Mobile Horse Racing Fun? Yah, There's an App for That!

Screen shot of an iDerby Quick Race board.

I have been asking for months, "Why doesn't someone come up with an easy iPhone app (application) about horseracing?" It seems like there's an app for everything these days, so why not something that can help market our great sport to a new, young audience who may know nothing about it? Everyone in Thoroughbred racing seems to agree that one of our problems is our failure to attract a new fan base of young people to a sport that often seems complicated and intimidating for a novice. With millions of people now playing all sorts of games on their iPods, phones, and computers, there is great opportunity to reach out and introduce them to horseracing. I think iDerby may be just the ticket!

As soon as I heard about iDerby I downloaded it. I don't have an iPhone, but it works just great on my iPod Touch. I love the simplicity and ease of setup, and the graphics are pretty awesome. I set up my own three-horse stable, chose the color of each horse, named each one, chose my silks, and I was ready to compete in the progressive series of "cups" with each of my runners. Of course, my top runner is named Country Tough, after my favorite "real" horse! He's already won four of the five "fruit cup" races and has moved up to the flower circuit.

The game's race mode is quite challenging and fun. There is actually some strategy involved during the races, with touchscreen buttons to "hold" or "whip" your horse and an option to move towards the rail or outside of the track by tilting the screen. Here's a video to give you a quick look at a race:



So let's spread the word about this cool new app and look forward to similar innovations that will help move our great sport of horseracing forward in the technological age!