A Little Insight?

[Deleted]

So, here I am with a 2 year old that I have yet to race, freshly created (sort of), and I just am trying to get any advice I can on how to set him up for success. Dee is my baby, I absolutely love the heck out of him. He has existed in different renditions in writings of mine, he literally has become a horse in his own and literally, if I can do anything to set him up for success here, it's sort of like "do or die" for me. I want him to be the little champ I know he is and I just need help setting him up on the right track to make him one of the greats. Look at Halo, Devil His Due (who is actually Dee's playby because I absolutely love that stallion), Hastings, Fair Play, even Seabiscuit was known to have a pretty nasty side to him. All of these horses are up were some of the greatest out there, so it gives me hope that my little antichrist can do well. Again, thank you, here he is.

El Diablo

[Kenren]

It's hard to look at one horse and be like 'this is exactly how to make him succeed.' Strong competition is something we pride ourselves with here, so taking one horse and aiming them for the top can be tough xD BUT. Not impossible. My best advice is to pick your battles wisely. Given that your horse is coming in in the middle of the season, almost all of the horses he'll run against will have more experience, and this is going to put him at a disadvantage. My best advice is to keep him in three-horse fields, at least for the first few months. Don't go after HOTY* races right away, or even at all this year, unless he looks to be shaping up or you can find a small field. From personal experience though, I can tell you that the horses you think and expect will succeed don't always do it. I have a crop of seven 2yos this year, and I could never have predicted that the two horses I had the least expectations for would excel far over the rest of my crop, and the one I thought would succeed the most took six races to break her maiden. It's kind of like real life in that way - horses do well, then they drop off. Some peak early, some peak late, and different seasons almost always have different results. So it's fine to aim big, just know that the horses here definitely have minds of their own xDDD

[Deleted]

Darn it, I didn't even take that into consideration. I'm gonna look into it, but I'll give that a shot, thank you!

[Isabelle]

Two years ago I came from where you are now, with four creates. To be honest, created horses in general do not do as well here as horses with proven pedigrees. That is not to say they can't succeed! If you check out my stable a bit, Maliah is one of my first creates and she just made grade one status this year, which is amazing! However she is more of an undercard/light HOTY racer, she isn't going to stand up as strongly against major HOTY winning horses with pedigrees. Creates can stand out and be the best however, they are just rarer. Don't give up on your boy though, focus solely on two year old only races if you can, as in GHF/TW two year olds will never win against an older horse (I learned that the hard way). I sometimes throw a two year old in a tougher competition if its a very small field for the experience, but they generally will place last. Smaller fields are better, as seeing several third place results are better than seeing lots of six place results. Try to avoid races if you can that say G5+, as in that race your maiden or grade five boy could be up against grade 4, 3, and even 2 by the end of the year, and that might set him down in the placing especially in a large field.

In honesty I would have suggested you either create your boy as a yearling for this year or find a good pedigree pair to breed for him to start next year, past breeding years are acceptable, to give him more of a chance if he's your special boy. This game does take some time to figure out, believe me! Took me quite a while. Don't be afraid to ask questions, or even 'intern' under someone for a bit, I chased after three of the leading members here for several months learning about race planning and workouts and which horses do best in which races (that is an art form on this game, let me tell you!). So don't give up, and even if your boy doesn't become a super star hall of famer for a racing career, if you find some good mares after he retires he could be a stellar breeding hall of famer. Lots of horses around here have less than idea or no racing record and throw some great foals. What you might not be able to do with him you might be able to do with his offspring ^__^

[Deleted]

Really appreciate your input, Isabelle. It's great hearing from someone who started with creates as well. I did switch Dee to a yearling since I really hadn't done anything with him yet. But where I look at it is those horses with proven pedigrees, their ancestors started somewhere, right? There's always hope.

[Isabelle]

Oh absolutely, that's one of the best things about creates! If you look at my four original, my two colts are grade three, one filly is grade two and one is grade one. I already have members with breeding reserves on all four of them and they haven't stopped racing yet! Created lines are new and fresh and can mix up what we already have. The best thing with creates is to get them as unique and original as possible, give them their own flair. They more they stand out and prove themselves as different the more you will be chased after for a brand new line. I have some older lined, more proven matches lined up with my four creates, and the members who I have contracted these matches with might be more excited for the foal than I am, lol!

