Steward-breds

[Laura Ferguson]

The main question I have after reading all of this is, with all of the conditions players want to put on leasing mares to the Steward (put her on an annual budget, cash only, can't race the filly and/or keep the first foal from that filly), who would actually lease their top mares to the Steward? I think the pool of players who have mares the Steward would be interested in, and in turn would be interested in that kind of deal, would be pretty limited, but maybe I'm wrong. I know I'd be out. Remember, without replacement broodmares, eventually, there's no mares left for the Steward to breed.

In that case, I would think the Steward would have to retain ten or so fillies per year as future broodmares instead of selling them at auction in order to ensure she has replacement stock (maybe fewer if I'm wrong on the # of players willing to lease top mares for cash only, maybe more if she's trying to increase numbers). Which is fine, but that will further reduce the pool of sales horses for the next several years.

[Rochelle Bos]

I agree completely Laura, if The Steward wanted to lease one of my mares but my only incentive was cash I’d rather just breed her myself.

[Brandon Schultz]

I agree completely Laura, if The Steward wanted to lease one of my mares but my only incentive was cash I’d rather just breed her myself.

I see this as evidence for why steward-breds should probably go away - or at the very least have a major overhaul.

[Rochelle Bos]

I agree completely Laura, if The Steward wanted to lease one of my mares but my only incentive was cash I’d rather just breed her myself.

I see this as evidence for why steward-breds should probably go away - or at the very least have a major overhaul.

How so? Because I value horses over sim cash?

[Kent Saunders]

I rarely disagree with Laura but I do this time. The overlooked item is do we need 250 SB yearlings a season? I think every post that addressed it said no. So that means it should be much, much easier to replenish turnover with the SB mares. I personally like 3 auctions a season of 50-60 each. But am open to less than that as well.
As far as would I lease a mare to the Steward if asked...yes for an acceptable price. And not $10m...lol! As far as the Steward retaining fillies each season I am all for it. Do a lease auction to race them with conditions to the advantage of newer/poorer players.

[Tammy Stawicki]

Another option for mare replenishment would be the steward simply making herself some mares. I know she did that once many moons ago.

[Emily Mitchell]

I personally think Steward-breds need to stay, and be tiered. Right now the richest players get the nicest horses, so the cycle continues. Auctions split based on bank account say 0-500k, 501k-1.5 mil, 1.5 mil-3 mil, etc. would be much more beneficial to the game as a whole because the newer players/players having a hard time of it can actually get a good horse this way. Or, one giant auction a year that is set in time and announced in forum and in-game-banner with a limit of 1 win and 1 high bid... having to hope to get the underbid on any random horse is a really not-fun thing to experience (since they all are over your bank account, or, you can only afford to bid on one unlike folks with plenty of cash, so you're chances of getting a SB are lower). Actually winning a steward bred IS something fun! Let's make it possible for more people to do that, that's my two cents.

[David Faulkner]

And why not prove some season that the Steward resives from each player his best mare for several years, she raises the foal, returns the mare and the foal to the owner, and thus each player will have a Stewarbred in his possession, and perhaps a new one will be formed. Stewardbred breed, let each foal be Stakes to have the opportunity to create good bloodlines, and thus you do not lose seeing the Stewrabred in competition, and each player would have the opportunity to get a champion, good stallion, or a great mare

with trying there is nothing wrong

since the game is subject 100% to changes every year

[Brandon Schultz]

I agree completely Laura, if The Steward wanted to lease one of my mares but my only incentive was cash I’d rather just breed her myself.

I see this as evidence for why steward-breds should probably go away - or at the very least have a major overhaul.

How so? Because I value horses over sim cash?

No. I mean I agree with you that I also would rather breed them myself under those circumstances. I too value horses over sim cash. I think most of us do; And, I think most people would no longer want to make deals if there were those restrictions because horses are more valuable than sim cash.

