As the Current Season Wnds Down

[Falcon Oaks]

Thought as this season is winding down and excitement builds for the next thought little updates from everyone summarizing their stables achievements.
overall health and forecast for next season might be enteraining and hopefully all contribute

For me this season has been one for change as as the competition is getting tougher each season , I decided to focus a bit more on improving my broodmares and breeding earlier and more often than I previously have.
On the track,an eighty plus wins season and a moderate profit will be made but I have been so busy that I did not spot my runners as well as i should have and have paid that price. Two year olds have been a bit disappointing as mainly only Royal Air Force sees to be stakes quality and some of the others mostly either low claimers and a couple of moderate sucessful marginal allowance horses are my future 3 year olds. Older horses are thin and of the 75 or so runners maybe only 30 will continue on the track next season.
As my focus was on mares most of them have been retired and Beached and Eared Grebe will be retired at the start of next season to join in the broodmare band.

Overall the season was a pleasant one with a few new faces and some other stables exploding on the scene with sucess. My stable is still among the top ten and dont see if dropping out any time soon. Of the 58 yearlings I bred there appears to be some top class colts and a few good fillies according to works and am hopeful that they will turn into real runners when the gates open. Very encougaged there. I will probably be claiming a lot more mid level claimers and of course keep your fillies in spots that they wont get claimed as i will be looking closely. Competition is sure to be as tough or even tougher than this season as others seem to have some sharp eyes as well. I am waiting for Jeffy to transfer all his breeding profits to my account soon as he obviously had a good breeding season thanks to me.Wonder if Brian is jealous?

That's it and I am certaining chomping at the bit for May 1st action and hopefully we will get an update from Carl on the viewer and silks before the season opener

Hope springs eternal this time of year
Looking forward to hearing about your stables as well. Falcon

[Finca Vigia Studs]

My focus was not on number of wins and purse money but operating my stable in the black without depositing money. With 20 horses in my stable that wasn't so easy. A few well placed horses, breeding and a claimed horse or two helped meet that goal and also allowed breeding of 20 more yearlings.

Thanks to Falcon for busting BrassMonkey out of his slump (check's in the mail), Cowgirl for all her marketing efforts, and GSB for providing me with some entertainment.

Of the 20 yearlings, there are 3 or 4 that should be better than average (mid to upper level claimers). One of those has been training very well and could very well be a competitive open allowance/stakes horse but only time will tell. A couple of the others will provide me with a few wins in the lower level claim races and the rest will end up feeding my dog Abby.

[Donovan Stables]

Hey All,

My season has been ok i have spent most of my time and money on my real stable of horses that i own and train it has been a struggle but they have been running real good the last couple of months it will slow down for me for the summer. As for my D/D stable i have not yet been able to get my stable to support itself and i have not won a stake race yet or bred the big horse yet but them things will happen sometime in the future i'am sure. My bright spot in my stable is Lacey Deb. I was fortunate to obtain her from the auction and many thanks to Falcon for putting her in the sale and the chance for someone like me to have a nice horse .I still have my goals for the game and love it here even when my horses are not running well.

Good Luck to All and see you at the races

[Wonder Where Stables]

Im a new stable, got a few nice claimers, and hopefully will be
ready for a new season and lots of fun.
Expectations ..to get my stable maiden win.

[Socratic Racing]

Just past the one year point at Socratic. My main goal was for the stable to turn a profit with an initial investment of 300 dollars. Did I accomplish this? No but by frugal methods and very attentive claiming I came very close. Less than a month ago I had 150k in credits. This after around 100k in subscription fees. Just shy of 300k in earnings. I believe I could have easily been in the clear sometime next season if I had kept system I was working, but decided to go ahead and try to produce some runners. So around 8 or so were bred putting everything on the backs of these horses. We'll see how they go while continuing on a shoestring for the next few months. Then hopefully an investment into the game will be feasible.

On a side note I'm thrilled as hell to see Jeff's stock finally getting some good breeds produced. I knew there was a lot of potential in some of those horses it just seemed to take a while for them to start showing. I still stand firm that Crusader Storm will eventually produce a monster. And as of the time I'm writing this CS is up for free breeds!!! There's a plug for ya buddy!

Anyway hope everyone has continued success with the game thanks to Carl and programmers for all they do for a fair fee and to all the members that make the game enjoyable especially Rory for kicking me in the rear a few times when i wanted to give up.

See you all soon,

B.

