<Watson reading newspaper to Sherlock Holmes>
Watson: Lady Radford reports… Oh, her emerald bracelet has disappeared!
Holmes: Insurance swindle. Lord Radford likes fast woman and slow ponies.

Sherlock Holmes (2009 movie -with Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law)

I love old games – be they video games or physical games. The inventiveness of those early days was astounding.

One of the fun little rabbit holes I got into was the strange world of physical horse racing gambling games. No, these are not the big race tracks with real thoroughbreds, mint julips, and women wearing outrageous summer hats. These races happen happen on a large tabletop with horses that are less than 6 inches tall.

My first introduction to this kind of game was at Anata no Warehouse in Kawasaki Japan. On one of the upper floors, I saw this magnificent machine: GI-Horsepark Judgement by Konami. It featured miniature horse figures that physically raced around the track.

The GI series of numerous game models (GI-Horsepack Judgement, GI-World Classic, GI-Victory Road, GI-GranDesire) consisted of grand seasons with lots of races – and appears to have run from 1995 until 2011. Many of the machines lost the physical miniature horses and went to digital video races.

Modern versions of these racing games still exist today in Las Vegas – such as Konami’s Fortune Cup:

Here it is in action:

But before that, these electro-mechanical wonders existed as far back as 1985. Sigma Derby was created by a Japanese company Sigma Entertainment. Currently, there is only one remaining functional machine in the D Casino in Las Vegas – but what a treat that it’s been kept working.