Well, one of my horses broke his leg a couple weeks ago, which is depressing, because my other horse can’t seem to run worth a darn, and I had to sell my third just so I had the money to transport them where I needed.
finalfurlong.org/viewhorse.php?horse=2630
Is he even worth anything to anyone as a stud? I know nothing about this, and to be honest, I’m getting a little fed up. This game isn’t that much fun…I’ve been in it for months, and it’s hard to progress.
I’ve kinda been where you are before. Not exactly, but I’ve been so fed up with some of my horses that I was willing to quit the game (and then I also made some extremely stupid monetary mistakes, but that’s another story for another time 
). BUT–You have Arwen, which may not seem like much NOW, but I see that she’s placed 5th before and that’s not terrible at all–still in the money, actually(I think… Or I could be losing it 
). SO–what I’m saying is, one horse may be out of the game for a little while (in about a year’s time he may be back on the track, as long as you’re careful with him and let him rest, but there are other people who have a lot more knowledge of broken legs than I do), and the battle may be lost, BUT NOT THE WAR! You have ONE horse that still seems to do fairly well, and if you keep track of her progress and do little experiments by switching around her gear and switching around the lengths of her races, gradually you’ll get to see what type of race and gear she enjoys (Arwen, that is) and you can go from there (and when you can finally “figure out” your horse, you’ll be SO proud of yourself–let me tell you! 
). SHE is also a SHE, which in THIS game, is quite valuable, because mares can usually be bred no matter what, while stallions might not reach all that is required of them in order to become qualified breeding studs (see RULES and FAQ for more on stud/breeding qualifications). There are multiple ways to make it in this game if you really have the ambition to. IF you DO decide to give up though, you won’t be looked down upon. Some people just don’t like this sort of game. It’s kind of a strategy thing. I’m normally not the type of person to like strategy (I’m fairly slow-minded when it comes to this type of game, really 
) but it’s not supposed to be STRESSFUL. It’s A GAME. It’s meant to be FUN, and yet challenging enough that it’s more like real life (because there are some players here that have actually dealt with real life situations somewhat like those in the game and some want to relive it in a sense, I guess–OR, they can’t afford racehorses of their own and want to see what it’s like in real life…? (probably a hit and a miss as far as my thoughts are concerned, but I digress)). If it becomes too stressful, then it’s probably not for you.
And that’s my… er… Eleven and a half cents For no apparent reason. Feel free not to listen to anything I say–I know I ramble (:/). Take care and I hope things work out for you in the end.
EDIT: I forgot to add that Cigal, there, has nice lines, but he’s also a gelding, and can’t breed. But if you really didn’t want to wait a year, I’m sure you could sell him to someone who could afford to wait for him to heal (I’d buy him but I really don’t have the means at the moment :/). Okay. I’m shuttin’ up now
I would suggest sending him to the farm and giving him 6 months and see how he is. In R/L, depending on the type of break and where, they can come back.
On money, I am a newbie also and if it wasn’t for my mom, Brenda - Triple M Racing, I wouldn’t have stuck it out either.
She “gave” me one her 7 yr old geldings who had mega millions and he didn’t win but he was solidly in the money. She also got me into handicapping, which you can get a paycheck every month. Start now in Dec and you can 5 days and get some $$ in Jan. Every little bit helps. Believe me, I’ve been there. Also, sign up for Color Wars. You learn alot and it’s fun.
I also got real lucky in that 1 big barn let me lease a couple of horses for $1. Since August they have earned me a little over $30,000 for 2 horses. Still haven’t figured out the 3rd one .
You might get a PM from a bigger barn who can let you lease a horse for very little. Maybe the same person who did mine has a few for you. You never know.
Main thing is don’t give up. Give it a yr and go from there.
Also, your filly seems to like 6f-8.5 on the turf when the weather is good. Weather is bad in some places so you might try her on the dirt. She also seems to like to run every 10 days or so. Do that a couple of times, give her a little time off, bring her back. and keep repeating the cycle. She looks like she is going to be a good, useful mare and will get you a check everytime, if you enter her right.
Just my 2 cents and it’s shorter than Moochi’s 
Hey Kate,
This game is a little more frustrating because in the beginning, it can feel like you’ll never make a profit… But with patience, you can. That, for me, has meant avoiding expensive purchases, generally avoiding entering stakes races (I’ve entered 3 since February, I believe…and only gotten in the money once), and trying to stick to races close to home (shipping fees can KILL you). By sticking to allowances near home, though, I’ve gotten pretty reliable results which have slowly built up my money and allowed my stable to grow and now I’m up to 35 horses or so. Yes, there’s not instant results in the game…but when you do get results, they are that much more gratifying because you had to work so hard and hold your breath for them.