The best advice I can give you honestly is that you have to spend the time here. It doesn't happen overnight, it takes lots of racing seasons and breeding seasons to establish yourself, I've just really notched myself into the racing stuff this year after bumbling around for a season and a half, and my first wave of foals that I've bred will turn two next season. I still haven't entered much into breeding yet, my stock is quite small, but I'm hoping that my four creates when they retire in two seasons will bring on some new blood to the game. It's fun to start and get racing right away, but really the rewards of winning and establishing a great stable take literally real years to do. So many of the long standing members here have spent almost a decade here. It can take some finesse to learn and navigate the great stables, but if you spend the time you'll find a great family and lots of fun here

[Deleted]

This. This is huge. Exactly the kind of stuff I need to know. Completely agree with you, that's what I love about the creates is getting to create their own disposition. When I've written Dee before, I've seen only a select few solid colored horses with blue eyes and it literally is just a complete genetic fluke. Originally, Dee had blue eyes since he's my little anomaly but I figured wait on that. Might bring it out in one or two of his foals down the line or something but no idea. It truly is the horses you get to develop the personalities of that just sort of wiggle their way into your heart and it's hard when their success is sort of out of your control lol.

[Brave]

Basically building upon what Isa said, this game really does take time, and a bit of luck

You'll learn fast how the game operates, and you'll learn a lot by making mistakes. Just be confident in knowing that we're all one big family here, and if you have any questions/concerns at all, you can definitely ask it, and you'll probably get more than you bargained for (in a good way!) by doing so.

Mainly what you want to do right now is start accumulating horses. Basically, jump at any offer you get or see where people are offering horses, this includes leasing from other stables, as it will gain you experience without having to fear too much about consequence, as they'll be leaving your stable once more after a time (not to say you shouldn't be mindful about how you race a lease ) Old Members here are really good about situating new members into the game in a way that's comfortable. Ask, and most of the time you shall receive.

I cannot stress the importance of building up a good breeding program. You should always keep that in the back of your mind, as that is what the future of your stables will be based upon.

Speaking on the matter of El Diablo, he's a very nice looking horse. As others have said however, creates do have a harder time against pedigree ponies. While I've noticed that this bias is gradually lessening, it still very much exists, which is why you will definitely want some horses with pedigree in addition to creates. However, creates can very much still be champions. Paradise Island was a create and she went on to win the triple tiara as well as numerous HOTY races, and was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame. So most definitely don't give up on your creates.

And don't get discouraged if your horses don't do well right away. My filly Saving Sanity took a whooping eight times to break her maiden, whereas my other two creates broke it on their second try. However, Saving Sanity has won almost twice the races of the others this season, and is now basically leading my classic horses in wins this year, so it goes to show what a little patience and time can do.

One way to help a horse doing poorly is to draw a lot of attention to him. Write articles, make him your profile picture, talk him up whenever you can. One of the reasons it is so hard to make a specific horse a champion is that, no matter how hard you believe in them, you have to convince a community of judges that he's just as good as you think. Giving such a horse a lot of publicity is definitely a good way of putting him into everybody's minds, so that when they go to judge a race, there is a little bit of personality attached to the name that they are judging. Sometimes, that kind of inclination is just what you need to secure a win.

You're going to have a lot of fun here, no matter what you do or what happens, and that's really what's most important. Everything comes with time, so don't worry. Just focus on putting together a good stable, and the wins will come one way or another.

[*Ripley*]

Let me take a moment to express my gratitude to Isabelle and Brave. Such good members we have. I'm glad you both are still here to back us admins up

[Brave]

Oh oh oh and on a side note, i would not race a create in a prospect race. Prospect races are judged solely on pedigree alone, with some help from personality, and seeing as a create has no pedigree, they tend to do very poorly. This is not to say you can't, but they probably will not place well against a horse with a pedigree. The best time for a create to shine is to come in very strong as a two year old :3