Whenever you hit the Breeding Part of the game, you’ll recognize, most of the Top Sires in the game are Top Sires in real life, but then there are the special sires, as a sim sired horse can hit the track immediatly, there is no delay, and that makes a group of sires very special,
The First, Second and Third year sires, also refered to as Freshman, Sophomore and Junior Sires. They have one thing in common, none of their babies in real life has hit the track yet, so there production is based on Mikes own judgement, so the question is, what makes a good Freshman Sire, is it breeding, stud fee, his real life racing record, or a combination of all 3.
What i wanna do, is look at the top freshman sires from 2006, 2007 and 2008, and anylyze them, look at their sim records, their real-life achievements, their stud fee and all of that.
Let’s start with the top 2006 Freshman-Sires, and if you look at them, one name stands out, Ghostzapper:
Ghostzapper:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostzapper
To summarize it:
Breeding: Awesome Again x Relaunch x Tri Jet
2006 stud fee: 200,000$
Major Real Live Achievements:
Breeders Cup Classic Winner, 2004 Horse of the Year as a 4yo
Record: 11:9-0-1, $3,446,120
Sim records:
2006 Horses(now 4) : 94.3 W% - 22.2 SW% - 5.7 GW% - 132,671$/Runner
2007 Horses(now 3): 75.2 W% - 10.1 SW% - 2.7 GW% - 74,428 $/Runner
2008 Horses(now 2): 56.0 W% - 11.0 SW% - 3.3 GW% - 41,159 $/Runner
As you can see, every 5th horse bred by Ghostzapper in 2006 now has won a stakes race, thats awesome, thats top among those with 1000 Races run plus, only Mass Media, who only has 6 runners born at all 2006 has a better %, so Ghostzapper became one of the best sires in the sim immediately and that, without one of his babies hitting the track in real life.
Next let’s look at Rock Hard Ten:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Hard_Ten
Breeding: Kris S. x Mr. Prospector
2006 stud Fee: 50,000$
Major Real Live Achievements:
Santa Anita Handicap, Malibu Stakes
Record: 11-7-1-1, $ 1,870,380$
Sim records:
2006 Horses(now 4): 89.3 W% - 13.2 SW% - 5.0 GW% - 124,022$
2007 Horses(now 3): 71.7 W% - 11.0 SW% - 2.4 GW% - 70,938$
2008 Horses(now 2): 34.8 W% - 3.3 SW% - 0.0 GW% - 15,547$
Well, his 2yo record is very qustionable, but his horses seem to be productive at 3, that reflects his own racing career, his stud fee is just a quarter of Ghostzappers, so is production based on stud fee?
Let’s look at Sire Number 3:
North Light:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Light
If you just look at the Wikipedia Article, you recognize it is very short, so let’s look for other resources,
http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-register/pdfs/northlight.pdf
well, ok
Breeding: Danehill x Rainbow Quest
2009 Stud Fee: 15,000$
Major Real Live Achievements:
Epsom Derby, Dante Stakes
Record: 7: 3-3-0
Sim Records:
2006 Horses(now 4): 87.1 W% - 14.5 SW% - 4.8 GW% - 115,830$
2007 Horses(now 3): 71.0 W% - 3.8 SW% - 0.8 GW% - 51,027$
2008 Horses(now 2): 44.9 W% - 5.6 SW% - 0.0 GW% - 23,857$
Those 3 are the most productive by far of the 2006 Freshman Sires, and are 1-2-3 on all 3 years. However, you see, there 2yo production is not that great, but nevertheless no other 3rd Year Sire was better this season or standing out.
So let’s look at 2007s top producers, now their first sim crop is 3yo.
On Top is Bernardini:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardini
Breeding: A.P. Indy x Quiet American
2007 Stud Fee: 100,000$
Major Real Life Achievments:
Preakness Stakes, Travers Stakes, 2006 Top American 3yo
Record: 8-6-1-0, $3,060,480
Sim Records:
2007 Horses(now 3): 80.5W% -12.0 SW% - 3.0 GW% - 76,225$
2008 Horses(now 2): 48.4W% - 4.3 SW% - 1.1 GW% - 22,224$
He has pretty similiar number to Ghostzappers 3yo stats, so his half Breeding Fee seems not so much of a factor, let’s look at Sire Number 2 from 2007:
Deep Impact:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Impact_(horse)
Breeding: Sunday Silence x Alzao
2007 Stud Fee: 125,000$ - 300,000$(found many numbers for him)
Major Real Live Achievements:
Japanese Triple Crown, Japan Cup
Record: 14: 12-1-0, a lot of Yens
Sim Records:
2007 Horses(now 3): 79.4 W% - 9.2 SW% - 1.5 GW% - 61,366$
2008 Horses(now 2): 34.1 W% - 2.4 SW% - 0.0 GW% - 15,410$
His Breeding and Stud Fee are top notch, but likely being a Japanese Race Horse makes him toguh to judge.
Bluegrass Cat:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluegrass_Cat
Breeding: Storm Cat x A.P. Indy
2007 Stud Fee: 50,000$
Major Real Live Achievemets:
Nashua Stakes, Eddie Haskell Invitational:
Record: 11:5-4-0, $1,761,280
Sim Records:
2007 Horses(now 3): 74.2 W% - 12.9 SW % - 3.2 GW% - 57,980$
2008 Horses(now 2): 36.2 W% - 5.3 SW% - 1.1 GW% - 21,181$
Well, top Breeding, lower Stud Fee, but nonetheless great results, a top line in the 2007 horses, that can be compared to the 2006 field:
And then in 2008 there was Dylan Thomas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan_Thomas_(horse)
Breeding: Danehill x Diesis
2008 Stud Fee: 44660$
Major Real Live Achievements:
Irish Derby, Prix d’L’Arc de Triomphe
Record : 18 : 10-4-1, $8,981,786
Sim Records :
2008 Horses(now 2) : 42.6 W% - 6.4 SW% - 3.2 GW%
What stands out is his Graded success at the age of 2, being a great race horse at 3 and 4 this somehow is strange, but perhaps his general genes have been made very strong, I really look forward seeing his first group of babies turn 3.
And as a lst let’s look at Street Sense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Sense_(horse)
Breeding: Street Cry x Dixieland Band
2008 Stud Fee: 75,000$
Major Real Live Achievements:
Breeders Cup Juvenile, Kenntucky Derby, Travers Stakes, U.S. Champion 2yo 2006
Record: 13- 6-4-2, 4,383,200
Sim Records:
2008 Horses(now 2) : 52.6 W% - 7.4 W% - 0.0 GW%
No Graded winner yet, but his 2yo win % and the Stakes W% is great, and among the best in the sim, his 2yo BC Juvenile win is fully reflected, and I wonder how his babies will look at 3, when he was still one of the best in real life.
In general, if using a freshman sire, look for his stud fee and real live achievement, Mike has a tendency to give us 2 to 3 super producing freshman each season, find them and make a superstar with them.
