They say you need everything to go right to win a Melbourne Cup, and the same applies to the horse racing fantasy game Star Stable, which kicks off this Saturday.

The Melbourne Cup-Star Stable comparison is right apart from one thing; the Melbourne Cup goes for three minutes and is contested by 24 horses.

Star Stable goes for seven weeks and often has a field of more than 30,000 people lined up. And that makes it incredibly hard to win.

Star Stable is free, goes for seven short weeks, and requires an equal dose of luck, skill, and understanding how the competition works. The tactical element in Star Stable is most important to know.

You score points according the prize-money your selected stable of horses earn, but with most of the rich races situated at the end of the competition, the key to Star Stable is having your stable peak on the big day. Really, it’s what Bart Cummings has been trying to do with his stable for nearly 60 years.

And there is also a massive tipping element involved. You start with a mandatory team of ten horses with a hard limit of a $1m salary cap. The best horses – such as Zoustar, cost $225,000 in the game. That means you are forced to mix multiple Group 1 winners with battler horses that you hope can jag a big race.

Each week you can trade two different horses into your team. And on two different occasions, you can bring in a third horse in by using a wildcard. This means you need to plan who you will bring in, and react to unexpected results.

You also choose a jockey and trainer to represent you – and take a cut of their real-life winnings as points in the game.

This year, players can nominate a ‘Stable Champion’ that will score double points on both Championship race-days at Randwick. So Star Stable, whilst very strategic, is almost like a complicated tipping competition.

Finding Shamus Award at 20/1 in last year’s Cox Plate catapulted me into contention in the spring Star Stable competition of 2013.

But missing 40/1 shot Viewed in the 2008 Melbourne Cup, was difference between winning Star Stable (and a trip to the Dubai World Cup, as the prize was then) and being incredibly sad after that Melbourne Cup.

Like most fantasy games, Star Stable is a lot more fun if your team is good. And I’ve been lucky enough (you do need plenty of luck) and clever enough too, to have had plenty of top 1000 finishes in my eight or nine-year Star Stable career.

So here are some tips I’m happy to pass on in an attempt to deliver Roarers some Star Stable success.

How to win Star Stable: Only focus on the rich races
Every race counts but only focus on races that give a minimum of $600,000 to the winner. Every $600,000 race is important and you should look to have at least one representative in each of these races. $600,000 ($1m in prize overall) is a number I’ve used in Star Stable over the years and it seems to work.

Anything less than $600,000 and the race is not too important to me. If the race is worth $600,000 to the winner then I’m interested in having some runners in the race. If the race is worth more than $1,000,000 to the winner, then it becomes a race I want to attack with several stable representatives.

In the 2014 autumn Star Stable, the $600,000 races are the Newmarket Handicap (600k), Australian Cup (600k), George Ryder (600k), Golden Slipper (2000k), BMW (900k), Doncaster Mile (1800k), TJ Smith (1500k), Australian Derby (1200k), Sires Produce (600k), Queen Elizabeth (2400k), Sydney Cup (600k), Australian Oaks (600k) and Queen of the Turf (600k).

Except for the Newmarket and Australian Cup, which are on Saturday, and the Ryder in a few weeks, each of these races are in a three week period in the second-half of the competition.

In the case of the Sydney Cup and Australian Oaks, most of the lead-ups to these April 19 races will not be a massive focus in Star Stable, so it might be an idea to start your stable of ten with a couple of cheap horses (which you’ll need to stay under the cap anyway) that are being aimed at an Oaks or Sydney Cup.

What makes this Star Stable edition difficult is the cheap horses (25k or 50k) are woeful compared to what we have come to expect over the years. Essentially, if a horse has shown Group potential it is an expensive commodity.

Who are some of the better bargain basement buys?
At $25,000 I’ve slotted three-year-old filly Holy Cow into my stable. She’s running at Flemington in the Kewney (200k) on Saturday.

Because the Kewney is a Group 2 race, if Holy Cow runs a place, she will increase in value and can be traded up, at a later date, to a more important Carnival player.

Otherwise, she still may be involved in relatively rich races through the autumn and could prove to be a handy team member.

There’s two very cheap Sydney Cup types I’ve identified as well – Pentometer and Celtic Prince – and they are both $25,000.

I don’t think either Pentometer or Celtic Prince can win the Sydney Cup but a Group placing from either would see a small increase in value. I think Pentometer is the slightly superior animal, he’s also running at Warwick Farm on Saturday, so he’s in my stable. But Celtic Prince did run second in the Auckland Cup at Ellerslie over 3200m on Wednesday, so he could have plenty of owners.

At $50,000 there is a horse that most stables will have – and that is the fifth placegetter in Saturday’s Australian Guineas, Teronado. He’s been flying home in good races this autumn and can be a big player in three-year-old Group 1s over the next month.

The Derby (1200k) is one of the most important races in the game and that means Teronado, a Derby chance, has to be a lock at $50,000.

It’s A Dundeel versus Fiorente – which one do I take?
It’s A Dundeel and Fiorente are the two most expensive horses in the game. They are both priced at the maximum $250,000. That means that their value cannot increase regardless of how they perform in the autumn.

With a lack of value in this Star Stable competition, no team is going to be a force in Star Stable with both It’s A Dundeel and Fiorente in their stable.

You have to pick one. I’ve got Fiorente running in a maximum of three $600k+ races – Australian Cup (600k), BMW (900k) and Queen Elizabeth (2400k). Fiorente may not run in the BMW. Gai Waterhouse may decide that after the Ranvet (300k), he will go straight into the Queen Elizabeth without another run.

