I think the problem with my breeding this far, has been trying to keep my best horses racing to 5 before retiring to barn, then keeping them there too long, then i end up with a couple of years where the offspring are crap.

Have copied another of my games with a couple of good stallions and mares, cleared out the barn of older horses that were putting out poor offspring, retired my worst horses altogether, and retired the best 4yo and 5yo to the barn.
Kept 3 3yo on to race through the season, but don`t expect to ever breed from these, so will be looking at 2 seasons before seeing worthwhile batch of a few 2yo.

Will breed a few generations in this game tonight (sending the best to barn at 3 or 4, and retiring those in barn at 7 or
Then will do the same with the game i started this story about tomorrow (nice to have bank holidays).

Next weekend i will bring the best offspring from both games into one game, and repeat

Does that sound about right for how to go about it?

Will keep the original copies of game, just to play for in game entertainment.

What are you trying to achieve in breeding? And what horses are you planning to breed when you say breed a few generations.

I want to get quicker from 1m to 1m4, have gone close in a few handicaps in the league this season, hoping to get to a level at which i can win some next season.

I am thinking of keeping the colt and filly from each year and sending to barn for breeding, after racing for a year or two.

You can do it that way of course. Breed a horse and then send to barn and hope to breed better but to me it's too unfocussed. Mind you there are plenty of trainers who would say my way of playing the game is not enjoyable.

The way I look at it, if you're breeding without knowing how good the horse is then you're really spending time without knowing if you'll derive any benefit which is not efficient. One reason I am faster than most and have more horses than most to choose from is because I emphasize efficiency in my breeding. No point wasting game time for nebulous benefit in my opinion.

Better to take all the horses you have and trail them in CK. Pick one distance say 1m. Run trials at Ascot.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/tkggrr

Here are two pacemakers you can use to find the best horses. Pick one/two best stallions. Note time. Choose 5 fillies that are within .2s of that time (either slower/faster). If you don't have 5 fillies then use the best 3 - better to not breed with poor horses. (You still have to test them and you're unlikely to ever get any good offspring). Make that your breeding pairs. Start a new game. Import horses and breed just those horses. Get to end of season and save the game BEFORE you advance to the next year. Back up the save files. Advance till you have two year olds. Check the potential. If high for both then run that game. If not reload the save from before you advanced and play through till you have two year olds again. Check potential. Keep repeating till you have 5/6 horses that you decided were good enough to run through till 3/4 (or whatever age you decide). Remember to save these games before you advance every year so you can save them in ttf.dat and then close the game without saving it (using alt-f4 or closing with the x in the window) and then reloading and playing through the next season. Sorry if this is confusing but you'll get the hang of it. Just remember to play through the games where the offspring are good.

Repeat the whole process with stallion 2. Again aim to have 5/6 offspring that are good.

Now you should have 10-12 new offspring. Run them in CK against the parents and against themselves. Choose the top 2 stallions again. Might be the same sires as before but the key is the fillies will have changed slightly. Start a new game import the horses you want to breed. Rinse and repeat .

Good luck!

enjoying the game after a long break getting good results only few distance so far
look forward to taking you on next season Andy