But that's the issue. Steward-breds create drama which is why we have this conversation to begin with. We can take steps to eliminate that drama, but when anyone proposes how we can fix steward-breds there's push back that those steps are no fun. You are saying that to keep steward-breds alive we need to continue with deals that include horses, and cash, and free breedings, etc... But we've been trying this forever and the drama persists. We can't hope for drama-less steward breds if we are not willing to change the aspects of steward-breds that create drama. If the whole point is that steward-breds will cease to exist if we take away the drama-filled aspects of steward-breds, then maybe that's the answer to whether or not steward-breds should exist at all.

My only point is that yes, Steward-breds are fun, but at what cost? I'm fine if they stick around, but I don't think they will ever be without drama unless they are completely overhauled... or potentially eliminated completely. And if the overhaul will make it so that they naturally go away, then maybe that's what is best.

The big question - is the fun of steward-breds worth more than the drama? That's The Steward's decision, not mine. I'm happy with whatever she decides. But I don't think we can have steward-breds as they are now without the drama that surrounds them.

[Karl Smythe]

one sale a year
one foal a year.
no pinhooks. this stops the newer/junior players saying they never get a chance at a good horse. they are now forced to race it (which is a good thing).
steward can buy whatever mare she wants to replenish her broodmare band.

[Laura Ferguson]

I rarely disagree with Laura but I do this time. The overlooked item is do we need 250 SB yearlings a season? I think every post that addressed it said no. So that means it should be much, much easier to replenish turnover with the SB mares. I personally like 3 auctions a season of 50-60 each. But am open to less than that as well.
As far as would I lease a mare to the Steward if asked...yes for an acceptable price. And not $10m...lol! As far as the Steward retaining fillies each season I am all for it. Do a lease auction to race them with conditions to the advantage of newer/poorer players.

The numbers will have to be a lot smaller. The math I've been working off of is that as of this writing, the Steward has 117 broodmares, because she sold off a bunch earlier this year. Of that number, 22 of them are 13 or older (although the Steward can more easily pay to keep those mares around than us mere mortals). I'm figuring about 10 mares a year to keep numbers at roughly the 100-120 range, and then leases/sales would have to account for any increase in the broodmare band size, which if you are looking at 150-180 mares, that's another 30-60 mares on top of the replacement group.

[Ryan Whitehead]

The main question I have after reading all of this is, with all of the conditions players want to put on leasing mares to the Steward (put her on an annual budget, cash only, can't race the filly and/or keep the first foal from that filly), who would actually lease their top mares to the Steward? I think the pool of players who have mares the Steward would be interested in, and in turn would be interested in that kind of deal, would be pretty limited, but maybe I'm wrong. I know I'd be out. Remember, without replacement broodmares, eventually, there's no mares left for the Steward to breed.

In that case, I would think the Steward would have to retain ten or so fillies per year as future broodmares instead of selling them at auction in order to ensure she has replacement stock (maybe fewer if I'm wrong on the # of players willing to lease top mares for cash only, maybe more if she's trying to increase numbers). Which is fine, but that will further reduce the pool of sales horses for the next several years.

Reading the Edge this was the first issue I thought about to be honest. I know some have written that maybe the Steward should just create mares to replenish her broodmare band but I would think most of us would want a foal from a mare that has a race history. You can gather a lot of information about distance preferences etc... and it will keep you from having to reinvent the wheel each time a new mare comes on the breeding scene. Now with more multi-distance sires you may not even know what type of foal you have with a newly created mare. Also I for one love mares with headshots and I can't see unraced created mares getting headshots.

I realize there are many different opinions on the Steward leasing mares and this person got that much for their lease and that person got 2M less etc... Fact is we all become attached to the horses we race and more often than not we have blinders on to their real value or potential when it comes to breeding. The Steward on the other hand has the numbers in front of her and can realistically put a value on each mare she wishes to lease. Like anything in life, you get what you pay for and if the Steward had paid lets say 15M to Eric Nalbone to lease Corona back in the day then I would be all for it! Making those bloodlines more accessible in the game is a win for everyone. Eric may have only wanted to breed fillies with her whereas if Laura purchased a filly in auction she might breed a top quality colt or 2 that may have gone on to be the top stud in the division. We talk so much about diversity in bloodlines but diversity in player styles also impacts the game more than people realize.

