YAY! My baby won her first race!

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Trinity Cillian
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YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Trinity Cillian »

My QH filly, Lucky Little Penny, is modeled after a real-life horse I had a little while ago. Her nickname was "Breeze". Well, I decided to make a younger version of Breeze on the Sim and last night she ran her first race. It had 12 horses in it and she won! Only by a neck, but after all it was only a 350-yd sprint. I am so proud of her! I have some questions so that I can hopefully not ruin her star quality. LOL.

1. I didn't give her any equipment because obviously I didn't know if she'd need any or not. Given her running line and the fact that she won (lol) I'm thinking she doesn't need anything yet... right?
2. I am giving her 5 weeks rest until her next race. I've talked to people about this before, saying they normally will race an adult horse every 3 weeks or so, but with a baby only ever 4 weeks or so. Do you think 5 weeks is too much? I just want her to stay sound and well-rested. She did have 4 weeks of rest between her last workout and this race.
3. In my Results I got a "Breeder Award" for $1,350. Is this for my first 2-yr-old win? I don't remember getting a breeder award for any of my other firsts.
4. Her workouts at 300 yds were pretty good and consistent, and I chose to run her in a 350-yd race based on an average of how her siblings seemed to do at the same (or close) distances. Looks like it worked out for me this time around, but should I stick with it?

Thanks everyone for your help and I really am beaming, I think this is my best moment on the Sim yet.
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Laura Ferguson
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Laura Ferguson »

Congrats!

1. You'll get different answers from different people, but I operate under the "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" mentality.
2. Towards the end of her 2yo year, I'd be okay going four weeks, possibly even three, because either way, she won't run again until she is three. Some horses respond better to longer breaks, others to shorter, but yeah, 3 weeks for 3yo+ and 4 weeks for 2yos is a good general rule of thumb.
3. You got the breeder award because you are listed as breeder. Any time you are listed as the breeder, you are eligible for an award if the horse win. Typically, you've either bred the horse out of your mare, or you created the horse.
4. Mixed breeds are still new, so it's kind of trial and error. Not a bad way to go - she may ultimately be able to go longer, or this may be her best distance.
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Regina Moore
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Regina Moore »

Congrats on winning that race! I also had a first time starter (my first race with a horse that I brought into the game) and she was an also ran. It does put a whole different spin on things when it's "your baby", doesn't it?

I assume you're the breeder because it sounds like it was a CAH, so you're the one responsible for bringing her into the SIM. (I'm listed as breeder for my CAH filly.)

I'm sure you'll get all sorts of opinions on equipment. I have a more conservative frame of mind, in that I don't believe in using equipment unless the horse tells you they need it. I can't see anything in the running line that would make me think she needs some artificial help. I would be all the more reluctant to change things after a win (though it is tempting at times!)

I'll leave the subject of works and race spacing to others. I've just had the impression that if it's going to be more than four weeks between races (for any age), a workout during that time is a good idea to keep the horse fit. I don't yet have a very strong sense of how close together works can be (to other works or to a race) before they become harmful. I also don't have any impression yet that the distance of a work matters all that much in relation to the distance of the next race. (I'm sure others will post if their experience dictates otherwise.)

Enjoy your victory! :D

Regina
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Trinity Cillian
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Trinity Cillian »

Thanks for the opinions. Almost all of the time, when I get on the forum to ask a question, I'm not looking for the answer... just many different opinions :) It's a good thing to be insightful towards those that hold more wisdom! I've come a LONG way since joining the game, but I still learn more almost every day I log on.

The Breeder Award makes sense now because yes I did create Lucky Little Penny and she is definitely my baby :)

I was definitely leaning towards not giving her any equipment and you're both right - why help along something that doesn't necessarily need it right now? Kind of reminds me of a filly I bought once... She had raced well (always placed) for about 3 races or so and then for some reason, someone decided to put her on Lasix. Generally that should help a horse's speed but unfortunately in this case it had the opposite effect! And I always had a feeling that if they had let her be, she would have naturally continued to improve. We'll never really know now! And it's hard to remove Lasix once you've started giving it to a horse.

Anyway, that's really off topic. I think Lucky Little Penny will do great with 4 weeks of rest.

