We have players from all different walks of life and backgrounds at HRP and today it’s really good to meet a real life horse trainer  & Breeder Arindel.

I know your stable name only, what’s your name please Arindel and where are you from firstly?

Name is Brian and I am 36 years old and based in Florida near Gulf Stream that’s where I go every morning to work.

Pleased to meet you, Brian. Gulf Stream leads me to ask – How did you get into horse racing in the first place? Is it a family thing? Did your family own horses? Tell me more!

My Dad had some horses and always wanted me to get into it so I reluctantly got in. Started hanging around some trainers and one thing led to the next and ten years later I am doing it for myself full time and no regrets.

I actually work with my girlfriend; she rides horses and I tell her what to do. We have our disagreements but it works and we get along well. My Dad was not a horse expert; he bought a horse and it turned into a champion. From there he built the farm, unbelievably lucky!

You say lucky. I am not so sure Brian. It seems the ability to spot a good horse has passed down. Subject of horses … How many do you have in training in real life and at HRP?
We have about 15/20 and a farm in OCA Florida. At HRP I would say around 530 active and 240 odd retired. I get up 3.30 am every morning and am at the track by 4.15 am.

Nice. It’s good to get know what kind of size you are. I notice that in a short time period you have built a pretty good breeding and racing operation. Knowing you are also involved in real life horse breeding and racing, do you feel HRP offers ‘realism’? And how did you get started at HRP with Breeding, what path did you take?
I am still learning about the RL side of horse breeding. Every day is a learning curve as they say and I fell I am growing stronger. Do feel that I am more advanced in the real-life breeding shed that HRPs shed.

To start,  I wanted to get my own stallions and my own mares rather than constantly outsourcing to save funds. It seemed like the big lines to follow where Commanding and Cherokee Sunset so I went after a few sires from both so eventually I could start breeding back and forth to those. Then I get 2 other sires Shark Force and Soviet Warrior outside the standard lines to try bring some bloodline diversity.

 Also, for me using quality mares i.e., mares with good racing history and ideally stakes winners is a key part. Their value is huge and often overlooked I fell. Looking forward to next quarter where I can breed my 3-year-old mares and compete with the likes of Dan & Smoke. Those guys are good and have a huge list of top mares. It took a lot of hard work and patience and still a lot more work to do.

Dan has had his way a while and I was trying to beat him at Gulf Park meet and he won the last 5 races and beat me. Now I am trying to beat him at Churchill but he has so many good ones. I know his main meet he wins is Saratoga. I messaged him before said I am going to beat you there and he replied Raj has been saying that for years 🙂 It’s going to be tough as i don’t have so many older horses to compete but we are getting there.

I like what you done working with known top lines and on the side developing bloodlines outside the norm. Curious Brian at the start of the year Brian we had changes to the race engine as you know. Did they affect you? what are your thoughts?
I had a horse called Oleg 102.3 Virgin Worker, really high hopes…. he broke his maiden in a $375 New York Bred Stakes beating a lot of good ones. Working like a monster! He had early speed and with the changes to the race engine he had to come off the pace which hurt him badly. Going to maybe run him in an allowance try get his confidence back but i do fear changes killed him. 

A horse on the flip side is Raj Action packed which I claimed from Raj. He is one who gets up on the pace and thrives on it. Interesting one he is an 8-year-old running ten times a year also very consistent with his weight. I think off the top of my head he 1245/1248 every race. Other horses i have noticed go up 20/30/ even 40 pounds in a year. He seems to be ageing like a bottle of fine wine.

I guess it swings and roundabouts as they say. What has been your highlight at HRP so far Brian?
I would say again that horse Raj action packed for me has been the best! He won back-to-back $1 K races.

Nice! I noticed looking at your stat page and studying your recent race results you seem to run horses more frequently than others. Is that a fair assumption and if so, can you explain your logic please?
Yes, that is correct. Some people say you need to give the horse this much time, this and that blah blah. If a horse is green green and plus 5 technically you can race from there. Some horses are going to be good and some really need longer layoffs. But and there is a but you don’t know until you try! This helps you map a horses’ career I think better. After the race if the horse is working fast good sign if the horse is working slower that could be an indicator it needs longer rest.

