Breeding Report

So the breeding season is over. All the foals have arrived safely, the mares are standing guard over their precious charges and the stallions are resting up ready for the next season.

And, for many players, the next breeding seasons starts as soon as they have submitted their pairings to the Steward. Whilst for others, the breeding season comes around way to too quickly and results in hours spent pouring over the Breeding Lists, and asking the same questions as last season “which stallion do I use”!!!

For the smaller stables, its not too much hassle to find the right stallion for their mare, especially if they only have the one! At the other end of the spectrum are those stables who have what could be considered a “breeding empire” and have to find upwards of 10 different stallions.

So – where do you start looking for your next stallion? The breeding lists, the forum, your own stable? All are good places to look and the clever stallion owners will be advertising from mid racing season and this initiative has paid off for some stables, for example Golden Acres who stand the very consistent stallion Missy’s Bridle for a reasonable fee of $30,000 and has managed to have a full book in each of his seasons at stud. This season is the first year for his runners and it will be interesting to see how well they do. The other extreme is War Machine from Otsego Farms who only has 5 mares per season but at the slightly higher price of $300,000 and his book is usually full two seasons ahead! But don’t panic – there are horses that are free, medium priced or some players will even offer deals, discounts or other incentives.

Some stables are happy to just pick names they recognize whilst others spend a lot of time carrying out indepth research – both systems work well. Others will post on the forum asking for help in finding a suitable mate for their mare.

Whilst all the players will agree that the breeding list is a good start, it is a little short on information. This is no discredit to Laurie, our Racing Steward as the list is very big but as the game progresses and evolves, perhaps it is time that a new Stud Book is produced. I have heard from sources I am at present not at liberty to divulge that some serious thought and work has been put into this project and that in the not too distant future, a new Stud Book will be available to all players to access and download.

I have had a sneak preview and so far it looks very informative. The creators have taken the original Stallion list as published in previous years and expanded it to a size that would do the Thoroughbred Times proud! It consists of a general stud page, listing All the horses, then page by page sorts the stallions down by player owed, dirt or turf preferences, then finally onto the biggies – distances and that includes all four major distances of sprinter, miler, classic and endurance.

Has this whetted your appetite? Are you excited yet? Have you already contributed and want to see what it looks like? Well according to my sources, it should be ready soon and most defiantly before next breeding season. This is the hard part, the ground work if you like. Nothing like this has been undertaken before and whilst time consuming to start with, once up and running will take very little maintenance.

So next season will be the easiest and most efficient breeding season yet – no more worrying about what stallion is a dirt miler, or which turf endurance stallion is cheapest – all this information will be there at a touch of a button (and some basic knowledge of excel!).

This is Nancy Newmarket repotting to you from the UK and keep coming back for updates!

A statistical comparison of player owned stallions

I know, I know. This is a little late to be of much use, since the breeding season is now over. Not to worry though. I wasn't holding back the info so I could be the only one to benefit from it. The five stallions I used haven't gotten any babies to the track yet. Plus, I only threw this together today anyway. Still, it's fun to look at.





A few random thoughts on the list...

• If I had asked a bunch of people for their top five stallions, how many do you think would have come up with the top five on this list?
• Two of the top three never set foot on a Photo Finish track. The third might as well not have, as he couldn't run a lick.
• Some of the greats are hanging out together down towads the bottom of the list: Dansilver, Thunder Arctic, and Memcay. What's the deal there? Is Dansilver passing along his surface pickiness and his offspring just aren't good enough to overcome it like he did? Did Thunder Arctic's first crop all get hit hard by randomness when it comes to stamina? 5.54 average winning distance?!?! Do the Memcay's just need to wait until their 4YO seasons like dad?
• Affirmation - some nice numbers there. They've all won so far. And, on both surfaces equally. Looks like he's quite a bargain.
• Not that I need to tell anyone. But, it sure looks like if you want a turf monster (not THE Turf Monster though), send one to Bellbuster. And, if you want a dirt monster, send one to Revenge.
• Golden Grace and Handsome Man - two very nice stallion prospects that are likely throwing very late maturing horses. Check back in a few years to see if those numbers start to improve quite a bit.
• Park Lane - does anyone even remember that he's an Eclipse winner (Champion 2YO Colt for 2004)? It sure is a long fall from the top, isn't it?

