Arlington Horse Racing

Arlington Horse Racing is a 1990 arcade machine developed by Incredible Technologies and published by Strata. The two companies collaborated on several cabinets around the turn of the 1990s, and Incredible Technologies later became far better known for the golf series that stayed in American bars for decades.

The subject is in the name. Coin-op horse racing games generally combined a wagering element with watching the race itself: the player picked runners or a finishing order first, then followed a race in which their influence was limited. That structure suited bars and amusement arcades, because a round is short and anyone can understand it on their first attempt.

By 1990 the American arcade business was actively looking for ways to reach adult customers who were not there for conventional action games. Sports and betting machines fitted those venues better than demanding shooters did.

Our record lists a side view and single-player play. It gives no field size, no track details and no wagering rules, so this text names none of them.

Incredible Technologies built its machines around a control the customer would remember, most famously the trackball of its golf cabinets. A racing machine works differently, trading skill input for a quick wager and a short spectacle, but it aims at the same customer with a few minutes and loose change.

This cabinet is one you can run in your browser from OldGame.cz, which also stores its release year, developer, publisher and screenshots.