[Getting Lucky Lodge]

I have been involved in DD since Season One and had moderate success with my initial stable "Thunder Downunder". The stable seemed to stagnate for a couple of seasons and I found it frustrating, either through my own poor management or bad luck, that the stable wasn't very successful at that time. I was ready to throw in the towel, then Nigel offered me a half share in GLL. Funnily enough, even though we work in the same department, I never really knew him in the 10 years that I had worked there, prior to joining GLL. That quickly changed when we joined forces in GLL.

We have turned it into the Mega-Stable that you see today. I still believe its initial success came about when we decided to buy Pension Plan with 22 breeds left from Gunner for quite a large sum. Added to Nigel's group of Open class fillies, this lay the foundation of GLL's success. Since then, we have had countless top performers which in turn, have become top broodstock, albeit a lot more failures. The old adage, "You have to speculate to accumulate" certainly applied in this case.

Is GLL profitable? It was for many seasons and if we had cut back on our breeding program, it probably would still be. Unfortunately we each have this addiction to outdo each other to try and breed the best yearling.

The future of GLL? I see next season no different from the previous in that it will have a few Stakes runners, many mid-range claimers and a lot of new 2K ones for Aquaman to transfer into his stable

The future of Norm? After 12 seasons (4 real years), I have decided to make this one my last. I have achieved everything I set out to do and then some. The 'then some' being the number of new friends that I made from afar. Never won a Triple Crown or an Eliminator but I'll leave it to Nigel to taste that success. So I'll take up the Caretaker role in GLL, looking after it while Nigel goes on holidays etc.

Kudos to Carl and the programmers for creating such a fantastic site (hurry up with the 3D Viewer!). It certainly has been a huge part of my days for the last 4 years (much to my wife's chagrin). I wish all stables (new and old) the best of luck in future seasons.

Norm

[Absolute Runaway]

Wow, Norm. I can't believe you're quitting. The DD community will sorely miss you.

[Star Of The Desert]

Well, after achieving a fair amount of success early on in the game, the past two seasons have been a mixed bag for me. With the competition getting tougher all the time I have seen my win % drop from around 17% to right around 10% and have fallen off the top ten leaders list for two seasons in a row.

My difficulties this meet stem from the fact that I am running short on horse flesh, currently only 22 active runners on the track. I am constantly searching the claiming ranks, as Falcon is, looking primarily at the fillies hoping to find a future breeder.

I have several nice runners in the barn now, although none currently top-notch, and I recently spent a good deal of $$$ in the auction and claiming races on two 2 year olds, Bad Deb and Bad Secret, both look to have ability and am just about finished working out their prefs. I also have Flamingo Road, who is my biggest disappointment in my two year old class. She is probably the best one-win horse I have ever owned on the site, but she just can't seem to get to the winner's circle, while racing with some of the best.

As far as yearlings are concerned I have 30 in the barn, most look to be mid level claimers at best but only time will tell. My best yearling appears to be World Traveller who will make his debut in the Preview Eliminator. Also scheduled to compete in the Eliminator will be Flash Of Speed, who appears to like a bit of distance, posting a 219:09 at 120lbs over 1 3/8 miles, so he might be a candidtae for the triple crown the following year. My best yearling filly appears to be Lovely Girl, who will also be Eliminator bound and is very well-bred.

As far as Norm leaving the game, we all hope his absence will be just a temporary one, as his wit and witticism will certainly be missed.

Sorry for the length of the post but just got carried away.


Burky

[Bald Farm Inc.]

Season 1

Since joining late in Jan of this year I have found that Digital Downs is a lot fun. I have enjoyed meeting fellow stables and found them all to be accomadating and friendly. I have enjoyed some limited success, some good claims, some bad claims, and one really good claim in my 3 year old filly Jules. She was claimed for 30k and just ran second in the second leg of the female triple crown series. She also set a new track record earlier this year. As of today I have 96 starts, with 24 W 15 P and 12 S and earnings of 328k. I have invested some money into many yearlings, and most seem to be low level claimers, with possibly some allowance horses. But until they run... you never know. I hope to continue building my stable so that in a few seasons I may be able to compete for a training title. I have learned very quickly that placing the horses where they belong brings the most profit... I would give that as advice to any new trainer. I have had a few trainers that have been very helpful... Jamie and Kelly especially. I feel I have a decent grasp on the game but still a lot to learn with the less than exact concept of breeding. I want to thank everyone for making this game so much fun.

[Socratic Racing]

Norm ...... oooooo <--- big alligator tears.

