Observations of a 20 year Veteran

Can I call myself that? I guess so, the word Veteran isn’t a word that naturally sits comfortably with me however in simulated terms I guess I am.

I often notice new or recent players of a few weeks to a few months posting about their short term experiences here and they are great to read it’s always great to see new players joining, their enthusiasm is infectious. I have 2-3 hours now to write something for the BTB which I don’t often get…. so now I want to start by telling you about another 2-3 hours that I once had up my sleeve.

I ‘found’ simulatedsports.com back in 2003 in a university prac class. It was a computer based 2 hour prac (I was studying veterinary science at Melbourne University at the time) and it was one of those large animal farm management based classes where we were being taught how to advise farmers on large scale properties on how to manage their stock (mainly sheep and cattle). This prac covered everything from how many of each animal type you could have for any given size paddock and so on and so forth…. for 2-3 hours. When to lamb or calve, how much you would need to supplementary feed the stock to avoid them dying in the cold etc. If you are bored reading this wondering what my point is; well that is exactly my point – I too was drifting off 20 minutes in and so I exited the farm management software (I had strategically found myself a place in the back of the room) and instead pumped in a google search ‘online horse racing game’ or something to that effect.

Well up came a whole bunch of options and after all I did have 2-3 hours to make a good decision I eventually settled on simulatedsports.com. I was also attracted to the basketball simulation from memory it was called Drivethelane or drivethehoop or something to that effect so being a basketballer that also took my attention. I never opened an account there however in the end.

While everyone else was neck deep in calculations around dry matter per hectare and wondering if they could keep those lambs alive I had now managed to read the game instructions back the front, the more I read the more I wanted to read. It was fair to say this game seemed to be in considerable depth and having a 2D viewing option it certainly appeared to be a platform I could get into vs the other options which appeared to be purely a data output post race. I had my first stable that afternoon and was so excited to see my first group of 5 horses arrive….. all slow average claimers which never turned out to be stars like I had hoped; Just Doug and Granny Automobile being two of them – Just Doug was my first winner on 8.11.2003; sadly he had to be moved on; a winner of only 2 races from 56 starts he simply just wasn’t paying his rent.

It was fair to say I was hooked; hooked but not good at it…… it took almost 2.5 years to win a stakes race more time than many but very rewarding when it finally arrived.

I’ve met some great people along the way: In the early days some of the trainers I remember playing that may or may not still be around were Larry (Kingab), Libitfarm (Rich), Topicount (Laura), KBSweet (Keely), Vegasjef, Snowchief & Roys (the latter two who both ran the then equivalent of the Black Type Bugler. Many of these players I looked up to and many of them helped me in the early days.

As time went on I linked up with guys like Johnno (Ritorto) absolute legend he had a really good horse at the time called Title Duke – we knew because Johnno was very enthusiastic to tell you all about him. And deservedly so from memory he ran in the Breeder’s Bowl meeting that year. My brother (Hawk43) who was playing at the time and I used to call Johnno at random whenever we caught up in Geelong where Hawk was attending uni at the time (can’t even remember how we got Johnno’s phone number now, probably followed his appearance as Mr March on the first and only annual sim calendar) and we used to have a good laugh about things, tell Johnno we were coming to visit him which he seemed open to doing at the time lol – it never happened but we had a fun time calling him out of the blue.

Liddleski (Mark), Desperado (Rob), Bamstables and Silverny99 I spent too many hours to count in the chat around 2007-2009 when I was working in the UK and was on northern hemisphere time and could link up at an appropriate hour. All a lot of fun and great memories – special mention to Mark for tipping me off on Carol of The Bells who he found in a claiming race but wasn’t going to claim her who later went on to become a G1 winner for me.

