player you grab onto every nice horse you can and build the barn till you are able to be picky about what you pick up. Even someone that has been here as long as I have had that happen 2 Sim years ago or so. I hated HATED turf milers. And they hated me right back. I picked up a nice one at auction and off to the races I went! That being said, I think new players pin hook to get more cash. They can spin it how they want but that is what I think. The bad thing is all that money is spent in a way that doesn't help their barn long term.

Exactly. The only way to get more money by pinhooking is to not gallop. By doing that a new player could be selling a horse that would be the making of their barn. Its a gamble but bidding on the horse in the first place is a gamble. At the very least by keeping it, training and racing it they will learn something about the game.

[Sherry Crow]

I for one feel lucky to have been able to get a steward bred..any steward bred! So they stay in my barn and I run them no matter what division or gallop. although I do get out bid on the ones I really wanted. I do feel fortunately lucky to own some with in my budget.

[Amy Bahama]

A good horse is a good horse especially when you are a newer player. Passing up on a nice horse because its not in the area you like best is not a smart way to build a barn. As a new player you grab onto every nice horse you can and build the barn till you are able to be picky about what you pick up. Even someone that has been here as long as I have had that happen 2 Sim years ago or so. I hated HATED turf milers. And they hated me right back. I picked up a nice one at auction and off to the races I went! That being said, I think new players pin hook to get more cash. They can spin it how they want but that is what I think. The bad thing is all that money is spent in a way that doesn't help their barn long term.

Preach it!

[Lucas Davenport]

I totally agree with the sentiments posted: if you are a new player and you get a Stewie you should use it. Do not flip it. BUT after you have heard the advice, and decided you know better than more experienced players, you should have the right to get the most possible money for your pinhook. And when the current rules take many of the players out of the picture as buyers (because they already have their quota of Stewies of that age), then that actually puts the new player at a disadvantage. That is the only point I have been trying to make from the onset. In the old days the current rule would have been stated as "In restraint of trade." Now do I really care: not really. I get all the Stewies I can handle and can certainly live with the rules as they are. But the newer players have gotten these rules pushed thru, so they can possibly get Stewies in the auctions, and then they can't cash in on their winning bids, if they are foolish enough to want to sell them. At least they should have the chance to do that. I think I own as many Stewies as the next player, and in general they are money losing lottery tickets. But the one big horse makes up for all the losers. And that is part of the game aspect of this game.

No one is forcing a newer player, or an older player, to sell a Steward-bred. But IF they decide to sell it, they should have the right to the most money possible. We have no idea how future Steward-bred auctions will be handled. BUT IF they are large auctions, and all players are limited to one horse per auction, then newer players get their chance then and there to buy Steward breds. And if they win one, they should not be limited to selling it to only those players who didn't have enough money to buy one in the first place (players with their quota already filled). The solution is so obvious I hate to even state it: One horse limit per auction, a couple large auctions per year, and no restrictions after that. That is the way it was for quite a while, and then the process got screwed up by multiple smaller Steward-bred auctions.

I will also add "Why would you bid on a horse that runs in a division that you don't want to compete in." I literally run everything, but I don't bid on turf sprinters, for example.

I am going to bed now, and leaving for the airport at 4AM, so you can all complain about this all you want. I may pretty much be out of computer contact looking at my horses run at the west Yellowstone track. Have a field day; at this point I don't really care. Maybe I can get lucky and get banned from the game! Seriously.

[Tammy Stawicki]

Wouldn't it be nice if there were separate limits for within breed and cross breed. Oh wait wrong limits.

I agree with the idea of the stewardbred limits. I think it is nice to try and spread the wealth. Before they were in place there was a lot of angst over people doing shady deals to collect stewardbreds. Now there is angst about limits so the Steward really can't win but I for one think this is fairer and you can still get multiple stewardbred per years. For most players the limit isn't what is limiting the number of stewardbreds they own (I don't know that I've ever had 3 stewardbreds of the same age). For some it is but if you have the sort of barn where you can afford that many stewardbreds you are doing just fine and probably have some nice homebreds to supplement your stable.

Also while I personally have never pinhooked a stewardbred nor imagine myself ever doing so I have no beef with those that do and also don't think new players are shooting themselves in the foot while doing so. Listen I get it stewardbred are amazing which is why they cause all this angst in the first place. In turf mile word they are pretty much in a league of their own. Look at turf mile Steward's Cup races stewardbreds won 5 of the last 6 Turf Miles, 3 of the last 6 Juvenile Turf Fillies, 8 of 9 Juvenile Turfs, 5 of 7 Filly and Mare Turf Miles). So yea if you want to compete in top races in that division you want stewardbreds. That being said looking at all my turf mile stewardbreds through the years very few have earned back their purchase prices. Despite my $20 million + bankroll I didn't get a single turf mile stewardbred last year because the prices were just so ridiculous I couldn't justify paying $4-5 million on a horse that if I was lucky and it was one of the top ever would make $2 million back. And don't get me started on how many of them turn out to be dud broodmares so there goes that I paid more because of the future champions they would make me arguments. So yea if that newer player is lucky enough to get a stewardbred it may just be the best horse they've owned yet. But odds are they will make more money off of it by pinhooking it than racing it. So if they aren't excited about racing it why do it.

