The way we choose to get entertained has changed enormously over the years, with streaming and other online options adding plenty of variety. We can find a good example of how this works by looking at how the ancient sport of horse racing has become a part of the varied modern entertainment scene.
Varied Movies and TV Shows
The speed and glamor of this sport make it ideal for watching on the screen. Look at any of the major streaming services, and you’ll see movies, TV shows, and documentaries that each give a new set of insights into this sport and the people who take part in it.
Netflix has films, including Ride Like a Girl and Concrete Cowboy, while Amazon Prime Video’s list has names such as Secretariat, based on the famous horse that many people believe was the greatest to ever run races. 2020’s Dream Horse takes a more light-hearted approach, although it’s a surprise to find that it’s based on the true story of a barmaid in Wales who leads her horse to the country’s biggest races against all the odds. The variety of movies shows how horse racing has been successfully adapted into different movie genres.
In terms of documentaries, Chasing the Win gives a riveting account of how a rookie trainer teams up with an experienced horse owner to aim for success. As with most successful sports documentaries, the action that we see is just a backdrop for letting some fascinating characters shine on our screens.
We see influences in films that aren’t directly related to horse racing as well. Netflix’s Drive to Survive gave the F1 world a huge boost by going behind the scenes of the high-octane races, with its success leading to the UK series Champions: Full Gallop, based on the country’s National Hunt. Its focus on the renowned Cheltenham Festival helped to show us why this event is regarded as one of the top events on the planet for racing enthusiasts.
TV shows have been slightly left behind in this rush to give us different types of entertainment built around horse races. 2012’s Luck starring Dustin Hoffman seemed set to be a big success until the proposed second season was cancelled. The BBC Series Trainer lasted a little longer, but adopting a soap opera style for the second season didn’t help it to get a third season commissioned. There certainly appears to be a gap in the market for a new fiction series that gives us a fresh look at the sport.
Slot Games Based on Racing
The growing importance of horse racing as entertainment can be seen in other areas too. What about, for example, racing features in themed online slots – known as pokies in some places? With Big Bass Return to the Races, developer Pragmatic Play has added the excitement of the racetrack to its popular series of slots based on fishing. The main bonus feature sees players attempt to collect cash wins by getting different horses with cash values on the screen.
Other online slots, such as Front Runner Odds On (also by Pragmatic Play) and Storm Rider (by Genesis), put horses on center stage across their reels. They all use the traditional slot machine approach of making up winning lines with matching symbols but add a new dimension by using horses and assorted images as the symbols. In the case of the Front Runner title, three horses take part in a bonus round with a win multiplier up for grabs. The fast action and random outcome mean that these games don’t just appeal to existing racing fans either, and could lead to new people gaining an interest in this area.
Games Where You’re the Owner or Jockey
The idea of owning or riding a horse is sure to cross the mind of every racing fan from time to time, but actually having one of these creatures yourself… well, it’s not feasible for most of us, especially in terms of cost! So, that leaves us with owning horses in the gaming world.
This is now easier to do in an extremely realistic way thanks to revolutions in graphics and gaming technology. We can see examples of horse ownership and horse racing creeping into games of all kinds, including those that use the blockchain in some way. Indeed, while crypto has mostly influenced the business world, it’s having a pretty major effect on the world of entertainment too.
With romantic comedies, gritty documentaries, and games featuring the latest tech, this classic sport can now be enjoyed in many different ways. As our online entertainment options continue to grow, we should see horse racing represented in new ways from now on, attracting new and existing fans to experience it in the ways that suit them.
