Here today with Dan from MB Stables. So Dan thank you for agreeing to chat and i am super excited and grateful for this opportunity. I read the interview by Stu in 2016 with the SRF (which i enjoyed) and thought it would be great to hook up again.
- So please tell us. Where is your base farm? and what do you like to drink?
A. I’d say I have 2 base farms. One on each coast. RivCA has always been my main base farm. Good weather and access to all the SoCal tracks. I also use ColNJ on the east coast.
I’m not a huge drinker, but I do enjoy a glass of whiskey from time to time 🙂
Handy as i brought a bottle of Bells Scotch Whiskey (Hoping this will help get the tongues wagging). OK lets get down to business! i know you are a super busy guy Q. First question has to be…Why are called MB? Where does stable name come from?
A. The name of the street I lived on growing up was “Meadow Brook” and I think Meadow Brook Stables was a bit too long.
Q . Makes sense. OK are u ex RC/ Digiturf ? Or is this first horse racing game you played (HRP)?
A. I never played RC or Digi before coming here. Wasn’t my type of game. I wanted to play a game with more depth to it. Breeding thoroughbreds always fascinated me, and I wanted a game that would allow me to play in that arena of racing. The use of “genes” for ability was a big plus for me. I had dabbled with some other sites before playing here, but nothing quite fit what I wanted out of a horse racing game like HRP. It was love at first click haha
Q This game has a lot of numbers involved. Subject of numbers…Are you good at math? An what was favorite/ top topic at school?
A. I don’t want to toot my own horn too much here, but yes I’ve always excelled at math. I’m getting a PhD very soon in Biomedical Engineering so I hope that’s my best subject 😉
Q Did you do a lot of gaming as a child? If so what consoles you used and fav games?
A. I wouldn’t say I was a “gamer” at least not the way it’s viewed now but I did play my fair share of video games like most kids of my generation. I had Gameboys, N64, Playstations, etc. Usually I’d side more towards the sports games. Madden, Fifa, etc.
Q. Nice. so what’s your association with horses in past if any? Did you watch horse racing a s a child? Or family/ friend own? And can you ride 🙂
A. I don’t have any sort of family ties to horse racing really. I became fascinated with the Kentucky Derby as a kid while everyone else in my family wouldn’t care and I’d look forward to seeing who could be a triple crown winner. Smarty Jones was an early favorite of mine. That spurred my curiosity to look more into the sport, follow all year long, and convince the family to go to the track every now and then, and everything followed from there. I’ve never ridden a horse before, though that would be an interesting sight to see given nobody would mistake me for a jockey lol
Q. We need to ask Raj to set you up a ride sometime that would be fun to watch :)So I am curious;when you joined did you have a mentor? If so who?
A. I’m not sure if I could call anyone a “mentor” per say because I did try things out mostly on my own, but I had several friends as I was starting to talk horses with here. Most notably Sanny of whom I miss our chats deeply. To this day I still believe he’s the sharpest HRP mind I’ve spoken with over my years here. He’d turn left when everyone was turning right. RIP Will
Sanny was a legend agreed and you certainly had a cool friend there for sure. Q. Man i would love to know, what does your partner and friends think of your virtual horse racing passion. Do they think you are crazy!?
A. When I first introduce this game to anyone there’s a bit of a confusion associated with it. Most people’s activities online are more along the lines of social media or other forms of passive entertainment, so usually people just think I’m gambling. Especially when they hear that money and horse racing are involved. When I explain how the game works, what’s involved, and to be frank…the money I win…then their tune changes. They understand, but regardless they still think I’m crazy!
- Ha i bet! Have another drink mate. OK so name your fav 3 breeders of all time on game (excluding yourself).
A. Number 1 is absolutely Yahudi. I looked into what he was doing quite a bit when I was first getting started. He really revolutionized breeding here at HRP with Charley Farley, and I got Chai Latte from him which was a major force in my stable for years. Next I’d say Smokey has been doing a lot of amazing work to develop his breeding barn. I’ve never seen someone with as much persistence in developing top level bloodlines. His breeding barn is going to be a major force going forward. Last but not least I admire the work Drab does a lot. He doesn’t conform to the typical bloodlines he’s developed his own and he gets tremendous return on a relatively small breeding operation.
Q Yahudi was class and agree Smokey operation is certainly starting to yield good. Soon come the vintage crop methinks… ON HRP Bloodlines. How close to rl bloodlines/ family trees do you think they are based?
A. The name is just for show. I would say they have 0 connection to real lines, however I do think that some generic genes like for sprint vs. route or turf vs. dirt probably do follow the name associated with that AG line. I think though that people shouldn’t put as much weight on the name of an AG sire or dam.
I respect your opinion. Q Errrm OK can you be stopped? Just last night chatting with Our Athletes he refered to you as the Aidan O’Brien of HRP (which is a huge compliment). Better question do you think you can hold onto the crown?