So in conclusion stewardbred limits fine, pinhooking fine, within breed and crossbreed foals sharing the same limit not fine (currently 4.8% of crossbreed eliglble quarter horses are listed as booked full with 2 additional already above 100 slots used).

[Dave Trainer]

Lucas, you countered your own argument. If there was only one or two TBS auctions in a season and players could only win one per auction that would still leave them with room for one more each to buy from any player wanting to pinhook. If newer players don't think they can get enough for their horse and are forced to keep and race them themselves is that a bad thing? You agree that they really should keep them.

I agree with you about bidding in auctions you don't race in. The only reason can be to pinhook. I see that as another reason for keeping limits. If pinhookers don't think they will get a large profit they will stay out of the auction and leave it to players who actually want to buy to race them.

Tammy, I agree with you completely about the crossbreed limits.

[Glenn Escobar]

I have not and never pinhooked a Stewardbred, but I think some of it may be that the "little guys" myself included could not get a Steward-bred in the division we wanted. I'm trying to focus mainly on DM but I had no chance of getting a DM steward-bred foal last season. I was able to buy a steward-bred DR yearling this past auction. I debated selling him to get more cash for the next DM auction - but alas - I decided to keep him.

Now, I only have about $100K left and will have no chance at the smaller steward auctions. But, I think that is predominately the reason you may be seeing this - I think a lot of us smaller people cannot compete in DR. Just my guess.

Then why bid in an auction full of DR? I don't care personally if a player wants to pinhook or not, I'm all for no-holds barred capitalism in the SIM. But if your actual intent is to focus on one division, then buying assets in another isn't the long-term road to success.

[Carole Hanson]

To be honest as a new player you shouldn’t be focusing on just one division. I certainly encourage new players to focus on 3/4 to make it more manageable but one division is simply too specific. You need income and the more divisions you run the more chance you get of income.

[Gavin Guile]

I just do what I think is fun, I don’t complain or whine about not getting anything/wanting to get something. Just play the game I want to and enjoy doing it. Let people who have strong opinions about limits that I really have no understanding of how it impacts the game, I just adjust based on the current rules and having fun while doing so.

[Dylan Christensen]

Wouldn't it be nice if there were separate limits for within breed and cross breed. Oh wait wrong limits.

I agree with the idea of the stewardbred limits. I think it is nice to try and spread the wealth. Before they were in place there was a lot of angst over people doing shady deals to collect stewardbreds. Now there is angst about limits so the Steward really can't win but I for one think this is fairer and you can still get multiple stewardbred per years. For most players the limit isn't what is limiting the number of stewardbreds they own (I don't know that I've ever had 3 stewardbreds of the same age). For some it is but if you have the sort of barn where you can afford that many stewardbreds you are doing just fine and probably have some nice homebreds to supplement your stable.

Also while I personally have never pinhooked a stewardbred nor imagine myself ever doing so I have no beef with those that do and also don't think new players are shooting themselves in the foot while doing so. Listen I get it stewardbred are amazing which is why they cause all this angst in the first place. In turf mile word they are pretty much in a league of their own. Look at turf mile Steward's Cup races stewardbreds won 5 of the last 6 Turf Miles, 3 of the last 6 Juvenile Turf Fillies, 8 of 9 Juvenile Turfs, 5 of 7 Filly and Mare Turf Miles). So yea if you want to compete in top races in that division you want stewardbreds. That being said looking at all my turf mile stewardbreds through the years very few have earned back their purchase prices. Despite my $20 million + bankroll I didn't get a single turf mile stewardbred last year because the prices were just so ridiculous I couldn't justify paying $4-5 million on a horse that if I was lucky and it was one of the top ever would make $2 million back. And don't get me started on how many of them turn out to be dud broodmares so there goes that I paid more because of the future champions they would make me arguments. So yea if that newer player is lucky enough to get a stewardbred it may just be the best horse they've owned yet. But odds are they will make more money off of it by pinhooking it than racing it. So if they aren't excited about racing it why do it.

So in conclusion stewardbred limits fine, pinhooking fine, within breed and crossbreed foals sharing the same limit not fine (currently 4.8% of crossbreed eliglble quarter horses are listed as booked full with 2 additional already above 100 slots used).

Thank you for saying this, personally. I’m not in the pinhooking game, did it once and made way more than the horse would have ever made me on the track as he was a big underbid. But, if New Players want to pinhooking to build their bankroll, do it. Like you said, if you have your 3 Stewardbreds for an age group, you likely have plenty of good homebred.