Hey guys I just joined this forum today. I have been browsing for a while but could not search with out joining. Upon registering I realized that "money" was too common of a word for the search engine. I would like some suggestions about the finances in SO5. I am definitely a new player and would love to start breeding and building my stable but it is hard when you start with 2 duds and a 4 year old 80 rating horse. Could somebody please link me to some other posts or just give me some honest suggestions. I have been racing the US circuit for 2 seasons. My 2 and 3 year old horses were sold for less than 10,000 each. I have been racing one 4 year old (now 6) for two seasons with little promise. This horse was 3/14 last season with a 103 but the weekly bills are tearing me apart. At 6 the horse has begun to slow down and I was able to sell for $300000 midway through the season. I had only $30,000 left prior to selling the horse and was definitely destined for bankruptcy due to the fact that I'm paying over $6000 dollars a month for rent. Please help me with any suggestions. I guess I should buy a 2 y/o next season but I am afraid it will be a dud and I'll go bankrupt.

Do you want to cheat or not?

We all cheat

If cheating is the standard here that is fine by me haha. It's hard to be competitive against stables with 20 horses making 100's of thousands each season.

Ok Start new Game Save Straight Away reload the Game play the first day write down every winner that wins easy also I write down the second and third after you been through the first day now without saving press ctrl/alt and delete use the task manager to shut the game down Reload the game and bet away.

Now the reason I said write down the second and third if you bet on the forecast you get more Money.

How I start a game cheating style. Harder setting on US Schedule...

1. Put those two donkeys you have up for auction.

2. Put staff level, wages and feed quality on high. Buy paddock/start help.

3. Hire Jockey and apprentice.

4. Save game.

5. Restart and look at the chart for each race on the first day noting horses who win easily or by a going away couple of lengths. Even better is if you notice a huge longshot winning.

6. ALT + CTRL + DELETE Out of the game and close SO5.

7. Restart and bet all your money on the horses you've noted. Usually the form holds and you can cash your bets. You'll probably have to restart a few times because of lost bets. After a few restarts you'll get a clear picture of what horses to bet on. I usually bet on three races the first day which leaves me around a million. I save game after a first day of successful betting and then repeat each day until I have what I consider a good starting pot. Between 5 and 10 million.

8. Buy all stable upgrades except breeding facility and stable capacity. You can get the others later.

9.Save game.

10. With money in hand I go to the end of day auction each day and look for a 3yo or 4yo up for sale who has won impressively or an unraced horse who has an 80 or higher rating. Buy horse.

11. Race horse and hope he's a quality stakes horse. Try to get a stakes placing because that increases the auction value greatly if your horse doesn't quite fit your plans. Make it to the end of the year and then buy a top 2yo at the beginning of the next years auction.

12. If you have a good amount of money at the end of the year ( 5 Million or more ) ...save your game on the last day of the year. If your 2yo you buy at the beginning of the next year auction is a dud you can alt+ctrl+delete out of game and restart and buy a new 2yo. Each time you restart you'll get a different group of 2yo's at the beginning of the year auction.

13. Bask in the glory of your cheating ways.

You know, I already have a pretty good account but the horses that I breed always detoriate later on. I thought of starting a new account later on to try and breed more 'quality' horses and this is great advice! I think I'll go do that straight away

Or without cheating go to the sales daily and pick up cheap horses that have won sellers/claimers and then if they win there next race sell them for profit, thats the way i do it, i never cheat, on starters orders or football manager.

True 'Gamers' never cheat!....lol... In my view, the beauty of any game is learning it, you miss out on many aspects that the games designer has spent many hours on to make the game have a longer term appeal. I guess it depends how people wish to reach their aims. My recommendation....play the game, have fun with it, enjoy your successes(which are much sweeter when earned without any form of cheating!)

And welcome

I've done it both ways to be honest, but cheating was a much quicker way to successful breeding and ultimate glory! No doubt that the non-cheating route was ultimately more satisfying though.

I often find that a horse that has a duck egg (0) as its finishing position last time out can often be a decent price in the betting, as can a horse that has been running in feature races then drops to a class 4 or 5 can be abnormally big in the betting too. I had such a horse running the other day, the ground had been against it in its last three runs and the bookies had me at 50/1. I maxxed it each way expecting the price to halve, it didn't, so I backed it again, the bookie must have been feeling brave and he stood his ground so I smacked loads on it and won £1.7mill as it crossed the line 4 lengths ahead of the nearest. Lovely jubbly.

Cheating is the quick fix that many use to get off the ground but if it is possible to make money in the ring, as well as entering half decent handicappers in claiming races and backing the wotsits of em as mentioned above.