Also, another question - is a QH considered a mixed breed? To me that sounds like a horse that has parents of two different breeds.
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Bad Omen Granddaughter of Six Perfections, my favorite racehorse
Expose My newest winner, a 3yo gelding by Explode
Hot Hot The first newborn foal in my stable, by Desert Crusader & out of Bring It Home
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Laura Ferguson
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Laura Ferguson »

In the SIM, "mixed breeds" is really a catch-all reference, I think, to all breeds other than thoroughbreds and standardbreds. That said, I know the term isn't everyone's favorite.
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Regina Moore
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Regina Moore »

Also, another question - is a QH considered a mixed breed? To me that sounds like a horse that has parents of two different breeds.
As I understand it, the term "mixed breeds" for SIM indicates any breed (a mixture of breeds) other than Thoroughbred. (Hence, this board being the only one dedicated to horses other than TBs. Ditto Wednesday races.) However, when you look at the stakes schedule, "Harness" is broken out separately from "Mixed Breeds" (which was very confusing to me my first few days in SIM. I kept doing searches on Mixed Breed races and couldn't find any for Standardbreds.)

Regina
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Regina Moore
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Regina Moore »

Hence, this board being the only one dedicated to horses other than TBs.


Correcting myself... we're obviously posting on the newbie board. But the Mixed Breed board includes all non-TBs.... QH, Paint, Appy, Standardbred, Arabian.

Regina
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Corey Lange
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Corey Lange »

This truly goes back to the origin of the sports. Thoroughbred racing comes from a list that was comprised of "race horses" that eventually were bred to one another and their offspring were referred to as thoroughbreds. The reason that all other horses fall under "mixed breds" is that they were bred to horses outside of this list and from that to the racing society they are referred to as mixed breds although more specific terms such as standard bred, quarter horse, etc. have been used to refer the them more specifically. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoroughbred
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Trinity Cillian
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Trinity Cillian »

That's interesting! Whatever though haha. :)

Thanks for the other facts Regina... You're about as new as I am but you seem to pay more attention to the little details! Haha.

Corey - I will definitely read that article. Looks like I need to get educated on this topic. It's confusing!
T R i N i T Y * C i L L i A N
Bad Omen Granddaughter of Six Perfections, my favorite racehorse
Expose My newest winner, a 3yo gelding by Explode
Hot Hot The first newborn foal in my stable, by Desert Crusader & out of Bring It Home
Alex Puderbaugh
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Alex Puderbaugh »

Congrats Trinity, I definitely know what it's like to have your baby win and it's a great feeling!

I would consider adding blinkers, actually-she broke in, which to me is the same thing as broke inwards which you will see with TBs, meaning when she broke out of the gate, she went to the left (didn't break straight). Plus, I know in real life a lot (the majority, I think) of the mixed breeds wear blinkers (or at least QHs, but I think the others except maybe Standardbreds are the same way. I don't know about the Standardbreds), and so I've seen several horses wear them in the SIM. You can run her again without blinkers, but if she doesn't break well or lags early or something like that, then I would definitely add them.

Others have said this, but I think five weeks would be too long. Four weeks would probably be okay, but if there's a race in three weeks (which would be Week 1 of Y24) that fits her I'd go for that.

As for distance, I'd consider trying 400 yards, since she was up in time, indicating to me she may want to go farther. If she wins there (and has a comparable or better speed fig) you could keep moving her up in distance if you want, to find her best distance. I've noticed that a lot of the Paints, QH, and Appys seem to have one distance they prefer best. They may still run well at other distances close to that, but their speed figs will be lower. Also, I'd look for a NW2 or some sort of allowance next out. Good luck! :)
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Sasha Heald
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Sasha Heald »

With mixed breeds I've actually found that three weeks (and some times two, depending on the horse and the race), for the two-year-olds works well.

My QH filly Skaoi has done really well with shorter breaks, for example. :D
Landon Alexander
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Re: YAY! My baby won her first race!

Post by Landon Alexander »

I agree with nearly all of what Alex said. For me, though, when I see my horse "break in/out" I tend to try a Figure-8 bridle first. If they "break slow/sluggish" then I use the Blinkers. Though in real life many QH's wear blinkers I don't think that's carried over to the Sim.... Keep taps on what the other QH's are doing and you'll start to pick up on some patterns! ;)

Oh, also, she may have a different running line on a more preferred distance. I once heard somebody say "don't add equipment until you get them on the distance they like best... then make adjustments if they need it." And like Laura said, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." ... Thus, for now, she won w/o equipment so leave it at that.

Alex is right, most of the mixed breeds with a small exception prefer one distance best ... Take Moonshines (I think his preference is 300-yards last I checked ... ran awful at other distances) or Dbacks (relishes 870-yards) for example.

I think for the mixed breeds, 5 weeks is too long. Four weeks is a long rest and 3 weeks is about average. A few can turn around in 2 weeks. The ones that I let rest for 5 weeks came back very fresh and rowdy -- running uncharacteristically.

by the way, my 2 QH fillies (Bailey's Gold & Platinum Plus) ran 2nd and 3rd to Little Lucky Penny! Good luck with "Breeze!" :)
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