Guide to the best electronic horse racing games

Electronic Horse Racing

The simplicity, fun and excitement of horse racing has long been adapted to living room entertainment by toy and game manufacturers, for sale across the globe, to be enjoyed by adults and children alike. Formerly through mechanical means and later with electronics the possibility of sitting back and watching the race unfold has been a source of entertainment for decades and perhaps even centuries.

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Electric Derby, Kays Of London circa 1950s-1960s

These games are great for both family fun, often played with pretend money or tokens and also for adult party revelry with the opportunity for real wagering or even drinking games. Either the winner takes a shot or is reprieved while beaten rivals do!

Battery-operated, electric or electronic horse racing games have been around for many years. Earlier examples include Electric Derby, produced by Kays of London (pictured) and other similar games. These were typically games of pure chance, the spinning wheel determining a random winner from the circling horses. Such games were essentially electronic versions of earlier mechanical games like the French, “Jeu De Course”.

There are, of course, a great many electronic horse racing games that have been produced at one time or another, especially when you take into consideration handheld products. The ones we’re going to take a look at here though are those multi-player games which make great amusement at parties. Modern options are unfortunately quite limited and some of the most popular choices can often fetch premium prices in the secondary markets.

Without further ado, here are our choices for the top electronic horse racing tabletop games:

 

1. Peers Hardy Horse Racing Derby

Unquestionably, the one that comes top of the list is the Peers Hardy Horse Racing Derby. The Peers Hardy Group are primarily a manufacturer of gifts, including games. Unfortunately no longer in production, the Peers Hardy Horse Racing Derby was commonly sold in the UK via Next retail outlets.

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We constantly monitor secondary market places and can often assist clients in sourcing these and other horse racing games. If you would like to be informed as they become available, please either contact us or use the comments section below.

This classic game was produced in both 4 lane and the rarer 5 lane version. The horses would race around the track twice to the sounds of music and cheering. The winner would be different each time and the finishing order shown on the electronic digital display. Restart the race at the touch of a button and the horses return to the start line. Betting slips and play money were included.

Although no longer available to buy new, the Peers Hardy Horse Racing Derby game remains extremely popular. We see these sell regularly secondhand for often ridiculous prices. They are not as rare as some sellers would have you believe but they are most certainly highly sought after.

Complete and in full working order, expect to pay £100 – £150 for the 4 lane and £150 – £200 or even higher for the less common 5 lane version of the game. It is also worth pointing out that the game is a heavy item and this can add considerably to the cost of obtaining one of these, especially when shipping overseas.

2. Silverlit Horse Racing – 2,4 and 6 lanes versions

More readily available is Silverlit horse racing. A version was also branded as Next and sold through their retail outlets. Most commonly seen as a 4 lane game, it has also been available in 2 lane and even 6 lane versions. Each horse is battery operated with moving legs that enable it to run around the track. Jockeys, which have differing weights, and lanes would be drawn prior to the start of the race. Press down on the horse’s tail to start it running and then push the button to release the gate and begin the race.

The Silverlit game is also no longer in production but there are still plenty to be found in the secondhand markets. While not cheap, they do not tend to achieve quite the same sales prices as the Peers Hardy game. This is also a much lighter weight alternative and may appeal to those who are unable to collect in person.

Complete and in good condition, expect to pay around £30 for a 2 lane version, £50 for a 4 lane and around £80 for the sought after 6 lane edition.

3. Horse Race Challenge

A third option is Horse Race Challenge. The game usually came equipped with two horses (additional horses were available to buy separately) and two infra-red remote controls. These horses, larger than in the other games, are also battery operated. The big advantage that this game has is that the player is directly involved and an element of skill and judgement can affect the outcome.

Some users have reported quality concerns with this game and the track is made of card. Production appears to have now ceased on this game too and it may be that poor quality may lead to fewer examples of this game being available for sale previously owned. That said, at the time of writing, availability remained quite good. Pricing is similar to that of the Silverlit game, expect to pay in the region of £40 to £50 for one of these in near new condition. Again, it is a lighter weight option more suitable for shipping.

