Following on
path12's excellent dynasty, I've decided to create my own
The Racing Breed dynasty. Like him, this is my first dynasty. Well, kind of. I had a short-lived one on the OOTP forums a few years ago, but a hard drive crash destroyed that effort. Interestingly, I also grew up at Longacres in Washington - and I really mean 'grew up.' My grandfather was a trainer there (and is now one at Emerald Downs during the summer), and both of my parents worked there when I was a child.
I personally had no interest in the sport until sometime in high school, when I got interested in it through the breeding portion of the industry. I love learning about the various bloodlines and how they affect the horses of racing age. Being in Washington, and Emerald Downs only having a dirt track, I've had few opportunities to bet on horses based purely on their breeding, which is more common with horses making their first attempt on turf.
Since getting interested in it, I've bought a few yearlings in California with my parents and then re-sold them at the local yearling sale. In addition, I've owned a horse who was retired this year after being unable to compete at the lowest claiming level here ($3,500), but he won 3 races and made about $35k over his 3.5 years of racing. Finally, I purchased a horse - well, I'm a 1/4 owner along with my parents and a few other people - at the yearling sale a few weeks ago (by Matty G. out of a Mt. Livermore mare). Hopefully we have more luck with this one.
Despite going through dozens of years and hundreds of graded stakes horses on my own, I've yet to win a Kentucky Derby. In fact, I've noticed I tend to do best with turf horses and sprinters - possibly signifying that I'm looking at the wrong bloodlines, so that's something I'll definitely try to change in this game.
I chose to start the game at the New York track with $100k in funds. In the initial sale, I'll be looking for a 3yo or two that either showed some promise as a 2yo in the morning or racing in the afternoon. After the first year, though, I won't be attending the January mixed sale, as it's a bit too easy to get good horses there.
The same goes for claims, so I'll find a way to resist claiming every great horse that is put in for a price, and I'll restrict my stable to 10 horses initially. The game allows you to have up to 40, so I may up that limit to 20 after a few years.
Anyway - I think that's about all I can say about the setup, so here we go....