Hints for New Players

I’ve been a player of our Sim racing game for a couple of years now.  Admittingly, I’m far from being the best player, but I thought I would share some of my growing pains and maybe educate some of the new players.  My hopes are that you avoid some of the mistakes I have made.

The best place to start is with day #1…you’ve got your first barn.  Most likely, you may have allowed the system to select the horses.  My first time, I did searches for horses and thought I did a darn good job.  Which ever way you chose to obtain your first 5 horses, chances are they are duds.   It takes a lot of time to try and find horses on the system, and most likely, they are rejects from other game players.  Thus, save the time and let the system pick your horses.

The best strategy, and you’ll hear this from long time players too, is to get 20 races under your belt so you can liquidate those bums.  You will find an auction area within the game in which you can purchase or sell horses.  You cannot sell your horses until you have a total of 20 races for your barn.  So get them into races and clear them out. If no one buys your horse, the system will take it off your hands (but you receive no sim $). 

There may be a hidden gem within your first group of horses.  I had one a while back that finished 2^nd in his first two races, both at odds of 50-1 and higher.  That is a rarity.  Don’t expect miracles with your starting 5.

You are allowed a total of 10 horses per barn.  You can fill the barn by claiming horses or seeking them through auction.  One of the mistakes I made was that I sought horses based on their career records.  A horse with 40 races and a record of 8-9-7 looks good, coming in the money more than 50% of the time.  How could I go wrong claiming this in a $5,000 claimer?  Look at the history line.  The horse may not have hit the board in over a year.  It may be 8 years old.   I have acquired many horses early on that had decent records, only to scratch my head wondering why they couldn’t perform well.   Pay attention to the racing lines.  A horse may be older and past their prime.

Don’t protect horses.   For example, let’s say that you have acquired a horse, whether via the auction route or the lucky recipient of a claimer.   A big mistake I made was trying to  protect the horse by not running it in claiming races.  Let’s say that you have been lucky enough to have claimed a horse that won it’s last race and has been hot lately, hitting the board with good frequency …great….what a find!!  A mistake I have made was that I did not want to lose this type of horse.  So to protect the horse from being claimed from me, I would place it into allowance races.  After all, a horse cannot be claimed from you if it is in an allowance race.  This strategy fails more times then it succeeds for new players.  You will find after racing the horse a few times that they aren’t competive and you aren’t earning any purse money or breeding points (BP’s).   I know it’s hard to lose a horse that has done well, but you need to be aware that horses will perform only as their ability dictates.  So if you claimed a horse that has done well at the $3,000-$7,500. levels, it most likely will not fare too well at the allowance level. 

Accept that it is ok to risk losing a horse in a claimer.  You may try bumping the horse  up in the claiming levels, perhaps to $15,000 or a bit higher.  At least you will get something for the horse if it does get claimed away and you may even get a win to boot.  You can always take the cash and BP’s to buy a better horse. 

Past history is important.  You may find a horse up for auction and see that it raced in stakes and graded races a few years back, perhaps even won a few.  Look carefully before buying.  If the horse is really good, it will be selling for hundreds of thousands or even millions of sim-bucks, outside your price range.  If it is selling cheaply, be careful.  The horse is probably outside it’s prime, most likely will be aged (7 years old or over), and hasn’t been in a stakes race in a long time.  If you bid, don’t expect that you have a stakes runner.  The horse will probably be running in claimers or allowance when it is up for bid.  It’s glory days are gone.  I’m not saying not to bid on it, it may be competitive at the level it is currently at.  What I am saying, do not buy it to race in stake races…you will be disappointed.

Speed numbers.  They count.  The higher the better.  First be aware that 2-year olds will have much lower numbers than older horses.   They are the youngest of all horses and are still developing and learning.  3-year olds will also start off with lower speed numbers and will increase over time.  Some may not show improvement until later in their career.  If you are shopping for a horse, watch the speed numbers.  A horse that consistently records speeds of upper 80’s to mid 90’s are decent selections in claimers.  Higher 90’s and low 100’s are good in allowance and even some of the stake races.  100’s and up could go in graded races.  These are general guidelines that I have seen in following and covering races and there are variables to it based on track conditions and distances.  Speed numbers should be considered in acquiring horses as well as placing horses into these type of races.