Interesting point and I am going to look at that more closely. So, what are your goals for 2021 at HRP then?
I would really like to win a breeder’s cup race. I have had a couple of even chances in the past and came second. Managed to get 15 Graded Stakes wins this year so far (correct at time of press) and that is another goal for Graded Stakes races is here the money is at right? I know Dan has a strangle hold on almost everything so it’s about trying to upset the cards when I can.

Good luck with the breeder’s cup race, hope your dreams come true. What advice would you give to new players re breeding please Brian?
When you find a good match like a sire connected with a mare follow it through. If you look at 5th Matrix her and Commanding The Storm if you look up until this last quarter an average foal before that they have all been perfect. If I was to picture a perfect build this horse can deliver it.

Recently I interviewed Jive who had seller’s remorse in relation to HOTH. Have you ever experienced similar? Any big regrets selling at HRP?
As for as sales go i don’t tend to put too much in the auction. I did put to into claimers though before and Dan claimed them both (General Obvious and Fortaleza) General Obvious one a Graded Stakes win and Fortaleza came second in a big race that hurt a little.

Ever felt like quitting or have you quit and come back at HRP?
No, this is my first horse game and my first time. I guess as being a horse trainer and breeder in real life HRP just fits in nicely. We have bad days in RL just like HRP it’s all part of the game as they say. Take the rough with the smooth!

Thoughts on sales process.
I have lost a few to double up Ii guess that’s the luck of the draw. I don’t think it’s as fair as it could be though it does help protect sellers to a degree. Like people trying to take advantage getting cheap horses of an inexperienced players, at least the horse if good enough will get doubled up. Guess it’s more a pain in the butt when you think you have a horse for a fair price and you don’t land it.

At the start of the year Orange Chicken got beat by Up In Smoke, owned by Jive. Jive has been talking about smoking the chicken again. Thoughts?
I think Orange Chicken is super-fast and probably better…. I imagine we will meet at Churchill or Saratoga that would be fun. We have been jabbing at each other and talking about when we race next. Orange Chicken? It will be red faced for Jive when I beat him by 3 lengths 🙂

Fighting talk and I love it. Game improvements welcome your input please. Anything you would do to improve?
Statistical interfaces would be key focus. It would be nice to see more stats like more detailed sire stats/ 2-year-olds / mares/turf to dirt stats with our sires. It can’t be too hard for HRP to implement and would add to the game I feel.

What advice to new players would you give?
If you are just starting out don’t breed loads of horses until you get an understanding of the bloodlines, confirmation and how to get horses into some form of racing fitness. Keep your eyes open especially on those maiden claim 2-year-old races. You can pick up some really nice horses for a reasonable price with a good pedigree. Also, the auctions: look at HOTH, it shows they are out there. Work hard on figuring the meters asap, practise shipping horses. I like to work 4 days out and generally that does me though everyone is different. Before that I like to work every 7 days to help keep them in shape. It’s a lot of fun but inch your way into it. Lot of people tried the slot machine approach here and failed. Be patient and remember what I said about trying to use quality mares.

Almost forgot to ask Brian who is your favourite horse in real life?
I own a mare called Cookie Dough who won a big Florida Stakes race and when I first started training when she was just getting broken in as a yearling, I got rid of the team that were working her and broke her in myself I sent her to a trainer and she won stakes /graded stakes and is progressing nicely. I am resting her up now and looking to point her at a track soon.

Tips are always welcome Brian 😊 and very welcome. Closing Statement to Community
I think it’s a great community and like the way people help each other. It’s a shame though some people leave so early that struggle with getting a grip on the game. Best thing to do is to ask questions in the forums, chat sites or even reaching out to any of the successful players at HRP for I think they all would help you. My barn door is open if I can ever answer any questions. Funny even though it’s for money the game had a gentlemanly sporting approach.

Cheers Brian for your time today and best of luck this season Sir! It has been great getting to know you better and I really appreciate you taking the time out to chat with the SRF.

What have I learnt this interview? Think having a sound understanding of horse breeding and racing is a clear advantage over a standard online gamer.  Future HRP star? If he carries on doing what he is doing and working as hard I think so and may just give MB a run for his money.

That’s it for today thank you for reading and keep your eyes out for the next interview coming soon.

Stay Tuned

Kevo/El Primero Rodeo

Categories: SRF Interviews