I'm new to this whole series. Really enjoying it but I'm really struggling to keep my head above water financially. I've read over the instructions on the main part of the site but they're more of a "how" rather than a "why".

Just looking for some general pointers as to what I should be doing to make myself some money. I'm playing the trainer/owner mode as I'd love to eventually be able to breed my own runners but the 280,000 for the breeding facility seems a long way off right now. The main thing I can't seem to get my head round is the auction of new 2yo's. Am I doing something wrong, or should I be so much in the dark when bidding for these horses? The info on them is very basic other than the expected distance they'll go and the level they were damed/sired by.

Any advice for a complete noob would be greatly appreciated. I apologise if there's a thread elsewhere but I did have a good look on the forum without success.

Edit for spelling.

tip
save game
go racing
watch races write down horses that win by wide margin
once you have the names written down press ctrl alt del and reload so5
go to races again and back them of the board bet all your money

also lo0k for races that the first 2 home are 8 - 10 lengths ahead of the field so eg
winner wins by 1 length ahead of 2nd and front 2 are several lengths ahead of the remainder of the field
write the name of first 2 and reload and back them in straight or reverse forcasts you can make big big money that way

2yo
Buying 2yo can be hit and miss i only buy the ones that go for 1.2-1.4 million there is no guarentee i buy 8 to 10 at yearly auction
out of the 10 you should find a g1 winning 2yo its hit and miss one year i had 6 g1 winner out of the batch another year they all sucked
you need to buy the most exspensive ones this at least gives you a chance

also goto the weekly auction and buy older horses too you can get some monsters there

So the way I build up funds during the first few seasons of a new game is to sell off the two year olds you start with, buy the breeding barn with the proceeds and retire one stallion and as many cheap, cheap mares I can get my hands on. Then I proceed to breed the mares to my stallion, progressing through two seasons doing this, until the foals turn two. Then I enter all of the 2yos into the auctions and rake in the dough. Rinse, repeat, until you have the desired funds.

Hope that helps

Ps. The method Pj posted is also proven to be very effective, and usually quite a bit faster than mine. I don't use it, though, because I have horrible luck, lmao! End up losing all my money just as I've built it up

just back easy winners 3l plus also sell all your horse 99% of the time theyre rubbish and unraced 2 yo always fetch a decent price enter your older horses 1st then u can bid on your own 2yo to inflate the price but be careful dont be greedy or itll cost u then trawl through the auctions look for a standout ie 1m2f running over 7f/1m mainly 3yo with a minus time then have a bit of fun with it never know might have a monster!!