Roll up, roll up - fun and games to be had at the National Horseracing Museum
There is even more fun and games than usual to be had at the National Horseracing Museum at the moment as the latest exhibition at Palace House comprises more than 50 racing-related board and mechanical games.
Many racing households will recognise the names Totopoly or Escalado, and may even have an edition collecting dust in the loft – but how about Jeu De Course, Lose Your Shirt or even Neck And Neck?
The collection, which is owned by Exning-based Lexa Dudley, runs until January, so there is plenty of time to sit down for a game of something like Giddy Up from the 1950s, one of many that visitors can actually play.
The exhibition was designed by the museum's collections manager Tabitha Watson, who says: “The idea of a horseracing games exhibition has been floating around for a while and the opportunity came up, so we’ve gone for it. I won’t say it’s never been done but I’ve never seen an exhibition before on horseracing board games. The collection is one of the largest globally.”
The most valuable exhibits are in glass cases, such as the roulette-based Jeu De Course, which is among the oldest exhibits, dating to 1892, as is a spinning game called Gee Whizz.
Watson says: “The oldest games are a number of Victorian ones, most of which are mechanical, from the 1890s. Many of them are associated with gambling, including Gee Whizz, in which you take the horses out of the box on their strings and wind them up and the one that gets to the box first is the winner.
“There is also a wind-up game called the Grand Prix Merry Go Round in which the horses spiral down and the horse that gets to the red flag first is the winner.”
The exhibition also embraces modern games, though, including the museum's own interactive game about the Grand National in which visitors can dress up in jockeys' silks. There is also a dice-based game, Long Shot, released just two years ago.
Watson adds: “The quantity of horseracing games here shows an important link between the sport and society over the years. Games usually pick up on cultural themes of the time.”
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