4. Kentucky Derby Horse Racing

American games manufacturer, Tudor Games has specialised in sporting games for more than 70 years, including electronic horse racing games. You can still find some of their early examples available for sale from time to time. However, in 2019, Tudor Games released an updated version of their tabletop horse racing game, this time with a Kentucky Derby theme.

Line up the four horses at the start line and press the remote button to start. Watch the horses as they change lanes and mount their challenge throughout the final stretch. Each horse is fitted with “invisibase” horseshoes which can be adjusted to improve performance.

The game is very new to the market and some early reviews we have seen are not particularly encouraging. However, Tudor have been making games similar to this for decades and we would be hopeful that any initial glitches are quickly ironed out.

As far as we are aware, the game is currently only available in the US and costs in the region of £40. However, it is easy to purchase and import one of these to the UK from Amazon.

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23 Comments

  1. Are any of these available for purchase? I already have Kentucky Derby but would love to get my hands on some of the others.

    1. Thanks for getting in touch. Only Kentucky Derby is currently in production but all the others have reasonable availability through secondary markets. Peers Hardy is by far the most popular and also the most expensive. If you’re keen to obtain one we strongly recommend this seller. Pricey but always fully serviced and shipped with the all-important transit plate. He currently has this one. Hope that helps.

    1. Hello Jan,

      I’m not currently aware of any Horse Race Challenge games that are currently available. They do come up reasonably regularly though so worth checking back. The only Peers Hardy we’re currently aware of is this one. This is significantly overpriced for a 4 lane (you shouldn’t be paying this much for the much rarer 5 lane version) but if you do decide you’re interested you should at least verify that it has the transit plate in place, they don’t ship well without it.

      Normally, we recommend buying from reliable seller latviangambit. He doesn’t appear to have one available just now but regularly does.

      As an alternative, you might consider this Silverlit 4 lane game.

      Hope that helps.

  2. Hi I have a wirly wheelers game ,always a random winner plenty of videos of them on you tube , I had quite a few peers hardy horse racing games they never seem to last that long .

    1. Whirly Wheelers looks fun Larry, hadn’t come across that one before. Looks like it has a different method of operation. Haven’t heard that complaint specifically with the Peers Hardy before although sometimes that one lane wins too often or another never does.

  3. Hi all my name is Salvatore Sorisi and I was made aware of this forum by someone called Holly that was looking to buy a Piers Hardy Horse Racing Game I am Latvian gambit on eBay and would like to say thank you very much to everyone for the kind comments about my reputation for selling and shipping the pairs Hardy games
    Just a bit of bio for you people I’m 67 years old and a great fan of horse racing games generally the Piers Hardy horse racing derby is by far the best but it is extremely complicated and went wrong right from the outset I got into this simply because I wanted a game myself which didn’t work then I bought another that had one horse win all the time and I bought another and that had a horse that would never win at all I was lucky enough to find 18 when a toy shop closedown and was able to cannibalise those to repair other units I have been in Touch with anybody I could think of to try to get these games remanufactured or find some spares with no luck so far as for the pricing when I first started doing these games I was able to buy the men much cheaper and therefore the prices that are now being charged reflect the price that I have to buy them in for and sometimes they are not able to be repaired I have some seven units at the moment that I am just dismantling for parts the one thing that is the death knell is the circuit boards when they decide not to work is nothing I can do !
    I have had some spares remade using a 3-D printer such as the starting gate and the finishing post and floodlights and
    Transit plates I’m not sure how long I can keep going repairing these games I have tried many different type of replacement motors but they are critical in that they have to be not only a certain size but they have to read correctly most rest too slowly and I found one motor which fitted perfectly but read so fast that the horse kept falling over because the magnets in the feet would not keep contact
    On average it takes me 10 or 12 solid hours per game to get these right just bear that in mind when some people have said that they are overpriced I might have had to break one game just to fix another
    One thing I should mention is that the horse racing challenge which is mentioned from time to time is a lovely idea but you cannot get the replacement batteries and they don’t hold their charge
    Regards to all

    1. Good to hear from you Salvatore and apologies for the late reply. We know all too well the problems that these games often have and it is for that reason that we are always happy to endorse you as a seller. We realise that it may come at a higher price but you are the only vendor that we are confident in recommending knowing the work you put into ensuring that the game is fully serviced and functioning as expected. We also get many requests from overseas and it is difficult to find anyone prepared to ship these given their size, weight and fragility. We hope that you are able to continue your work for some time to come and will continue to recommend you as long as you do. I hope that you will drop in on us again from time to time. Best wishes.