There are a lot of races at HRP so there’s always going to be a lot of wins to go around. As long as I still am able to own lots of talented horses I’m sure I’ll win my fair share. We’re playing in the toughest era of HRP right now and it’s not very close, so with some percentages going down for me I think in some eyes I’ve already been “stopped” 🙂
Eventually life will get in the way. Nobody can play this game forever. I now have flexibility in my work schedule, no kids, and still love playing the game. If any of those things change of course I’ll take a step back and there are many deserving stables ready to jump up in my place.
Q. If you won the TC what would treat yourself to?
A. Oh man that’s a good one. Nothing flashy. It’d probably just go into savings and go towards a bigger purchase down the line in life. Either that or 4,000 yearlings 😉
If you do please me buy me a new Ukulele and I will immortalise your win in verse :)Q. Beach Dandy for price he sold to JH bargain?
I don’t want to speak too much about other people’s deals but since I speak to both Josh and John often I’ll say that I felt it was a good deal for both parties, however I was just surprised at how quickly he was sold after the Preakness. He didn’t even get a chance to cool down! In this game it’s very tough to have big time success without taking big time risks, so I like to see people make big purchases. I’ll be very interested to see how things turn out.
Q. Did wonder, do you still watch all your races now?
A. I watch 99% of them. The only exception would be if I have many races in a day that I’m catching up to. In that case, sometimes I skip over first time starters or smaller races. But I do enjoy watching everything.
Q. How many hours a week does it take you to train and nominate your horses?!
A. I generally spend about an hour or so each day training horses and moving horses for races and doing adds testing. I’ve developed a routine over the years to get everything done quickly and efficiently that’s the only way I can run a barn this size. Nominations I generally do in groups when the new month schedule comes out, or directly after a race in some cases. And then of course I spend miscellaneous time doing breeding, looking into sales (both ways), and researching various things that’ll help me spot stakes horses.
Q. I love this question and who better to ask… TC. Can it be done?
A. Do I think it’s possible? Yes, but I don’t think it’ll happen unless some major changes happen at HRP. There are a few factors that could help it getting done. Off tracks are a big help for the type of horse we saw win the Derby the last two years: AKA a top talent who also seems to love the off going. So, if somehow each of the 3 TC races ends up being an off track I could see a scenario where the TC is won. Also of course if HRP addresses the lack of ability distribution in the game or stable sizing is reduced more we may see a more dominant force of the likes of Five Fives compete for the TC
- Did you ever imagine you would rise to the top and hold the reins this long?
A. I never joined this game thinking that I’d become a leader board stable. For a good amount of time I was struggling to even win a meaningful race. I won my first graded stakes in my 2nd year of racing and it took me a whole year to win my 2nd. Of course I had aspirations of becoming more successful, but I let the success come to me first I didn’t plan or expect on any of this.
Q Truthfully have you ever felt like quitting?! If so why/ when tell us about it!
A. I’ve never wanted to just quit and never come back, however just like any other stable when things aren’t going well I have had my moments of wanting to take a step back. I feel that sometimes the constant grind of the game can overwhelm you, and it’s necessary to sell off some stock and re-focus on a smaller group of horses you know well and can trust. I sold off a very big portion of my racing horses at this past auction. I’ve been downsizing little by little over the last few years and want to continue to cut back. Both the breeding and racing side of my stable is half the size of a few years ago believe it or not. Right now I have two contradicting voices in my head about the game. On one hand I love the competition, I’m lucky to enjoy a lot of success playing the game, and I generally enjoy having this game as a hobby. On the other hand, I feel that the lack of communication from management and lack of addressal of major issues handicapping fair competition make it hard for me to want to invest as much time here as I used to 3/4 years ago. So I’m finding a middle ground I’m happy with for now in terms of the time I invest into the game
Q. Know Commanding winning KYD was big thing read interview with Threshold years ago. Anything emulated that since?
A. Emulated the feeling of the KYD? Well that’s a tough one. It may not surprise you, but very rarely do top race wins quite strike the same chord of a win like that when I was first getting going. Winning the KYD was such a shock for me. I’d say in recent memory, Early Retirement’s dominating BC Turf win was the last that really thrilled me. I had finished 2nd in six previous BC races over the weekend, and felt like I was just having the worst luck. To see him pull away so emphatically was really amazing to watch