Pay attention to the race lines.  Field size is also important.  I have found a few horses that looked fantastic in the racing form.  They consistently hit the board a good 70% of the time.  When I had these horses, they failed miserably.  Only after racing the horse a few times did I go back to see why they did so well.  The reason turned out that they were racing in small fields of 4 or 5 entrants.  When I had them, I was placing them in large fields and they failed.  Of course they are going to do much better in small fields, the odds are with a horse to hit the board in such a small field.  The horse may not be as good as it seems, just that the previous trainer did a good job in finding small fields for it to race in.

With that said, you can use the same strategy to place your horses into races.  You stand a better chance to win a race if you can find a small field then a larger field.  But do note that claiming races tend to fill to large or full fields, but you may get lucky with some local bred races.

Claiming horses based on odds doesn’t mean you will get a good horse.  There are races out there that have small fields. You may see a horse at 3-5 and a heavy favorite.  It does not mean that the horse is great.  Look at it’s past history and speed numbers.  Look at it’s competition.  It may just be the best of the dogs in the field.  A race requires a minimum of 4 horses in order for it to run.  If there are not enough entrants for a race, the computer system will complete the field with random horses.  These horses for the most part are not competitive and will be extreme longshots in the race.  That will make other entrants look more appealing with lower odds.   The moral of the story is that the horse is the favorite because it is the best in that one race on that date…it does not mean that the horse has talent.

Don’t expect to win right away.  Your initial group of horses most likely won’t be too great.  Wins won’t be easy to come by.  Be patient, it will happen.  It took me over 50 runs before my first came.  You will learn from experience which requires trial and error.

Train your horse.  The condition of your horse matters in racing.  You have a better chance of winning with a horse that is Sharp then Ready to Go.  I overlooked this and my horses rarely came up Sharp, which is most likely why it took me so long to start winning races.  You can set the training by using the Riding Options feature to target the next racing date for your horse.  Young 2 and 3 year olds will need several weeks of rest.  Older 3 year olds and up will take less.  Each horse is different, so experiment.  Also, remember to rest your horses.  If they’ve gone a long time, like a year or longer, they may be in need of a vacation…if them the rest they need to avoid injury.  For me, 6 weeks or so has worked rather well.

The game features a breeding component.  My advice for new players is to leave this feature alone.  Concentrate on the racing element first.  Learn how the game works and how to win a few races.  Earn some BP’s so that you can afford  breeding decent horses.  Look at what horses win, see what their breeding lines are.  Focus on stake winners, you will get familiar with names like A. P. Indy, Ghostzapper, Seattle Gold, and the list goes on.  These are good breeding lines, but do cost a lot, so save up the BP’s.  Read articles in the Black Type Bugler (BTB) and educate yourself.

Most importantly…seek advice.  Bulletin board postings are available in the game.  Ask any questions you may have.  Experienced players are more than happy to give you their advice on any aspect of the game.  If you just got your first 5 horses, you can ask for assistance on the kinds of races to enter the horses.  It can be difficult to find the right place to put the horse.  Should it go on dirt…grass???  Maiden race or claimer????  6 furlongs or 2 miles???  Ask away.  Someone may tell you the horse has done horribly at distances below a mile and suggest you try 12 furlongs…and hey, it could payoff.   Maybe you have a horse that just isin’t going anywhere, an experienced player may be able to look at the breeding line and clue you into running the horse on the grass around a mile in distance. 

Got questions on any aspect of the game, just ask.  Everyone is helpful and no question is dumb (except the unasked ones).   Again, check out the Black Type Bugler for articles about the game.  They include helpful hints and stats about the game…go educate yourself…make yourself a smarter player.   And best of all, all of this is free!!!!!!

That’s some general advice that I have to offer based on my experiences.  Hopefully this will help you avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made and my goal is that you find the right horses, have some success and more importantly have fun with the game.