Hi folks, I was wondering what minimum rating would have a reasonable chance of reaching level 9 by age 19, for both AD and SD training. For example, if you trained a Sub horse in SD, would it make level 9 by then? What if you trained an AAA in AD?

*I would be using studs and mares, not geldings, but if people only know the answer for geldings I'd be happy to hear it.

The reason I'm asking is that I want to start chasing the HOTY LBs with my bravery herd as I slowly increase their SD/AD ratings, and Feds and World Games give extra points towards the showing and overall HOTY. I figured I'd start training and showing once my horses are strong enough to hit level 9 before they start passing away, but I don't know how strong that is.

A couple years ago I started a project with 3 AD geldings of each rating:

sub/sub/sub, AAA, SSS and PPP ( there was no E or WC rating in the game )

They trained up quite differently, but at the end their lifetime earnings did not differ a lot. Each of them earned between 120 - 180k just from their weekly shows when they were ready to show.

I do not remember, if and when they hit level 8 or if they ever qualified for HWG ... but I know for sure that a lot of my S rated horses are able to train up and hit level 8 within 14-16 gameyears.

So to be on the safe side, I would recommend S rated mares and studs for the project and no sub or A rated ones ;)