  4. Thank you very much for replying Matt I’m still hanging in here I don’t have many left that are going to go on the market due to the fact they have circuit board problems or a couple that I do have don’t actually have any of the horses so I started to offer are refurbished motor service as I did manage to get hold of 40 original motors also I’m breaking a couple of sets so if people need parts I can help them out if somebody is out there in China and can locate the original tooling I would be happy to invest some funds in resurrecting these games I have tried various contacts and sent photographs et cetera but to no avail Regards to everybody

    1. Silverlit or Peers Hardy, Ada? A button is provided for either that will enable you to check for current availability and pricing. Please note using this button will allow us to earn a small commission should you choose to make a purchase, at no cost to you.

  5. Hi, Salvatore. I have the 5 horse game and I’ve taken it apart and put it back together several times now. I can’t seem to achieve randomness among all 5 horses. There is generally one horse, sometimes two, that finish last or second to las every single time. I’ve tested the voltage and each lane gets 6 volts (in series) from the 4 D batteries. So I’m stumped as to how to get more randomness with the outcome. Does it have something to do with the motors that are in each of the cars underneath the track? Thanks for any help you can give.

  6. Peers Hardy horse racing recommend buyer
    Hi everyone I have found someone who is as mad as I am about these games and we work together now to preserve and restore these games his name is Charles Tanswell and is on eBay as tanswellcj
    He is a genuine person and I can recommend buying from him
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124647732976

  7. Hi there these are notoriously difficult to get running right there are many reasons why you have this problem usually you need to start from scratch and make sure everything inside is clean and that the units themselves don’t have slipping cogs if everything there is okay then it’s down to the motors themselves not running well and one of the things you can do if you’re brave enough is take them completely apart and swap the motors over so that the slow motor is going to the ones that are running fast to even them out but bear in mind that there are little gearboxes

  8. Hi all I have managed to get hold of a limited no of the tiny battery’s used in the horse race challenge. They take three and have been connected together to fit exactly where the existing ones are in the neck of the horses it is not possible in my experience to find any secondhand horses that will hold the charge though I have got a couple of spare ones on eBay at the moment and a brand-new set which has had new batteries put in if somebody wants it I think it’s a bargain as a cost me £45 just for the batteries for the three horses looking for £95 or near offer regards

  9. Hello! I recently purchased a used Silverlit from eBay. It sounds like it is in good working order although am told the horses need new batteries. There are four horses. Can you tell me the best option for sourcing these batteries in the US along with how much I should expect to pay for the four? Also, the horses appear to be very small. Will I be able to install these batteries myself? Thanks in advance!

    1. Hi Greg,

      Apologies for the late reply. As best I recall, the batteries used sometimes varied from batch to batch. However, often they were 1.2v rechargeable 1/4AAA. While they may be unfamiliar, they are not usually expensive and I don’t think you would experience difficulty sourcing them in the US. As there was some variation, and if they are unmarked, they should measure 11mm with a 10mm diameter. Installation requires soldering I believe. Would be interested to hear how you get on.

  10. I am interested in buying the Peers Hardy Horse Racing Derby. Let me know if there is any available. Thank you.

  11. Hi there,
    I remember Whirly Wheelers at a friend’s house when I was young, it amazed me. I have wondered to this day how it worked and was googling to see if anyone had a description, video or diagrams.
    I see some folk on here have taken similar games to bits and just wondered if they any information on how it worked.
    Still curious
    Thanks
    Chris

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