Newbie Fundraiser

[Mike Eaton]

Wait, cheap is spelt like that? Oh, I feel very unsmart! I always thought there were two ways of spelling cheap. I guess I was wrong.

[Keith Maidlow]

I jump in when something strikes a cord.

My biggest dilema in the beginning was not having enough horses to race so that race days weren't as exciting as they could have been and between race days weren't filled with finding races for a full stable of horses. I took all the horses I was given and raced them. I bought horses with the expressed purpose of racing. I tried to make money racing. As I've stated before, I wrote lots of articles to buy race horses (helps on the grammer thing and typing too). I have been given 21 horses and so far I sold 2 of them, one for 1K and one for 2K. I bought another 31, had three claims and bred 3.

Now, does that make me the newbie saint? Not hardly. It's more that I like racing most of all and when I get some good stock I'll like breeding and racing, then when I get too much stock, I'll like selling, breeding and racing. But for now, I'll play the game the way that fits me best and I'll deal with the way others play that fits them best.

I know who to buy from and who to ignore. I know who the better players are who don't try to rip off players on the sales page and those who over price horses just because of their name (that does exist you know...another topic I think :unsure: ).

I'm still having a great time here and can't wait for racing to start again. I'm sure I could get myself into trouble if this break were to last much longer.

Arewehavingfunyet? You betcha!

[Ronnie Dee]

Wait, cheap is spelt like that? Oh, I feel very unsmart! I always thought there were two ways of spelling cheap. I guess I was wrong.

"cheap" and "cheep" are homonyms -- that is, they are pronounced the same but have different meanings.

[Mike Prevost]

Very rarely do I chime in on such threads. Just a few thoughts I would like to share.

When I started I bought and sold horses at a rapid rate. I would find a horse with limited starts at possibly the wrong distance or surface and race them once or twice to show improvement and then sell for a nice profit. I would also buy yearlings out of newer stallions, hang on to them until the stallions first crop had raced and sell for profit as well. No one really cared because the horses were moderate of quality at best.

As my bankroll grew I continued doing this with more pricey horses. This is when I found out that some other players did not care for this practice especailly with yearlings and foals. Do I think they are right in being upset? No, but I have started asking "permission", out of respect for the game, to sell some of these horses. I have also adjusted my list of players to buy from accordingly. I like the freedom to buy a horse one day and sell it or give it away a month or so later if I choose.

I guess, since I have not asked for handouts, I do not feel obligated to keep a horse that I feel I can make more money selling than I could ever make racing. I have won some horses that I would not consider selling, but would be glad to give to a new player in need. Just some random thoughts that popped out after reading this interesting thread.

Thanks
Mike

[Megan Grant]

I really don't get the problem with the pinhooking also myself. Isn't the game supposed to be as realistic as possible?

This reminds of an instance that occured a few weeks after I joined the SIM and began writing articles. A certain person --certainly well known and respected-- who will remain nameless noticed that I had written two race articles on races she had already covered. Instead of assuming it was just coincidence, she went whining to the Steward about how I must have done it on purpose "because I didn't like [her]."

Then, the Steward ending up contacting me about it, and told I should be careful not to write articles on races that had already been covered (which is ridiculous in itself; you don't see the Bloodhorse, Daily Racing Form, or the Thoroughbred Times squabbling over coverage, but that's another can of beans). This particularly miffed me, because instead of just coming and asking me about it --and at which point she would have found out that it was just an accident and not intentional-- she decided to not only assume that I was a nasty and passive aggressive person, and furthermore went crying to the Steward instead of handling it herself like an adult.

Everyone up until then had been very warm and welcoming, and it was quite a rude awakening to realize that there are some unsavory people participating in this game.

[Carolyn Eaton]

Of coarse now getting waaay off topic - the thing with the articles - the same thing or race may be covered by 2 different people with different perspectives, so even though it may be the same topic, the analysis is different, so are truely seperate articles. The other thing is that sometimes it takes a couple of days for articles to get posted, so the writer of what turns out to be the second analysis had no clue there was already an article written.

Another trainer and I both write about freshmen sires, but we have different ways of analyzing their offspring, so although we have some overlap, there's a fair amount different in each article.

[Paul Heinrich]

As a frequent article writer, I agree. There's really no reason the same race couldn't be covered by multiple people. I wrote an article on the Arc last year, knowing someone had done an early preview the week before. But there were new entries, and I felt like I had something to add, so I had no qualms about going for it. Plus I had been covering the turf routing stakes toward the end of the year, so it was a natural for me.