It’s A Dundeel is looking at two $600k+ races – BMW (900k) and Queen Elizabeth (2400k). Like Fiorente, It’s A Dundeel should line-up in the Ranvet in a fortnight but I understand that he will be running in the BMW.

If I had to pick one – I’d go with Fiorente. The fact that he will start favourite in Saturday’s 600k Australian Cup is what leans me the Melbourne Cup winner’s way. He could get your stable off to a flyer.

I’m actually leaving both Fiorente and It’s A Dundeel out of my stable – for now. Structurally, I can’t fit enough horses into my team with either Fiorente and It’s A Dundeel in my starting stable.

Also, Fiorente and It’s A Dundeel are not bombproof. Fiorente is at his best at 2400m plus and that means the BMW could be his only suitable race.

It’s A Dundeel is at his best at 1800m (the distance he beat Atlantic Jewel over in the spring) and he will be in my Queen Elizabeth stable. I’m happy to trade him in later on. I think there could be cheaper and safer long-range BMW picks.

Don’t be afraid to leave either out if you’re not sold like me. Because they can’t increase in price, you’re not going to lose a lot by not having either It’s A Dundeel and Fiorente in your stable even if they both win on Saturday.

Structurally, your stable will look a lot better too.

Remember my 2008 Star Stable experience above when I almost won the comp? Well, a key move I made that year was leaving out Weekend Hussler (250k) from my stable.

Everyone else had the Hussler and when he couldn’t stay (a problem I envisaged before the competition started) they all used a trade by moving him out. On top of having an extra trade up my sleeve, my stable was structured perfectly without him in my team and it led to a really exciting Spring Carnival.

Is Zoustar a lock for Star Stable?
At $225,000, and with only two autumn appearances expected (one month apart), I wouldn’t be starting Star Stable with Zoustar in your team – and this is coming from a ticketed member of the Zoustar fan club.

Zoustar will be traded into my team – probably for my Newmarket horse (if they run well enough to increase in value) – next week.

And then, after Zoustar has his run next week, I’ll be trading him out. He’ll be worth $250,000 and you can’t hold that much money in the stable for a month.

For the record, I’m also working around Guelph and Boban. Both have yet to find form this autumn and are too risky at $200,000 and $225,000 respectively.

Who are some middle-priced locks for my Star Stable?
At $100,000 I can’t go past Thunder Fantasy and El Roca. Here we could have the Derby (1200k) and Doncaster (1800k) winners.

El Roca has an air of Lonhro about him (big call that probably should be left to a separate article on the website) and can win the Doncaster, while Thunder Fantasy will be running in Saturday’s Australian Cup (600k) and looks the horse to beat in the Derby.

Thunder Fantasy ran a massive race in the Australian Guineas and looked a bit fat before the race!

I’ve also got Not Listenin’tome in my stable. At $100,000, he looks the main danger to Zoustar in the TJ Smith (1500k) and the Canterbury (300k). And with a few Group 1 placings soon to be under his belt, Not Listenin’tome could be worth a lot more than $100,000 very quickly.

What races should I be targeting already?
It’s important to have a two-year-old in your team. The Golden Slipper (2000k) and BMW (900k), for that matter, come up fast. If you can fit Earthquake (125k) in, I’d do so. But, she won’t be running for a fortnight and can be traded in later. At $125,000 you don’t want to be carrying her for too long.

I wouldn’t put Mossfun in your stable until Golden Slipper Day. She’s one of the horses to beat and is super cheap at $75,000 but may not be running again until the Slipper (she could possibly meet Earthquake in a fortnight and that will be a hard race for her) and you cannot afford to be carrying a horse for that long.

If she did meet Earthquake in a fortnight, at $75,000, you could strongly consider a trade for Mossfun then.

I’ve got Brazen Beau ($75,000) in my team right now. He was super impressive on debut at Canterbury (I was at the races that day) and he looks like measuring up. Better still, he’s running at Warwick Farm on Saturday and can get the stable off to a decent start. Brazen Beau meets Wandjina ($100,000) and Memorial ($125,000) and they could be worth some consideration as well.

I’m also starting with a BMW horse.

Most people would have It’s A Dundeel or Fiorente, in which case you’re probably set, but I’ll probably get at least one of them later.

I’m going with Sertorius at $125,000. He was massive first-up behind Moment of Change in the Futurity and is being aimed at the BMW.

And he’s running on Saturday in the Blamey ($200k), which he can win and earn a $50,000 increase for doing so.

A few final rules
For this Autumn, don’t pick too many Melbourne-based horses unless they are confirmed for Sydney.

Only one Melbourne meeting counts for Star Stable and its Saturday’s Super Saturday meeting at Flemington. Mid-week races also don’t count.

That can be a huge trap for first timers, especially in the spring when the Thousand Guineas was run on a Wednesday and the Spring Champion, both Group 1s, were not in the game.

(Therefore, with this rule in mind, my cheap selection Holy Cow at $25,000, is a slight risk. If she fails on Saturday she might not be coming to Sydney and I’ll have to carry her through the competition.)

Don’t have more than one horse in your stable that you think is not a Group 1 horse or at least has Group 1 potential. This game is called Star Stable for a reason. You need power!

Make sure you have a few horses running on Saturday. You cannot do well in Star Stable, or at least your best, without a decent start.

Have Newmarket and Australian Cup representatives as a minimum. If you’re not sure about which cheap horse to put into your team, go for the one that is running on Saturday.

Oh, and finally, join The Roar’s league, Roar Racing Stakes with the league code 208902.

Good luck!