View from a New Stable

Darkwood Stable became part of Photo Finish racing at the beginning of August 2006 (real time). I joined at the encouragement of a veteran member after struggling with another racing sim. I picked my 2 starting horses without realising there was a way of checking their race form. Perhaps this should be pointed out at the start? Luckily I got a couple of decent mares in Dark Queen and Jungle Fever. I never picked a stallion as I thought mares are more use when their racing is over, already thinking ahead.

I was quite surprised at the basic simplicity of the game – decide on your horse, pick a race, see how it does. Until I realised it’s a bit like backgammon, you can learn the rules in ten minutes but the strategies and subtleties of the actual play can take months if not years to get to the bottom of. Picking the right race takes a bit of learning, it’s very tempting to follow the horses AR as they sound so authoritative and when you are new it seems there is not much else to go with. I later found “Amanda’s past perfs” rather more helpful in finding out about your own horse. It can be useful too, to look at the other horses in the race you are entering using the same guide, but it can take ages to do and I get confused sometimes with all the information available.

One thing you learn very quick is to give enough rest between races. All of the horses I acquired that had had a lot of rest by being at Endless Vista for a long time had really good first races. Secret Talent won her first race for me, a group 3, by 7 lengths - I thought I had the makings of a superstar but subsequent results were not as impressive. Perhaps I should just race her twice a season…………
One of the best parts of the game is the other players and the forum. Most of the veteran players are free with advice and help when you are starting out. Some will help with obtaining new horses at beginner’s prices, free visits to stallions etc. Though I find it sad and frustrating when the occasional newbie takes advantage, as it makes veteran players think twice before offering practical help.

I have also found it helpful to keep my own paperwork for each horse – how much it cost to buy, cost of entry fees and maintenance and winnings. It lets me know which horses are in profit, covering their costs and those that are making a loss. I’ve also found it useful to go through the races for the coming couple of months and make a list of likely races for each horse and I’m fairly sure others do the same.

I have found this a game with a good balance between ease of play and yet difficult and strategic enough to keep the interest going. Breeding and selling add an extra dimension. My newbie season was used to gain understanding of game basics. Hopefully the next season will be successful enough to enable me to purchase better horses for racing and keep the stable on a sound financial footing. And then there’s looking forward to retiring some of the mares for breeding, and the two year olds to race and the new competitions………………..

Roll on the new season Yipeee!!!!

Penny
Darkwood Stable

Global Sprint & Classic Challenge

Welcome!

I hope to see this as the beginning of something new, and the first Challenge of many more to come. First and for most, I can not thank enough to the stables that have donated to make this competition possible.

the rules are simple and straight forward:

Entry Fee is $5,000 per established stable.
For stables that have under $200,000 in their account, the fee is $2,500.
Please Note: IF your stable has made some form of donation towards the prize, then this entry fee is exempt.

Only 2 year old horses are viable for the Sprint and Classic Challenge. Any stable may enter as many horses as they wish into the selected races for this challenge, permitting race rules for horse entry per stable. You do NOT need to register any of your horses, and ANY horse may enter both the SPRINT and CLASSIC Challenge; IF he or she is good enough!

Points are awarded as follows:

Winnter of race: 5points
2nd Place: 4 points
3rd place: 3 points
4th place: 2 points
5 place: 1 point

At the end of the 5 races for the Sprint and 10 races for the Classic Challenge, the horse with the highest amount of points accumulated will be declared the GLOBAL SPRINT or CLASSIC CHALLENGE CHAMPION and recieves first prize. A horse may NOT accumulate points from the Sprint and Classic Challenge; the points MUST be kept separate. Prizes to be annouced once estimated amount from donations has been recieved and stable entry fees have been registered with me.

There will be a space on the forum for this competition, thanks to Laurie. The points system stable will be kept there and updated regulary by myself.

To view races go to the forum under Global Sprint/Classic Challenge; Topic: Global Sprint & Classic Competition


If you wish to register to participate in either Challenge e-mail Don at dbujak@optusnet.com.au.

GOOD LUCK

Don (Donny)

Chiquita Lodge

New "Global" Competition

Don from Chiquita Lodge is organizing a new competition for Photo-Finish called the "Global Sprint" and the "Global Classic." We have few details, but what we can tell you is that it will be a competition restricted to 2 year olds spanning a few weeks (according to the Forum). The winner will be based on points from first to fifth placings, with 5 - 10 races total. This will be a test for 2 year olds and their trainers; which races will be more important? Those in the competition, or other lucrative two year old races?