Q. Is there a stable you look up to? If so why?
A. Can I say Sanny again? Hahah. Well at the time I really did look up to him and I still look at his success and it inspires me to keep giving everyone hell :
Q What aspect game so you think needs improving? (Please keep under 10 000 words 🙂 )
A. Related to a previous question above, I think management at HRP has really dropped the ball in recent years in terms of player engagement. They’ve transitioned into a more hands-off management style, but I think they’re doing so at the cost of not addressing major game play issues that hurt overall player morale. I could list many things that could be tweaked but to me the two major factors that are simply unacceptable are the closeness in ability of horses and the lack of pace success in the race engine. How many times have you seen a horse of yours finish 6th or 7th losing by 1 length? That sort of race scenario not only feels unrealistic, but it also makes it very difficult to place and judge horse ability. I can accept that there is going to be some luck involved in drawing the right post position or right jockey, but it shouldn’t be the only difference between 1st and 7th. Sometimes I truly believe it is. Also, real pace is awful in this race engine. Because of that, people have adapted overtime to use instructions that keep them off the pace. Midpack, BA, Close, etc. are 10 times more prevalent than Lead, AA, or just letting a horse run on HL if it has natural speed. The problem with this, is that the race engine doesn’t really adapt well to everyone trying to pull back their horse and you get the Merri-go-round races with 25 second quarter splits. You can win on a slow lead, but try going at a decent clip and you’ll be last by the quarter pole.
Q Can you shout out a up coming stable that joined within the last year or 2 who you think is one to watch for the future?
A. I talk to so many new players who just joined and I can’t list them all, but I’ve been really impressed by the start of Austin from Gustafson Stable. He’s really hit the ground running and I see much of the same curiosity and drive from him that I had early on. And he’s doing much better than I did!
Q Subject newer stables/ trainers. Any tips for new players welcome!
A. Read the rules over and over again. There is so much information in there about the game that often when I talk to 10 year vets sometimes they don’t even know. There are some good player walkthroughs on the SRF from Paradise and La Canada definitely make use of those. When you first start, don’t try to dive into the deep end with big purchases, stakes racing, and breeding. Focus on claimers or small meets at first and never be afraid to ask experienced stables questions. Sometimes, claiming a horse whose best days are long gone can be useful to see what instructions the past owner used, but always be careful about claiming and buying horses past their prime. Workouts tend to tell you how a horse is doing. If the works are getting slower the races will too. And most of all, be patient! I’ve been playing this game for 10 years and I still learn new things all the time. It took me years to even be competent in stakes racing. Losing and figuring out what you need to change is the most important part of learning
Q . Big fan of what bloodlines you have put toghther (kudos) and we would welcome a couple of breeding tips please?
A. I think the easiest trap in the breeding game is just buying into lines because of their name. Don’t be afraid to be a bit outside of the box and establish your own bloodlines. Sure, mix in what has worked for other people, but I feel more smaller players should focus on testing out their own lines. Remember, if a horse has some talent on the track there are good genes there, so I recommend building your breeding barn through horses you raced yourself and felt they had talent. I can’t stop people from using AGs, but I highly recommend using horses with deep pedigrees of homebred talent instead of AGs. The flashy names are going to cost you more and often you have suitable options from horses you claim and buy for racing.
Q. What’s your main goal for this year Dan?
A. Stay above 10% graded stakes winning percentage 🙂
Q Wandering around your stable you have so many lovely looking prospects. Who is your exciting 2 year old male and female this year in your mind mate?
A. Right now Sail Away has to top my list. He’s the type who looks like he’s got everything to be good this year and beyond. I know she hasn’t started yet, but keep an eye on Crystal Secret to be a major player.
Q Adding to watchlist! OK one last question please Dan. Who will be the next top sire in game. My mind it went CF/ Commanding whose next?
A. If I knew the answer would I tell you haha? In all seriousness it’s a giant guess who it could be. I have some young sires in my barn like Spring Lover, Worst Case Scenario, and Chrystal Pip that I really like their production, but I think what we’re going to see is that the difference between the 1st or 2nd best sire to the 10th or 20th best sire will be less than 5 years ago. Sires are only as good as the support you give them. And sometimes sires produce talent that gets unlucky in race situations losing out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars of earnings. If their foals get more opportunities in bigger money racing and stakes racing there generally will be more stakes wins and earnings, but win and itm percentages are down across the board. So I don’t think that some sire will come along and only spit out 1:03 virgins who go on to have stakes success and re-define the top sires in the game, rather, I think we’ll see less turnover on top of the sire list than we’re used to, but some of the top horses out there now will establish themselves as top 10 or 20 sires. Generally I expect the top sires will mostly come from horses who were decently big names on the track because they’ll get solid support. Active horses like State Police, Techfluence, Z One Chance, Chrystal Believer, Fire N Fury I think are all on my short list of ones that I’m curious what they’ll produce. And of course I could list 50 of my own but I’ll spare you guys for now 🙂
You are welcome to send me the list via site mail and I will send some low ball offers per norm 🙂 Joking – I really enjoyed talking with you today and thank you again for taking the time out and your honesty. Keep doing it and doing it well. Best of luck this season.
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