[Aquaman Stable]

I'm sure most of the veteran players here will agree that we all go through different degrees of successes and failures from season to season. The prior two seasons (July - Dec) I was able to win over 300 races, and I very rarely had to fund my account. I had a wider range of claiming horses that were competitive from 2 K up to 50 K claimers. However, I now find myself with a shortage of 20 K - 50 K claimers because of my unwillingness to reinvest any money in these categories. I have a small breeding operation, which is the way I want it to be. I know in order to get back to where I was the previous two seasons, I will need to invest more money into the middle range claimers, which I will do at some point during this calander year.

As for Norm, if I recall this is his second announcement that he is leaving the game, having mentioned this at the end of 2008. All of us can only hope he will return, because the DD community is a much better place with Norm in it. His knowledge and viewpoints on the mechanics of this game, along with his very funny humor have made this game much more fun and enjoyable for all of us. As for me claiming a lot of his horses in the past, it was nothing personal, strictly business (Godfather II).

It's nice to see the interest with alot of the new stables, and I hope they can make this game, competitive, fun and affordable to keep them here for many seasons to come.

Best Regards,

Aquaman

[Getting Lucky Lodge]

WULL WULL WULL....

IS it not about the times dat da two dumbsters, Mr Niggle and Mr Numb, does finally realisations dat dey are outdated and two old and slowing for dis game.

It musta also be da times for dem two Dimwits to finally appointment me, Dats Boris, as da head honcho's of da Gettling Lucky Unstable.

Every man and his dog's does nose dat it is I, Boris, dat has been da driving force of nature, dat has swept threw da D/D wurld dis seasonals and dat does cee da GLL unstable at da top of da primeshipper.

Also as da knew boss of da world, i am inbiting da cowgirls in da coral's two come and join me, Dats Boris, at da GLL unstable for some celebrating drinks and some rolling da hay!!

Dat is All,

Boris

[Cybertooth]

I don't speak too often in the forums but I do take the time to read everyones posts. I have been here since season one and it has been a lot of fun. The community speaks for itself in the kindness and helpfulness displayed daily. This season has been a bit slow for me but that's how the game goes. I am continually investing in new breeds and looking to build strong bloodlines. I have about 18 yearlings and 5 of those will participate in my favorite DD contest, the Preview Eliminator. Falcon Rocks!

I will probably be here playing this excellent game for as long as it is here to enjoy. Get used to me people, I'm here for the duration.

[Ryan Express]

The Ryan Express will be about the same, without Bill of course. I plan to keep the stable large and continue to operate on a large budget -- always chasing the best of the best. The RE yearlings are of typical quality, though I'm not sure there's a standout this year, and the fillies might be a bit lean. I'm not concerned, though, and I think WAY too many folks got frustrated with breeding because their "quality" was low, and they forget that quality in this game is relative. My yearlings' times are slower this year than last, but so are most everyone's.

Although I've been busy lately, I'll be around as long as the game is. We all have times where we get busy, distracted, or just temporarily less interested in this hobby. I think that's what makes partnerships so tough -- when my weeks get busy, I can reduce entries, break from training, and not worry about missing bargains. But when partners are in it together, training and managing can become a chore; and nobody wants to let her partner down.

In short, I'll be back chasing the leaders next season, breeding myriad horses, and turning over tons of money within the game. I'll be at Churchill enjoying the company and complaining to Carl. I hope Bill and Norm both find that they miss the game, on a small scale, and come back for the friendship and occasional thrill. I also expect to see a new, relaxed, post-recession Russ back soon.

[Carmona Farm]

As the season 12 ends, I would say that the outcome in my stable is much less than expected as my target last season was not attained this season. Mainly due to the time I have spend and the great competition we had with the promising stable. Overall this season has the most active forum, the most competitive, and most surprises. It's a three thumbs up for everyone who participated.

Profit - None I have spend my wins and credits on the breeding with hope to get another stake horse. My first season, I was claiming horses and racing only which is giving me profit. Second Season, I tried breeding, (Jamie convinced me) and got Impetus Binkster, the first eliminator champion (thanks to Falcon's Sire) . From then on I got obsessed on it and spend all my wins and add more credit for breeding alone. Then I got Mandalay Power (thanks to Star of the Desert's sire) the winner of recently concluded Australian Cup.

Future- Spend less on breeding and be content on what I have in my barn. Race and train as much as I can and be competitive with everyone on track

Thanks to everyone who helped in this game.