Cigal is still worth money with his fantastic lines, even if he has a broken leg. Someone somewhere might be willing to purchase him and wait out his recovery…but of course you won’t get nearly so much as if he were ready to run. Broken legs are unfortunate - often such severe injuries are a result of overtraining or overracing…but they do happen randomly at a very low rate. But Arwen is still worth a lot (relatively) because, if nothing else, she’s a SHE, as Moochi pointed out. She can become a broodmare indefinitely, which everyone seems to want more of. More broods = more homebreds = more pride.
As for breeding Cigal, no, because he’s a gelding. But even if he weren’t, stallions must have 10 stakes wins (at least one must be a G1 win) to be able to stand at stud in the game. That was enacted to keep the stallion:mare ratio more realistic…which helps, because there’s already so many stallions in the game that it’s tough to choose who to send your broods to!
And so…what I would suggest is: contact some of the larger stables and explain your situation. Ask if you can have a free/super cheap lease on a good horse just to get back on your feet. And then, if you do get said horse, even if they are stakes-quality, enter them in a couple Allowances first to pad your bank account. Only once it is padded would I even CONSIDER entering a stakes race. Personally, when I enter a stakes race now, I assume I’m not getting a penny back, ensuring that I can afford to just “lose” the entry fee. It makes you a lot more cautious…because stakes can zap a newbie’s money SO FAST. Especially when you’re competing against multi-million dollar horses with multi-million dollar bank accounts to support them.
And when you finally start turning a profit, DON’T go for 1 expensive horse. Instead, try getting a few cheap horses. For example, for $15,000 you could have tried to claim one of the 2YOs in the upcoming race. Some are of good, solid pedigrees…and some have already proven to be competitive. If you don’t get the horse, you’re not out any money. But if you win one (assuming you went for one who already looked promising), you’re likely to get your money back by entering him wisely. A lot of claiming races, though, have completely unproven horses from created lines - these are a complete gamble. HOWEVER, for $15,000 (or any “cheap” price) in a regular sale, you’re likely to get an inconsistant horse…but with an unproven claimer, at least you have a CHANCE at getting a really consistant horse.
And if you stick around 'til March, there will be the annual 2YO auction where you can get some cheap youngsters. If you get bids in early and go for ones people don’t seem to be bidding on, you can get away with some good horses. I walked away with 3 2YOs for a total of $3,000 last March…and while the 1 boy is still immature and hasn’t done anything on the track (for $1,000, I’m willing to wait him out), 1 girl has had 1 win earning $23,250 so far and the other has recently become stakes placed (once) and has earned $114,100 so far…and since they’re only JUST about to be 3YO, they’re still in/yet to reach their prime. You can get great steals at the FF auctions if you just tell yourself NOT to get in a bidding war, to not go above the minimum bid but instead to find a different horse with no bids…
PS - When buying/bidding/claiming 2YOs, generally DON’T go for ones less than about 15.2hh…because that usually means they have some maturing to do and will take a while to earn you money! But they can hit a growth spurt at any point - my stakes placed girl JUST did and JUST starting being really impressive!
Good luck!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Having now brought back two horses from broken legs, I will tell you, like I told everyone else, that it can be done.
6 months I believe is a little too short for a broken leg. I gave my two colts a year off, and they matured and healed very well in that time. They’ve both come back and done very well for me.
As for progressing, I understand your frustration. Even though I’m one of the older players now (I find it hard to believe sometimes), I’m in the same boat as you money-wise. Depending on what you have money-wise, alot of the older players will help you out the best that you can, so long as you approach them the right way. Leasing is a great option. I know I leased out a bunch of horses not too long ago, and the msot expensive one was $7,000, with the average being $1,000. Not everone is like that with leases, but look up some horses and approach the owners, who knows what you’ll get.
Having said that, I’m sorry to hear that about that horse. I own his dam, and I know he was a talented colt.