My first ‘decent’ horse was a horse called King of Kilmore. He was a bargain bred for about 90 credits Lonhro x Snurge x Noactor (seems a joke of a breeding now – but I had thought I had done a good job at the time) as even Lonhro was unfashionable back then. From memory he became my first stakes winner bucking the pedigree and becoming my first ‘star’ 2 years after starting playing on 11.3.2003. He went on to be group placed before retirement. Another horse I had who deserves a special mention is Invincibility – by Invincible Spirit in his early days I bred her from a game mare. She went on to become a G2 winner and won an ungraded stakes every year of her career from age 2 to age 7. Not sure whether that’s even possible now with the wear and tear factor but she has produced several G1 winners and graded winners at stud, she certainly holds a special place in my simulated journey.

My first year of work in the UK was 2007 so it seemed appropriate that my first G1 win was in the 2000 guineas at Newmarket with a horse called Paycheck. I still remember the internet cafe near where I was working and the looks on everyone’s faces when I jumped up and pumped the air with the double fist cheering the horse over the line – I was so in the moment I had forgotten where I was. I left straight away after that a bit embarrased to stay any longer….. and as many of you know the real world just doens’t get it – you can’t really go and celebrate with anyone.

The best horses I have seen (globally not trained by me) in my time here are Rain God, Allied Assault, Sunnybank Memorial and Horseshoe Bay. In more recent times I would have to highlight horses like Spiced Turtle, Dark Mandu and Drakon’s Bazooka as standouts. I still have not had a horse of this calibre but that’s the dream that keeps players like me going…. to just get that one true champion.

I’ve had some really good horses over the years I won’t bore you all with them but to briefly name a couple of the highlights, horses like Paycheck (2000 Guineas), Buck’s Party (BB juvy turf), Taylor’s Story (KY Oaks) and Spartan Reef (Melbourne Cup) are some of my standout highlights. As mentioned I’m still looking for that one all-conquering champion.

Social Banker and Hataka both entering the Hall of Fame last year (19 years after starting playing) was a major highlight. Not that you can tell your wife about that or your neighbour or your psychologist for that matter…. it just ensures you get extra sessions. That’s where Finlay comes in – I certainly can whatsapp FDL Lodge head trainer Finlay the legend Laffleur. He and I chat all the time re our horses…, the comradery is awesome with fellow players.

What can I say, the early years were a lot of fun and from then on I’ve never looked back – what a great racing simulation and what a great community to be involved with…. all orchestrated by creator Mike Wallace and joined more recently in game planning/programming by Frank – it looks to be a very exciting combination for moving forward.

I love this game and can’t thank Mike enough for providing it all these years, Hawk43 and I used to get stressed that we would wake up one day and it would just be no longer online, but it never happened. He’s now engaged with a 6yo son and twin girls 5 months old so now he knows what real stress is about lol. In fact in the early days I remember a family lunch where he and I got in a blue at the table over who had the better horse (I had a horse called Northerly is Back and he had one called Guns of Nog). I’ve got 4 brothers so we are competitive at the best of times but when it comes to sport or horses look out gloves are off. I remember him being very bitter with me and sadly neither of us held back on our verbal stoush in front of our parents. We decided to enter them both against each other to sort out the dispute and oddly enough the two horses dead heated for first. Same SP same fractional SP etc. Who would have thought an online game could generate such experiences. I can’t remember which horse officially was given first place which makes me think it was Hawk’s, however we ended up agreeing they were probably as good as each other and had a laugh in the end.

I also had the pleasure of going to Emirates Stakes day in Melbourne with Lenny (Ryan), Given (Dan) & Cadet (Robby) I’d only be guessing at the year now perhaps 2014 or 2015? We had a ripping day at the track and wound up in a back alley whiskey bar into the night….. once Lenny started getting his gear off we thought best to pull the night up before it got further out of hand (jokes).

I also part own 4 non simulated racehorses (I prefer to call them non-simulated because some days I feel the sim is so good it’s the real version) and love the breeding and pedigree aspect to Derbyfever and how closely it aligns to real life. For those that feel a sire may not be where it should be re: ratings – don’t you worry behind the scenes Mike is all over it but they don’t always get announced. I’m amazed at the accuracy of this game and the results that it generates – particularly in having the real life counterparts and interest.

