Hello I'm new - questions about training, buying

[Maria Schreuder]

I am a long-time horse racing fan from South Africa, though I try to follow racing worldwide, especially in the USA and Europe. I live on a remote farm and in real life I breed sheep, not horses!

I've been looking for horse racing games for a long time and I recently (re)discovered this one. (Apparently I made an account years ago but I don’t even remember it.) The game looks wonderfully realistic but as a result also extremely daunting to learn. I’ve read the ‘help’ section but it is fairly obvious that it only skims the surface of what seems to be a lovely intricate system. I’d really appreciate a little advice from someone experienced.

Right now I’m wrestling with the problem of setting up a small but profitable racing string. My first concern is figuring out which horses on public sale I should be picking up. There are so many cheap ones but on the surface they don’t seem much good. Obviously I’m not looking for world-beaters but I’m having a hard time identifying the ones that might earn me a little money. The pointers on the ‘buy section’ in Help have been quite useful, but I don’t yet know how competitive races tend to be (especially at Trial Park).

My other biggest worry at the moment is the training of horses between races, and how often to enter them. I read that actively racing horses don’t need workouts to keep fit, but I am noticing players doing gallops, shedrow walks, swims etc. with their active runners. I don’t won’t to overwork my horses by giving them a lot of exercise, but if they need to be doing things like these between racing I don’t want to let them and myself down either.

[Lori Hamill]

Hello Maria and welcome to the Sim. This is definitely a game of much patience(for most of us) with a large learning curve. It can become quite addicting.

There are a wealth of very good articles in The Feature Race which can be reached through your Stable Office under theManage tab.

Here is a link to some excellent information articles from one of our Hall of Famers Regina Moore:
https://www.simhorseracing.com/featurer ... pleID=5100

These are from various New Player writers:
https://www.simhorseracing.com/featurer ... %20Players

You also might want to consider contacting the Mentor Program (pinned at the top of this forum) for a Mentor in the beginning.

I know to answer your last question, once your horse is totally Fit and Well Rested you generally have no need for any training between races.

Good luck, relax, take your time. I'm sure there will be others to chime in with useful information for you.

[Maria Schreuder]

Thank you very much Lori. I haven't even discovered the apparent wealth of information in The Feature Race, so once I get the chance I'll go rummaging in there and try to apply for a mentor.

[Kelly Haggerty]

Welcome. Lori gave you the best links. And a good mentor will help you select horses. Also, don't overlook the auctions and especially the disposal sales. Many horses that can earn good money go for as little as $1 at these sales.

You can also claim horses. If you go to the search function and filter upcoming races by "all claiming" you will be able to see what claiming races are happening soon and review the horses entered in them. The search function is here https://www.simhorseracing.com/search.php

Good luck!

[Maria Schreuder]

Thank you so much Kelly. It's a lot to look at it but I'll just need to exercise patience.

[Andrew Chillin]

If no one has told you yet Patience is the only thing about this game you have to remember forever

[Dylan Christensen]

If no one has told you yet Patience is the only thing about this game you have to remember forever

not if you have a sugar daddy

[Maria Schreuder]

Thank you Andrew. I have a lot in real life to keep me busy but this game seems like a good way to unwind while following one of my interests. After all, I'll never be able to afford a single racehorse in reality!

New question please to the kind community:
I have been looking around a little and I am wondering if there is one or more breeds that are relatively unpopular which might offer more opportunities than just racing Thoroughbreds?

I strongly suspect that even with a sugar daddy this game would take a while to master

[Andrew Chillin]

I admit to having a sugar daddy, sugar momma, and several benefactors. Some people will tell you it ain’t but it is easy to make some money with quarter horse, appys and paints. If you have a little luck, harness racing

[Jack Christensen]

http://www.magicravenranch.com/newplayers.html
That is a link Regina Moore's website that has a wealth of good information that your mentor can help you navigate.

[Maria Schreuder]

Thank you for the advice Andrew. I think I'll be trying out some of them.

Thank you very much for the link Jack, it looks very useful.