Virtual horse racing

One reason for the appeal of virtual horse racing for many people not normally interested in horse racing is the absence of cruelty to animals. Animal rights protesters have fought long and hard in some quarters to get horse racing banned as in their view it represents blatant exploitation of animals solely for the gain and entertainment of humans.

They point to the use of whips and other implements to train horses and speed them on in races and to the harsh outcomes for horses no longer needed or wanted by unprincipled stables. And, they complain about the number of horses shot and killed due to terrible injuries sustained after sometimes only several hundred yards into a racing career.

It is true that course safety, especially concerning the steeplechase tracks, have improved in their design to place the horse’s well being in consideration over pure spectacle. It is also true that equine medicine has advanced dramatically over the last two decades resulting in certain injuries and conditions no longer representing the risk they once did.

But, for those for whom no measure is good enough except the abolition of racing, the arrival of virtual racing brings a certain relief. Whether online or through a games console, virtual horse racing can provide some of the highs and lows experienced at a real race meeting without any of the trauma or fatalities inflicted upon the horses.

It is true that a digital horse may fall on its faithfully rendered hind legs whilst attempting a jump over a replication of a high fence, but even if it is erased from digital memory, the pain is only minimal and lives only in the imagination of the viewer.

So, now instead of watching highly trained and selectively bred beasts run like mad things around a track, we can place our bets on the work of highly trained computer programmers and graphic artists sitting at their computers much in the same way as their customers sit and get their racing fix.

It must work, for sites by the bucket load offer the chance to sit and watch race after race of 3D horses animating their way through the world’s famous courses. You can even bet on virtual horses that have been trained by human trainers and owned by human owners who want a taste of what it would be like to run their own stable.

But whether it is real or animated horses, the real thrill is still there – the thrill of playing the odds, pitting your wits against the other players, breeding, training and racing your own thoroughbreds and possibly turning your humble wager into something more substantial. Waiting on the outcome of a virtual race provides the same buzz. You get the same relief when your horse comes in and the same empty feeling when you see it pull up on the flat while some other nag belts past. At least with

virtual horse racing on your own PC, there is no queue for the bathroom!