And on a side note, I don't feel that this is too far off topic, as article writing is a great newbie fundraiser.

[Mike Eaton]

As this threads starter I say, anything newbies want to share or anything at all pointing to newbie help or, basically anything to do with newbies, can be typed here!

[Martin Pennington]

I really don't get the problem with the pinhooking also myself. Isn't the game supposed to be as realistic as possible?

It is - but in real life Coolmore or Sheikh Mo wouldn't sell Giovanni D'Oro or Daytona for 90k or so less than market value.

[Sarah Chase]

This is classic. I love you guys.

Glad to see everyone making a concerted effort to be respectful and civil.

[Mike Prevost]

I really don't get the problem with the pinhooking also myself.  Isn't the game supposed to be as realistic as possible?

It is - but in real life Coolmore or Sheikh Mo wouldn't sell Giovanni D'Oro or Daytona for 90k or so less than market value.

I agree with that statement...but if a horse is sold on the sales page for 50k and market dictates a month later he is worth 150k why shouldn't you sell this horse. Factors such as raised stud fees, sibling performance and death in the SIM can cause the market to skew rapidly. If a horse is bought for 50k and never performs I don't complain about the horses performance. If an oppurtunity presents itself to increase your bank roll to add more horses I believe you must consider it.

Thanks
Mike

[Paul Heinrich]

I agree, Mike.

Mallory recently put up a number of 2yos, a handful on the new player sales page for 10k. Most of them were deeply discounted. I was lucky enough to snatch up <a href='http://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.php?HorseID=40867' target='_blank'>New Perspective</a>, a filly that I would not be surprised to see for 6 digits on the regular sales page. My stable is at the point where I have plenty of quantity, I need some quality. So this is a perfect "gift" for me. I will probably hold onto her dearly. But I can certainly see a situation where someone with 10 or 15 horses would get a horse like this and think "I can sell her for 100k, and double the size of my stable". I really don't think there should be any sort of ethical dilemma here, especially with a horse on a sales page. If discounted horses are put on the new player sales page to benefit new players, what's the difference if the *actual* benefit is the horse, or the money made from selling the horse?

A true gift horse would be different, as it would be a personal gift. For example, Stephen has given me a handful of good horses, including some Cuvee foals and yearlings. And even if I wanted to sell them, I wouldn't because he saw fit for me to have them, for whatever reason. I would at least offer them back to him first.

[Martin Pennington]

Nothing wrong with that but some Newbies have say 35 horses with 32 up for sale - with a number he/she hasn't raced at all. Is that fair?

[Paul Heinrich]

Nothing wrong with that but some Newbies have say 35 horses with 32 up for sale - with a number he/she hasn't raced at all. Is that fair?

I guess to me, the fairness depends only on the quality of the horse. If it's reasonably close to what I think the horses actual value is, I'd consider it fair, and might buy it if I happen to be in the market for that particular sort of horse. In that case, I don't really care what the seller paid for it. If they're making a profit, good for them.

Obviously, there are some vastly overpriced horses, but they're not just owned by new players. New players and younger players are probably more susceptible to "scalping" (probably a more accurate term than pinhooking in this instance) horses they found for dirt cheap for whatever reason.

I've got one filly up for 100k. I only paid 5k for her. Now I DID race her, and she picked up a convincing win (albeit a rather low claiming race), so I know she's not the sort of horse you're talking about, exactly. But still, if she sells, I'm making a considerable profit. I love her pedigree, and don't want to sell her for less. I think it's a fair price for this horse, and I don't think the fact that I only paid 5k for her should affect my price tag. Would my opinion be different had she placed 2nd in that claiming race, or if I didn't race her? Probably not.

[Keith Maidlow]

I'm going to back pedal a bit. In real life there are people who are just breeders, some are traders and some are racers. I don't have fun(my word for here in this SIM) just making money. Buying for 5K and putting on the sales page for 50K without doing anything but that would bore me no end. I like finding out about stuff, writing articles, searching for claim and buys with the hope of "lightning in a bottle". I want to have the big horse and I want to be the breeder of that horse and that takes some time, work and luck. That's fun for me. If I saw great success in buying cheap and selling high I might do that to support my other habits, racing, etc.

So if ones work in pinhooking provides the excitement that person wants and they are successful, go for it. If breeding/selling is your thing do it. I think we should be free to be you and me (how cute is that? ).