Horse Racing Fantasy Community

Everything has to start somewhere, and in our trainer game, to breed that champion thoroughbred, that horse that can bring you many tournament victories and possibly into our Breeding Hall of Fame - all begins with the breeding that you do and the homework you do to help you make those decisions. I've noticed several trends starting to occur. There are several stables that are constantly breeding to certain stallions and certain mares. They might have seen a glimmer of light that leads them to believe that a specific combination can produce an exceptional race horse, and the possibility of that happening does exist, but just like real thoroughbred breeding operations, everything is done in steps and with patience. If you put too much emphasis on one thing, in this particular case a sire or a dam and it turns out wrong, you'll find yourself in a hole.

A lot of money and time was spent building out the breeding program, developing those traits that the offspring would carry. It goes way beyond just trying to figure out what percentages of offspring should be what quality horse and what percentage of horses should be champions. We have to analyze the second and third generation, as well, and then include certain formulas for courage and racing consistency. To try to emulate the real world, every sire and dam in the game will end up with its own breeding reputation. In other words, whether its three or six months from now, certain sires will be known for producing a lot of lemons, but the occasional superstar, while other sires will be known for producing very fast horses with high speed ratings in the game but poor consistency records when racing in the tournaments, thus causing confusion for the trainer on how to deal with the tournaents they're in. And, even more complex are the mathematical formulas used to calculate what combination of sire and dam will produce what percentage of horses with their preferred racing distances and surfaces.

Breeding thoroughbreds is very difficult. There are very few people who have mastered it. The ability to forecat future trends, spot hot young stallions and know what mixes produce the best result is not something you're born with. It's something you learn, and usually after some difficult trying experiences. We spent a lot of time with trainers, jockeys, breeders and owners. They all said the same thing. There's no magic bullet when identifying a champion horse, at least not before he races. Build your stable slowly, watch the stables of others and don't come to conclusions after just one or two races. A lot of factors will take months for you to truly evaluate. The best breeders in our game will be those who do the most homework. Have patience, apply common sense and keep trying when things seem like they're not working out well. You can be sure there are going to be some super-successful trainers out there as time goes on. They will reap the rewards of doing their homework, especially as the game expands and the opportunities for profit become greater.