However, before this competition can commence, Don is asking for stables' aid. He needs donations to add to the prize pool - ranging from Free breeding (stallion and/or mare) services, foals/yearlings, unraced older horses, and, the ever needed, money donations.

Anything would be gladly accepted, and all inquries should be sent to Don at: dbujak@optusnet.com.au.

Once we at the Recap get more information, so will you! Keep an eye out here and on the forum for upcoming details.

10 Worst Performances in 2008

The superstar horses usually get all the ink.

Perhaps it is time to pay homage to the racers who stunk up the track. I was curious as to who had the worst racing performances last season in terms of speed scores.

So, without further ado, here they are....The Cream of the Crap of 2008.

• 10th - Spitfire 2yo colt - raced for Dolphins Stables - Finishing last in the California Juvenile with a speed score of -27, this son of Revenge obviously did not inherit his father's incredible speed.
• 9th - Dirty Dancing 2yo colt - raced for Alydar Stables - The remarkable thing about his -28 speed score in an Allowance race at Shenandoah Downs was that he did not finish last.
• 8th - Listapad 2yo colt - raced for Chiknsmack Stables - Checked in at -30 at the Racing Post Trophy.
• 7th - Old Music 5yo colt - raced for Valmont Stables - Posted a -33 at the San Francisco BC Mile. The only horse in this list who isn't a 2yo.
• 6th - Spitfire from Dolphins makes his second appearance with a -35 in the Best Pal Stakes.
• 5th - Spitfire yet again, as he lowers his already shaky standards with a -40 in a Starter Allowance race.
• 4th - Vivencial 2yo colt - raced for Establos Del Castillo - A 10 furlong Allowance proved too much for this colt who recorded a -40 speed score. Was beaten in this race by Dirty Dancing, who had the -28 score mentioned above.
• 3rd - Nature's Storm 2yo colt - raced for Port Pirie Racing - Another Revenge offspring. Had a -43 in the Remsen Stakes after going off at 99-1 odds.
• 2nd - Higher & Higher 2yo colt - raced for Long Island Hayburners - Sunk lower and lower with a -44 in the Anzac Day Stakes.
  
• 1st - Bewitched 2yo colt - raced for Norwood Nags - Recorded the worst speed score of the entire season when he loped in for a -50 in the VRC Sires Produce Stakes.

Spitfire, with 3 of the 10 poorest performances of the season, must be anoited the Worst Horse of the Year for 2008. Appropriately, he was shipped off to Endless Vista, as were Old Music and Listapad.

All of the others will be racing again in 2009. Bewitched finding a new home with Big Wills Hog Runners, and Vivencial now residing at Versailles.

Dirty Dancing, Nature's Storm and Higher & Higher were all given another year with their original stables, hopefully to mature and improve.

They Look Familiar

As the old champions retire and new ones come in to take their place - and even break their records - new legends are created. This year will be no different; there are quite a few great ones who've passed into a sort of legend. Those who newbies only hear about from "age-old" veterans and in breeding news. But perhaps "he" or "she" will come again to grace our racing ovals...

Here are some siblings to some of the best to grace Photo-Finish

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REVENGE
- By Stephen Got Even out of Serena's Song -
Legend; Dominate at 3 and 4; 1:55.3 @ 10F and 2:21.4 @ 12F; Literally broke the mold.

SpanishInquisition

- By Stephen Got Even out of Spectacular Wiggle-

2 year old grey colt Bred/Owned: Bally Doyle

(notable sibling: Canadian F TC Winner Broken Dream - Stephen Got Even)

Serena's Peg
- By Fusaichi Pegasus out of Serena's Song-
2 year old bay colt Bred/Owned: Goforwand Stable

(notable sibling: 3x BC Winner & 3x Eclipse Winner Pegasus Song- Fusaichi Pegasus x Serena's Song)

SMART MONEY

- By Numerous Times out of Dance Smartly -

Top Overall Money Earner; 3x Eclipse Winner; 2x BC Winner

About Last Night

- By Numerous Timex out of Critical Eye -

2 year old bay filly Bred/Owned: Alydar Stables

Tempest Queen
- By Numerous Timex out of Tempest Moon -
2 year old bay filly Bred: Godolphin17 Owned: FDL Lodge

Dance Zapper
- By Ghostzapper out of Dance Smartly -
2 year old bay filly Bred/Owend: Goforwand

