Derby Dollars
This video slot from Realtime Gaming is one of the earliest with this theme, but is still very popular. The main reason is that it has volatility on the higher side, which goes well with the theme. The symbols awarding line payouts are elegantly dressed lady, jockey, binoculars and trophy. The horse is the wild symbol and awards the top line payout of 3,333 coins. Two or more coins award 5, 10, 15 or 25 free spins depending on the number of symbols in the trigger. All payouts in the free spins are tripled. Additional wild and scatter symbols are added to the reels to make the feature more attractive. The free spins can be retriggered. The video slot includes a randomly triggered progressive jackpot.
A Day at the Derby
Rival Gaming takes US players to A Day at the Derby. The background artwork and win animations create great visual appeal. The usual horse racing themed symbols appear on the reels. Two of the symbols link the slot game to the Kentucky Derby. Roses are awarded to the winner and the mint julep is the traditional drink. The brown horse is the wild symbol and multiplies payouts by the number of wilds. It appears only on reels 1, 2 and 3. The blue jockey triggers 5, 10 or 20 free spins when there are three, four or five symbols anywhere on the reels. The bonus game on the second screen simulates a horse race. You win bonus credits depending on the position of your chosen horse.
50 Horses
The '50' in this video slot game from EGT refers to 50 paylines. The structure is 5 reels and 4 rows. The symbols on the reels include the male and female jockeys and four stately horses in their corrals. You can see them prancing about in the win animations. They are followed by the playing card icons. The lucky horseshoe with four leaf clover is a stacked wild symbol. It also awards the highest line payouts. The race course is the scatter symbol. When three of these appear anywhere on reels 2, 3 and 4 the race is on. You are awarded 5 free spins that are played on a different set of reels. The feature can be retriggered. You can activate the standard gamble game after any win if you want to try and double your payout. But you risk losing it all. The slot game has a four-tier progressive jackpot as well.
The Grand National Race of Champions
The Grand National is an English horse race, but well followed across the world. The video slot from Inspired has the 5x4 reels that are set in the background of steeplechase action. The game logo awards the highest line payouts. These are followed by five jockeys astride their steeds. The horses have been named to add a touch of realism. You can see them racing to the finish line in the win animations. The stacked Question Mark is a mystery symbol. All mystery symbols on the reels change to the same regular symbol. The Wild logo is the wild symbol. The horseshoe bonus symbol triggers the free spins. Three symbols award 8 free spins, four symbols award 16 free spins and five symbols award 30 free spins. All wild symbols step down one row after each free spin. Five Extra Spin symbols in a row award 8 more free spins.
Lucky Day at the Races
This title from Pragmatic Play will prove to be your lucky day at slots. The comically crafted symbols and cartoon like win animations will bring a smile to your lips. The wild symbol is the trophy and it also awards the highest line payouts. The other high paying symbols are three jockeys and two horses. The low paying symbols are brightly coloured playing card icons. The pretty race goer with the binoculars is the scatter symbol. Three or more of the symbol anywhere on the reels triggers the free spins feature. Three symbols award 7 free spins, four symbols award 15 free spins and five symbols award 30 free spins. The jockey astride the horse is a bonus symbol. Three of them appearing from left to right on an active payline trigger the Play the Ponies arcade game. Choose the winner and earn bonus points.
Lucky Horse
This game from High 5 takes players to the Belmont Stakes. You can see the winning horse with a blanket of white carnations awarded at that race. The slot game has a unique structure of six reels and four rows in which you can activate up to 466 paylines. Any combination of Lucky Horse and Jackpot symbols awards the highest line payouts. The Jackpot symbol lands on reel 1 only and the Lucky Horse symbol can land on any other reel. The other thematic symbols are winning horse, male and female race goers and jockey. These are followed by the playing card icons. The Lucky Horse logo is the wild symbol. The trophy is the scatter symbol that appears on reels 3, 4 and 5 only. If it lands anywhere on all these three reels in the same spin you win from 5 to 7 free spins. During the feature all trophy symbols are replaced by Wild logo symbol, which functions as another wild. It expands towards the left covering all reels up to and including reel 2. The free spins feature cannot be retriggered.
Conclusion
In a horse race there is only one winner. But all six video slots in this list are winners in their own right. Each slot game is from a different games supplier and brings unique features to the table.