I’m going to pull this article up here with a brief summary from my experience here so far;

Here’s what I’ve learnt in my 20 years playing:

1. I’m as keen now as I was 20 years ago
2. The drive comes and goes in waves – like most things success brings enthusiasm to continue
3. If you are not having success then try the following first and foremost: get your breeding right! If you get your breeding wrong from the outset you are in for a very tough year(s) of racing. You don’t have to spend a lot to do this you just have to get the process right, follow some real life breeding/sire stats to sneak a bargain here or there (if they are cheap on the game it doesn’t mean they aren’t rated well, it just means no one else has found them yet) and then on to race placement.
4. There are some absolute legends around the Derbyfever community; I recommend getting to know these people. If you are a new player, more experienced counterparts can shortcut your success with wisdom to speed up your development; the chatroom is a great place for this, also residencies – or you can just stalk people like Hawk and I did Johnno lol or a year or two back FDL Lodge PM’d me and a really cool friendship has evolved since – particularly seeing as we are both sports fanatics and live in the same time zone – only one problem with that relationship: he’s already a much better trainer than me already so I’ve had to zip it and change topics of discussion from simulated to our kid’s sport or the football for example.
5. For the experienced players: Try to beat Dan or Lenny – it’s near impossible…… or Kyogle in the turf long races or all the Beerkeg horses that are suddenly appearing. Amir, the list goes on.
6. For the long term successful players it becomes about personal achievement. I thought Dan’s personal aim to win the Bluegrass Derby 2-3 years ago and breed specifically for this was a great example of this and he pulled off the feat in 2023. Me personally I’m a 10 stable player so I compete with myself each year setting a yearly target to win more G1’s than the previous year. If I can achieve that I’m content with the year’s achievements. I can tell you though that the current year to year trend is not looking so crash hot with the level of the competition stepping up all the time…. more players, more horses, more quality competition. The days of pulling off the ‘Hail Mary’ G1 wins are long gone – someone had to win them in the early days now you have to be really calculated and have the right horse.
7. Mike Wallace is a legend, one of the most fair and honest people you could hope to meet – if you have a genuine issue with anything game related, failure of credits to go through, an issue with another player’s attitude within the community etc. then just go straight to Mike rather than other players or the message board. Whatever your issue be he will sort it out for you without the need for any further problems. I’d have to say this would also now apply to Frank as well.
8. I generally rest my horses every November for 2 months to have a simulated break – it helps keep me keen to return the following year and avoid burnout. It seems to have worked.
9. Limit your real life social interactions as this can be hazardous for time spent online. Be particularly careful of new partners where you really have to be able to pick the right moment to explain to them what you are doing because as much as we love it – others can be flabbergasted. It may seem something to brag about your recent ALWNW3L win in a new relationship but believe me, it comes across more like Taj’s job interview in Van Wilder.
10. There are some real tricks to breeding and race placement that can markedly boost your success – It took me 20 years to work out a lot of that – and I’m still learning new things all the time. You can fast track your learning by doing such things as writing articles for the BTB and analysing in depth how the good trainers breed and prepare their horses – note breeding patterns, race timing, preparations, intervals. I’ve found over the years writing BTB articles is a great way to fast track development- You’ll also learn how not to prepare horses by analysing some of these races. Chatrooms, residency participation and lately the Twitch sessions with Francua are all options for fast tracking success
11. Follow real life sire stats ….. it definitely helps.
12. Don’t tell your wife how many credits you are buying, get a separate credit card. Ask Mike to change the billing report from Smartacre LLC to the Lost Dogs home or Homeless Society if using a joint credit card.
13. Go drink some whiskey with some Americans you just spent a day at the races with.
14. Donny Beisbol is a funny funny man. He could have his own podcast. If he already does can someone please let me know where to find it?
15. And last but not least, I have managed to decode the simulated breeding formula to ensure success more often than not no matter what sire I use …… the secret is (my wife is calling me apologies I’ll have to provide this in the next article)