A BUS
-By Fields Of Omagh out of Unwordly
2nd Overall Money Earner; 5x Eclipse Winner; 2x BC Winner

Queenston World

- By Kingston Town out of Unworldly-

2 year old dark chestnutfilly Bred/Owend: FDL Lodge

WAR MACHINE
-By Curule out of Mystic Lady -
7th Overal Money Earner; TC Winner; 2x BC; 2x Eclipse

Dog Day Afternoon
- By Curule out of Libidinious-
2 year old chestnut colt Bred/Owend: Alydar Stables

War Monkey
- By Curule out of E Minor -
2 year old bay filly Bred/Owned: Zippy Chippy Stables

Phantom Wings

-By Fusaichi Pegasus out of Mystic Lady -

2 year old bay filly Bred: Red Wing Stables Owned: Bonai Farms

(notable sibling: 3x BC Winner & 3x Eclipse Winner Pegasus Song- Fusaichi Pegasus x Serena's Song)

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SOUTHERN CHARM
- By Silver Charm out of Safely Kept -

11th Overall Money Earner; TC winner; 2x BC Winner

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Marino
-By Silver Charm out of Heptonstall -
2 year old brown colt Bred: Pointgiven Stables Owned: Chiquita Lodge

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MADAM DE FRANCAIS

- By Kathology out of Allez France -
9th Overall Money Earner; TC winner; 2x BC Winner

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Breaking Away

- By Cat Thief out of Allez France -

2 year old brown colt Bred/Owned: Alydar Stables

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ALYTRAIN

- By Alysheba out of Tranquility Lake -

4th Overall Money Earner (1st Female); 2x Eclipse Winner; 2x BC Winner

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Vigilant
- By Purple Passer out of Tranquility Lake -
2 year old bay fillyt Bred: Brewery Stables Owned: Bonai Farms

Glorious Technicolour

So you have got a stable, maybe a few horses and soon it will be the start of the racing season proper. Have you forgotten anything? What about - YOUR SILKS!! Yes, you can have your horses race with your own personalised colours - and here is where the "sim" part really kicks in.

In the "real world" of racing, you are restricted by the patterns, colour variations, logos, copyright etc etc when chosing the colours or "silks" of your choice. But here in PhotoFinish the only limit is your imagination!

Some players go for a traditional look, either based on their favourite racing colours or something that is personal to them. Others really go wild, using bold and bright colours and/or symbols. When I first started reporting for this great game, I would guess that less than 50% (or less) of stables playing had racing silks, but since that time - wow, pretty much all stables have them. A lot of the new players send in their silks request when asking to join the game. (Clever forward planning!)

Lets take a few examples, starting with a "veteran" stable - and where better to start than with the Founding Stable - SNOWBANK FARM. Their colours are simple but effective and officially described as "white jacket, red star centre, red sleeves, white cap" and the resultant "silks" look like this:



Then as the game expanded and players joined from further afieild, the range of silks got more expressive. We take for the next example the silks of Chiknsmack Stables, based in New Zealand. Thier colours are instantly recognised from the description of "black jacket and sleeves, with grey armbands to top of sleeves, grey and black half cap and grey New Zealand Fern centre jacket" and looks like this:



OK maybe its not "bold" or "standout" but its very personal to the Stable. So lets look at another variant, this time from one of the games European stables, that of Olmo Dorato and based in Italy. Now this is a more flamboyant colour scheme and instantly recognisable from most angles! Described officially as "royal blue jacket, yellow buttons, centre red disc with yellow edge, yellow epaulates and collar, light blue sleeves with red cuffs and red cap with yellow bobble". The resultant colours:



And finally, one of the new stables - HT Stables based in the USA. Now here is a stable that has let their imagination run to the full extent possible, no holds barred and a perfect example of "glorious techinicolour". Described as "jacket segmented into eight sections and with equal amounts of red, yellow, blue, green, orange, black, brown and pink with grey cap". Still trying to work that out? Here you go:



Spectacular!

I hope you liked this little fun spot whilst we wait for racing to resume after the breeding season. If I didnt mention your name or silks, sorry but with over 70 stables to choose from now - I had to pick just a small selection and this post is entirely in jest!

So, be you a traditional kinda player, one who likes to express themselves more creatively or just plain off the wall - ENJOY, the game is played for fun and its great waiting to see what funky/freaky/fashionable colours will show themselves.

(Thanks to Laurie for creating the "silks")