Hi all,

Firstly I am loving the game. I had only played SO4 demo before SO5, so I am delighted with it. There are a couple of things I haven't figured out yet, like how to view the handicap chart for my horses, but other than that it is going well.

I tried the jump only game to begin with but got nowhere. I tried a flats only game and found it dull because my aim is to get a National / Gold Cup winning horse. So I started the combined game.

After a couple of seasons floundering somewhat I managed a fluke win in a G2 race and quickly sent it away to stud. A quick bit of breeding later and I have 4 horses that are multimple group 1 winners, one getting 16 Group 1 wins. (yes, I am playing on easy since it is my first go ) I also seem to lose a couple of races at the end of each season. Not sure why since my horses are so dominant at the early season races and go into every race on green condition.

Anyway, I love those horses and my stable pretty much dominated 7f - 1m 4f for a couple of years. They should now produce 3 good foals a year which will likely run similar distances.

So far so good. Money is not an issue, I have good horses, my stable is finished and I seem to have a good line for breeding. (although I do sell a lot of my 2 year olds as I am still struggling to keep track of small numbers of horses.)

So here is my issue... I am still no closer to getting my National winner. I am in 2018 on the game and I am yet to get a decent jump horse, let alone one that can stay 4miles+.

So how would I go about it? Do I breed my 1m 4f flat horses with jumpers? Do I try and buy jumpers and start a breeding line? What is the best way to go? I understand that jumps is less easy to dominate than flat, but I would like a horse that doesn't finish in last place every race.

Any suggestions would be massively appreciated.

There is a button to press in the box with the horse's picture to turn it from flat to jump stats, the distant will increase naturally.

In real life a 1m/1m2f horse will race at 2 miles over jumps, a 1m4f horse 2 1/2 miles over jumps, so you want a thourgh stayer on the flat of 2m2f/2m4f I would guess to be your national horse.

Not done it myself but just my thoughts, good luck.

Well, the horses I have managed to breed so far have been excellent in the mile to 1m 4f range. Generally have 3 horses which are multiple group 1 winners each year.

However, their stamina seems be be decreasing with breeding rather than increasing. So 1m 4f parents seem to produce better 1m 2f horses for me, or mebye it is just the age of the offspring?

Anyway, I bought a random horse for pretty cheap which had an average breeding indicater of 4 miles on jumps. It was 6, had been raced on the flat and on the jumps both without much success.

I stuck it in a few smallish races to increase its rating and it qualified for the National in its 7th year following a win in some regional National (C 3) over 4 miles.

It finished in 12th, which I was pretty happy with. No blunders so a pretty decent jumper. I think I will give it 1 more shot at the National before throwing it at anything female in the breeding barn and seeing how it goes.