Gee, I look stupid…I know he is a gelding, but for some reason, the one I had to sell because I needed the money was the one who popped into my head; he was a stallion. But, just so people know, I do know the difference…
sigh Well, I guess I’ll ship him back and see if he can heal up then. I’ve gotten some great advice about Arwen, and she’s almost ready to race again, so I’ll try that. I’ve been entering her in distaff-only races with the lowest entry fees I can find, because it seems like I don’t get anything back at all…
It’s just been really frustrating me, especially because in another racing game I’m in, I’ve been in it a year and a half and I’ve got millions of dollars, almost every horse running at the top level, and the hottest freshman sire in the game. So when I compare that to this, I get irritated…
Keep in mind that this is a real-time game, as well. I don’t know what the other game is, but most sims run on accelerated time, so a year and a half is enough for 2+ seasons, and you can get homebreds on the track, and so on. Thus, money-making is a much more rapid process because of the faster turnaround time.
FF is designed for the patient player, as people have noted. The rewards are pretty awesome, though, IMO. Watching a homebred win its first race that you planned the breeding for years ago is awesome.
lol, I know exactly what you mean. I play a few other games and I’m rich as can be and I will occasionally tell Edea “Man I wish this was FF money!” It is extremely frustrating. I’ve been in the game about 2 1/2 years and it was actually Edea who messaged me one day asking if I was the Bam from a site and indeed I was But moral of that is someone will always be there to offer their advice and help you out.
Also (sorry if someone said this - People wrote a lot and I’m too ADD right now to read =X), the code has been funny lately, but he hasn’t raced since August. The only reasons I find he could have gotten this badly injured is due to immaturity (the smallest completely matured horses in FF are 14.3hh - Anyone correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t seen total mature that are shorter) and intensive training (long breezes, training at low energy). Always make sure your horse is good on energy before training (I guess C and up - Myself and a few other owners train a little differently.)
I have a couple horses in mind who I would be willing to lease to you until you can get yourself organized They won’t be consistent first/second placers, but they pay for their fees.
This game does need patience.
My advice:
Ship no further than you have to. Not only does it drain funds, it does tire your horses out.
Enter your horses carefully. And don’t be tempted to enter a horse in a stakes race just because you can. I don’t enter horses in stakes races unless I feel they deserve to be there.
Don’t over-race. Watch your horses’ energy. Train lightly so you can keep an eye on natural energy…if your jockey says a horse is ‘tired’ or ‘lackluster’ it means the horse needs a vacation.
Watch out for high purse allowances…many trainers sneak stakes caliber horses in there to get them an easy race.
Don’t switch to steeplechasing unless you’re sure. You can’t switch back, and it’s often harder to place steeplechasers in races.
A good, reliable gelding is worth a lot…and far easier to obtain than a colt or filly with an equivalent record.
Oh, and about those unproven horses with non-game pedigrees. A couple of years ago I claimed the wrong horse for 30k (I clicked on the wrong animal).
This is the horse: finalfurlong.org/viewhorse.php?horse=4467
Also, find a track that runs almost yr round and ship there. I have kept my horses mostly at Woodbine and have done really well. My Open Allowance and Steeplechase horses usually end up shipped to tracks on the east coast,(Aqueduct, Belmont, Calder, Woodbine) shipping is a little cheaper.
I have made the yr mark and almost $500,000 in earning by just entering allowance races. I think I have entered 3 stakes and placed in 1. So, I stick to allowance races.
I am at 14 horses and several leased. I was just given the option to buy 3 horses I am leasing because my daughter, KayLeigh - Candi Cane Racing, contacted the owner of them and they were open to offers. She has 3 also from the same farm.
We got them by asking very nicely to the bigger stables, if they had any to lease for 6 months to a yr. The worst your going to get is “no” so keep trying others.
I too got some 2 yr olds from this yr’s sale and they have all done good. Most expensive one was like $5,000 and she has earned her money back and then some.
I will look and see if I have one that I can part with for 6 months or something. One that is reliable and will earn some $$.
Sorry to hear you have had such rotten luck. if you can it may be worth trying to get a couple of horses from the 2-y-o and mixed auctions. created geldings can be a very good buy. At the last 2yo auction I paid $1000 for Stone Idol (created gelding) he has run 8 times for 2-2-0-3. total winnings $66.000
I paid $100,000 (!) for Morgaine as a yearling who has very good game lines run 10 times for a third and 2 fourths winning $7,400. I hope she will improve with maturity but suspect that Idol will be a better money earner. I have a couple of other created geldings who show promise as well and I suspect many other members will have similar stories. So you might want to think about looking out for some for yourself. I’d willingly lease you a horse but none of mine are especially consistent so you could well lose out.
I’m sure you will do well with the offers of leases and hope all goes well for you
Good luck
penny