In a recent interview in the Blood-Horse magazine ( October 9, 1999/# 41 ). A question was asked to former owner of Gainesway Farm; John Gaines, ( Who origionally had the idea that became the Breeders Cup ) on his ideas about past and present breeding theories. Mr. Gaines reflected:
"I once asked Bull Hancock the question; 'If your fairy god-mother came out of the sky and said: 'Bull, I'll grant you one of three wishes. Would you rather have Bull Lea (Arguably the greatest sire of the 20th century.), the 20 best mares at Calumet, or Ben Jones? Which would you take?' He said that would be easy; 'I'll take Bull Lea.' and he said, 'What would you take?' I said I would take Ben Jones, because there are just a few transcendental trainers. And they are so important ..... breeders only want to think in terms of genetics, but the transcendental trainer like Ben Jones, Hirsch Jacobs, Woody Stephens and now (Bob) Baffert, Wayne Lucas, are worth as much as a great stallion or a great broodmare."
We here, with our SIM horses are conditioned to think in terms of what cross of sires will produce an outcome that we will enjoy racing through our fantasy stable and hopefully then win with them. But even after we have done our homework on the genes that a horse may carry, from the influence his sires, to get them to the winners circle can only happen if you have learned the basic essentials in training methods. In getting a horse to the winners circle, there may be many stories behind that win. You will find that even though a trainer knows many different ways to accomplish this, he or she also has their own unique routine of training that they would like to implement and be successful with every horse in thier stable. Trainers have also learned; It's not easy.
Every horse has it's own character and it's own set of problems that are unique, a large percentage of a trainers time is devoted to these problems even before actual training of the horse begins.
"To me it's about the horses, knowing their likes and dis-likes and what it takes to keep them happy and sound. Each one is special to me."
Lou Albertini is the trainer of Artax, who recently won the Breeders Cup Sprint, tying Mr. Prospector's track record at Gulfstream Park for 6.0 furlongs (1:07.89). Artax also broke two other long time stakes records this year.
Every horse in your SIM stable has it's own personal identity that you as an O/T will have to recognize and adhere to. Not only are there inherant attributes that you will become acquainted with, but the individual form cycles are probably the most difficult to understand. Injuries and different levels of fatigue; Little Groggy and Lay-Off, to understand that these may occur in your horses cyber-life will start you thinking of what you as an O/T will have to do to change your ways to help in preventing these set-backs. There is a time period of when your horses will run their best races, to keep them on the track and productive during this time is totally up to you.
There are horses in the SIM that have enough inherant class to make you look like a genius, they will win and it won't take too much special ability on your part. To keep them winning may take some awareness by you. More so in the SIM than in real-life, there are sires that can carry an O/T's lack of expierence or knowledge, to the winners circle; However, it would be totally foolish and wrong to think that the sire of a horse, for example Cat Thief's sire Storm Cat, had more to do with the win of the Breeders Cup 'Classic', than the training and supervision of D. W. Lukas. I can only think of one reply to an acqusation like this, it's the same sentimental smirk that Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys Quarterback) gives in his popular television comercial:
D. W. Lukas would have accomplished all that he has, with or without any particular sire. Just as it is in this SIM game, we are given the opprotunity to learn about many different sires and how they may interact with others. It's up to us from there.
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