So I'm brand new to the series and wonder if anyone has any key tips for me about how to be at least mildly succesful as my first run through seems to have hit a few stumbling blocks.

I started on easy but soon seem to have ran out of money and wondered how I should do things a little differently. I think I'm doing some of the obvious things right but must be missing a few things. I just bought the one horse trailer and started my horses in a maiden to get a rating then put them in class 7 handicaps, sometimes class 5 or 6 if there wasn't much available for there distances.

I won probably around 6 out of 25 races which doesn't seem to bad starting out, placed in a few others but now my 200k starting fund is all but gone. I lost about 20k betting which in hindsight was a mistake but I guess it only stopped me from being bankrupt a few weeks later.

So that's about where I'm at, what have I done wrong and what should I do differently in order to be a little more succesful, at least financially in the early going so it's not game over before I've even got started.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, seems like a really good game which I'm sure I could get really into S long as I can figure out a few more things!

One more specific query, is there anyway to find out what the going is likely to be a few weeks in advance? It seems like complete guesswork so far other than seeing if a bit of rain is forecast but maybe I'm missing something obvious, do certain courses usually have the same sort of going generally or is it more random?

Cheers in advance, Dirk

Hey Dirk

It took me sometime before I got it together - but once it clicks you should be right - but it may take more than a few goes.
There are quite a few ways to get rolling - but getting a decent horse to start with helps.
For me, it took about 40 seasons before I got consistent good horses winning Group races BUT if I had started breeding earlier I might have sped things up!?

Probably don't punt for a few seasons and just keep an eye on how things work - you'll pick up your own patterns and you'll start making more informed bets.
On easy the punting is quite predictable and very generous, but once again, just wait til you start seeing the patterns.

Oh and don't blow all your dough at the end of year auction - at this stage of the game it will be pure pot luck if you buy anything good.

pjrhodes has a good system for buying and selling horses to build your bank and if you have a couple of horses that win a few - maybe consider breeding them - then you'll get free horses and hopefully better horses
In fact - breeding as soon as you can will help.

Hey Dirk, I only started playing this game a few months back and with VERY limited knowledge of horse racing. I think there are some great tips on this forum if you are prepared to dig for them, and a whole heap of knowledgeable and friendly people here willing to help us newbies get into the game. NPG has given some good advice, and PJ is a treasure trove of insight. Check out Sabella's YouTube series (as well as my own - shameless plug! - both listed on this forum) for a good guide on how others play the game. Anyway, a bit of an essay incoming but I hope you find some of it useful.

My advice is to start on Easier mode as it gives you a little more money, and also 5 horses. Check these horses for potential and hope you get a 2/3 year old with good potential plus one other. If not I normally restart as I struggle without at least one horse to build off. Once I have these one or two in place I sell the others to gain starting capital and build my facilities.

Facilities can look confusing at first glance but you should get used to them quickly. The breeding barn will bring in good money or quality 2 year olds - both very useful indeed. Apart from that I'd go with the Swimming Pool, All Weather/Dirt Gallops, and the Training Stalls as they all improve your horse's abilities. The rest I usually wait on until I have 3-4 million in the bank to play with (second or third season at the very latest).

I like to retain a jockey and apprentice as it makes booking races quicker and simpler for me, taking a step out of the process and giving me comparable feedback that I can use to hone in on how each horse likes to run. Once you are at this stage you can use the remaining money to bet fairly heavily on your own horses in races you are sure you can comfortably win, then put it into the breeding program whilst filling out the facilities.

In one of my current games I had a good 2yo and 3yo pair of colts, raced both heavily and they won a lot. After season one I retired the now 4yo into the breeding barn with a dozen 2yo filies I bought for under 100k at auctions. The stallion bred with all the top (highest rated/multiple g1 winner/best win record/highest prize total) mares, whilst my own fillies were bred with the top stallions. Three seasons in and I will get 17 new 2yos to sell or race next season, and I'm about to get the 15th yearling for this season - only in June! It's been an expensive process (around 10m-12m overall so far) but if each 2yo sells for 500k on average then I'll break even after two years of operation - any good racers with high potentials are then major bonuses I get to use whilst my old charges are sent into the barn to improve the stock and keep the process going.

Overall I still have a LOT to learn, but I feel I'm getting to grips with the basics really well. My next challenge is to impose a "No Betting" rule on myself, and also to start some games on Normal or Harder to really stretch myself. I hope you enjoy the journey this game takes you on as much as I have. Good luck!