I think cutting out leases would hurt the game. Quick example would be if I decided to lease my favorite mare, Summersational https://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.ph ... ID=1046562, to the Steward. Summersational has 4 foals that have galloped of which 2 are freaks and the other 2 downgraded from freak to stakes under the new gallop comments. Naturally I'd race the filly and get the 1st foal as is the standard in most lease deals because the owner is really doing a service to the game and sharing bloodlines that they actually would never have to do. After that the steward will have about 10-15 seasons to breed her and even is she only breed fillies half the time that is 5-8 fillies with those female bloodlines. Personally I'd much rather have the female side of that bloodline than only having the option of breeding to one of Summersational's colts like Improvisational. So I really think people need to sit and look at this from all angles and grasp the bigger picture. You need to put your personal issues with other players and what you may deem as unfair to the side and realize the Steward doesn't play favorites. She has always dealt fairly in any leases I have seen or made with her.

[Jack Meyer]

Okay, I've been here since Year 35 and have seen a fair share of the "drama" that has changed me with this issue. The things I always heard were they are too pricey for newer players and it isn't fair they don't get one....the pinhooking to where certain players can get upwards of 20 SB of the same age each year....the loopholes that partnerships used to do the point above.....and the naming of the foals that gave the identity of the ones The Steward held near and dear to her heart....To the first point, the newer players need something to work towards in my opinion. When I was a noob I couldn't get a SB and it gave me something to work for and be satisfied when I got it. The Exchange has made it possible for noobs to get their hands on one now so this problem really doesn't exist and there should be no way home should just be given to newer players to be fair, that in itself defeats the reason to reach the goal of EARNING them.

Point number 2 is the pinhooking, limits on the amount of SB of each age puts and end to that. Only allowing players to have 2 of each age group until the age of 4 was the perfect way to take that out of the picture and NEEDS to be put back in or even I (people know how much I want SBs to stay) would want them to go away.

Point 3 with the partnerships was already dealt with by not allowing them to win them in the auctions. If a partnership wants to use one that the individual player won outside of the partnership, then that is fine, it still counts as both the player and the partnership totals which would be no more than 2 each age group. This issue has to be fixed and stay that way as this was a major issue.

The last point is the naming of foals. EM loves naming her babies but it does give an edge to those who know The Steward well. I don't think she should not be able to make her babies, but a better way would be to leave the name in the notes for said player to name once they win the foal. If the player doesn't make the baby after he/she wins, then Em can always use her almighty power to force name the baby. She loves this aspect and should be a loud to keep doing it in some form.

I never heard of any issue with The Steward buying/leasing mares from players for SIM cash so this is the first time for me. This is the way she builds her mare band to suck money out of the game so this has to stay. Even if she buys 3 fillies/mares for 10 million every couple of years (which is rare), that mares babies will double or triple or even more that throughout her breeding years. Most players will likely lease her a mare for say 2 million so the buying will be much more rare. I see absolutely no issue with The Steward doing this as this is how she gets the lines she loves in order to get the money out of the game she wants.

Jack

[Lucas Davenport]

I like what Karl suggested; and it has one more advantage: if you can't sell a Steward-bred until it is 3 (or 4); then there is no need for limits and the coding for that: you keep what you bid on, and if you don't want to keep it and run it, don't bid in the first place. E-Z button!

[Kent Saunders]

Not discussed but needs a Steward review, is the whole purpose of SB's is to take excess $$ out of the game, That kind of drives the "How Many" question of how many for her to breed/sell.
To add to Jacks point, SB's are not meant for every player in the game. If there are only 100 a yr they will be extremely expensive and that's the way it should be (which takes excess $$ out of the game). Build your stable up and get to the point where you can afford them...End of story. Your other option is to become more of a mixer player (or Chasers) that doesn't have SB's. Plenty of opportunity for some one that puts time/effort into the game IMO.