sad story

[LA Pepper]

https://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.ph ... ID=1709197
I just discovered the sad story of Ravenclaw. Bred by the steward, sold for a boatload of money, won his first race which was a stakes with a good speed figure, ran in the juvenile stewards cup and came in last, and then immediately retired, gelded, and pensioned. Oh boy, SOMEONE was mad/disappointed/out of his mind !!!! (JMHO)

[Gavin Guile]

This is my story...thanks for your opinion on it. Let me share a list of horse that ran last in the SC Juvenile:

Y54 - J T R I - earned $18,950
Y55 - Whatwedoinshadows - earned $121,950
Y56 - Crayon - earned $7,363,000
Y57 - Jon Xett I - earned $113,850
Y58 - Owl Be There - earned $562,500, progeny <0.9% stakes gallop
Y59 - Kiss the Bride - earned $233,650
Y60 - Whatacolorfulworld - earned $316,990
Y61 - Salad Fingers - earned $359,750 (not standing as a sire yet)
Y62 - Drakons - earned $31,350, no progeny with allowance+
Y63 - Galactic Empire - earned $66,350 through 4 years (still on the track)
Y64 - Observation Hill - earned $88,180 through 3 years (still on the track)

Besides Crayon (the exception we have all heard about), all of these horses haven't set the track on fire for the past 11 seasons before Y65. This fact, along with the Steward saying "Why did I breed a colt?" when looking at his horse page before the race call. lead me to retire him (I doubt the Steward would have said this if the colt was a TC caliber horse or would've been a good sire [she can see all the "numbers"] - would she have said this about Henry, etc?) Anyway, the game is about having fun as a player and this horse was not generating any fun for me so I retired. People can play differently than others and that's okay.

Thought I'd offer insight into my decision, I was disappointed out of the three options you listed...didn't lose my mind nor was I mad, disappointing horses happen, I retire and move on to the next one.

[Nini Panini]

The data Gavin posted doesn't lie. However I am a little surprised this happened right on the heels of Byron finishing last in the Louisville Derby, being sold to another owner, and winning the Long Island Classic before making a good career out of running in marathon races. Byron's Juvenile record seems pretty comparable, and I think Ravenclaw would've done similar had he skipped the SC, and then perhaps we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

Gavin is building an army in the DR division though, so I bet the the sting of this unfortunate loss will be mollified by what he has yet to come.

[Lily Wilkins]

Gavin also has a formidable current stallion prospect in the form of Master of Deception; he certainly didn't *need* Ravenclaw, and if axing the horse and moving on is what felt right, kudos to him. SIM money comes and goes, there will always be more money and more nice horses.

[Danny Derby]

This is my story...thanks for your opinion on it. Let me share a list of horse that ran last in the SC Juvenile:

Y54 - J T R I - earned $18,950
Y55 - Whatwedoinshadows - earned $121,950
Y56 - Crayon - earned $7,363,000
Y57 - Jon Xett I - earned $113,850
Y58 - Owl Be There - earned $562,500, progeny <0.9% stakes gallop
Y59 - Kiss the Bride - earned $233,650
Y60 - Whatacolorfulworld - earned $316,990
Y61 - Salad Fingers - earned $359,750 (not standing as a sire yet)
Y62 - Drakons - earned $31,350, no progeny with allowance+
Y63 - Galactic Empire - earned $66,350 through 4 years (still on the track)
Y64 - Observation Hill - earned $88,180 through 3 years (still on the track)

9% of these horses went on to win the SC Classic. That's pretty remarkable!

[Gavin Guile]

This is my story...thanks for your opinion on it. Let me share a list of horse that ran last in the SC Juvenile:

Y54 - J T R I - earned $18,950
Y55 - Whatwedoinshadows - earned $121,950
Y56 - Crayon - earned $7,363,000
Y57 - Jon Xett I - earned $113,850
Y58 - Owl Be There - earned $562,500, progeny <0.9% stakes gallop
Y59 - Kiss the Bride - earned $233,650
Y60 - Whatacolorfulworld - earned $316,990
Y61 - Salad Fingers - earned $359,750 (not standing as a sire yet)
Y62 - Drakons - earned $31,350, no progeny with allowance+
Y63 - Galactic Empire - earned $66,350 through 4 years (still on the track)
Y64 - Observation Hill - earned $88,180 through 3 years (still on the track)

9% of these horses went on to win the SC Classic. That's pretty remarkable!

Another way to look at it for sure! Not saying it was the right decision, just that is was my decision

[Gavin Guile]

Gavin also has a formidable current stallion prospect in the form of Master of Deception; he certainly didn't *need* Ravenclaw, and if axing the horse and moving on is what felt right, kudos to him. SIM money comes and goes, there will always be more money and more nice horses.

Thanks for the kind words Lily!

[Carole Hanson]

Not trying to criticise or anything, but as a piece of advice, if a result doesn’t go your way sleep on it. Even leave the horse alone for a week or so. Not saying you regret this decision, but you’ll be much less likely to regret decisions if you give them space. I know, I’ve been there before.

Also, take anything Em says with a grain of salt. Think of all the times she has said a horse is amazing and then it’s actually kind of mid (also, not to rib on Em haha, but she was not so hot on Fiery Eyes as a broodmare once upon a time and she was very very wrong there).

[Laura Ferguson]

While the beauty of this game is it accommodates many different playing styles, I would never base my decision on who else ran last in a race. Think Ricks Natural Star, for a real life example. If you look at that list, several of them were no-hopers, or hadn't (and still haven't) run the speed figure Ravenclaw has. Many of them were maiden winners with their best speed figures in the 80s at the time of their last place finish. I also wouldn't care what Drakon has done as a sire, since he earned well under the $350k mark.

In addition, the horse Ravenclaw lost to in his second start finished third in the Juvenile, and Ravenclaw had the comment steadied start. This was one of the deeper Juvenile fields, in my opinion, although only time will tell on that front. I'll echo Carole's advice about taking some space before making a final decision re: gelding/retiring/pensioning what could potentially be a big horse. Frankly, you could have sold him, much like Byron was sold, and recovered a decent part of your investment. I would have paid a decent chunk of change for him, even with that last place finish, so I'm sorry you made the decision you did, although I respect your right to make it.

I'll also echo taking what Em says with a grain of salt. There's been at least one top stallion of mine - I can't remember who, off the top of my head, that she has said she has been surprised by how good he turned out to be as a sire.

Anyway, I wanted to offer a different perspective.

[Gavin Guile]

Thank you all for your opinions, I’m happy with the decision I made…I know people would’ve made a different one and that’s cool too.

[Nicole Marie]

I'll also echo taking what Em says with a grain of salt. There's been at least one top stallion of mine - I can't remember who, off the top of my head, that she has said she has been surprised by how good he turned out to be as a sire.

I thiiiink it was Arizona? I feel like I remember when GC won the Derby that she was like "ARIZONA got a Derby winner????"

[Tammy Stawicki]

Do folks that have been around a while remember John Slotman? He was notorious for giving away horses off a bad race. I got this one in an impromptu steward's cup chat giveaway after his 5th place finish. At the end of the day this is just a game, nothing wrong with someone not continuing to race a horse that doesn't spark joy.

[April Hoffman]

delete

[Gavin Guile]

Cool, next time you spend $17m on a horse that steward openly opines why she bred a colt when looking at the horse page, and then you see that horse finish in last place… you can make a different decision than me! Sound good?

[Rold Gold]

I miss Slotman.

This is a right proper rage retire that I wish would happen more often here. If they don’t perform they gotta pay the price. I say well done.

20ish years later and we still don’t have a sim-shotgun, this has to suffice.