How to Play the Horse Race Board Game: Cozy Northwoods Game Nights

If you’re looking for cozy activities for your Northwoods home or cabin, you can’t go wrong with the Horse Racing Board Game. This is one of our absolute favorite games to play at the lake.

Actually – not only the lake! We’ve been known to travel with it.

The Horse Racing Board Game is great to play when waiting for food to grill, relaxing after a long day, or when you’re just hanging out and wanting something fun to do.

And if you’re having a Kentucky Derby party – the game is an absolute must-have!

This horse racing game is really easy to learn, and it’s fun for all ages.

This horse racing game is really easy to learn, and it’s fun for all ages.

The game moves fast and it’s strictly chance. So if you’re looking for something strategic and in-depth? Nope. This isn’t that game.

The Horse Racing Board Game is light-hearted, fast, easy and fun.

Horse Racing Board Game Rules

So how does a person play this fun game? There are a few variations, but we’ll share how we play – which is also the most popular version.

Object of the Horse Racing Game

The object of each player is to have their horse reach the finish line first. Winning players of each round divide the “pot” (real money or chips) collected during that round.

How Many Players Can Play the Horse Racing Board Game?

Any number of people can play, but we’ve found four players to be ideal: Four people can play with one deck, have many winning cards, and fit comfortably around the board.

Two CAN play, but you’ll be bored out of your minds. Three is fun to pass the time. More than four is a party!

What You’ll Need to Play

• Game board – The “Track”
• Game pieces – The “Horses”
• Deck of cards – The “Bets”
• Two dice – The “Race”
• Small bowl – The “Pot”
• $3.00 in change per player ($1 each in quarters/dimes/nickels) OR poker chips

Ghronior Finish Line Horse Racing Board Game

(click image to see on Amazon)

How to Play the Horse Racing Game

1. Remove Aces, Kings and Jokers from the deck. The remaining cards (2 through 12) are a player’s “bets” on the horse of that same number. Jacks and Queens equal 11 and 12.

2. Line up every horse on the starting gate.

3. Shake both dice to determine four “scratch” horses. (These horses are scratched and won’t race.) 
   • To the bottom row (worth 20 cents), move the horse that matches the total on the dice. (For example, if the dice total 8, move the #8 horse to the bottom, – or 20-cent – scratch position.)
   • Roll and do the same for the next row from the bottom (the 15-cent scratch position), then 10-cent, then 5-cent scratch.

4. Shuffle the deck and then deal the cards, one to each player, till all are dealt evenly. Put any remainders in the discard pile till the next round.

5. All players review their hands.

6. For any card that matches a scratch horse, pay the corresponding amount to the pot. For example: If a player’s hand contains a 6 card, and the #6 horse is on the 15-cent pay square, the player puts 15 cents into the pot for that card.

7. Do this for all cards in the hand until all scratch cards are paid.

8. Put the scratch cards in the discard pile.

9. All remaining cards should match the running horses.

10. Each card is a player’s “bet” on that horse and a share of the pot if it wins. For example: If the #10 horse wins the race, anyone holding a 10 card will split the pot with any other player holding a 10 card.

11. Player to the left of the dealer rolls the dice first. If the dice equal a scratch horse, pay the corresponding amount to the pot. If the dice equal a running horse, move that horse one space forward.

12. The play continues to the next player, clockwise around the board, one roll per player, until a running horse reaches the finish line (the last open space on its run.)

13. The pot is split between any players with a bet (a card) that matches the winning horse. Players with more than one matching card (example two 8’s for the #8 winning horse) collect a winning share for each card.

14. Players are “out” when they don’t have enough money left to complete the round.

15. After a round is finished, a new round begins at Step 2 above.

16. The game ends when either: 1) one player has with all the money; or 2) players decide to stop playing. In that instance, the player with the most money is the winner.

Horse Racing Board Game Rules – Printable

Did you come here for free printable rules for the horse racing board game? We gotcha covered! Just CLICK HERE.

What is the Best Horse Racing Board Game?

We’ve looked around, and there are many variations on the Horse Racing Game. Our favorite is the version shown in this post.

Across the Board Horse Racing Board Game

The horse racing game by Across the Board seems to be the most popular, with almost 3,000 great reviews on Amazon.

The maple board is beautiful, and for a few dollars more it’s available in walnut, too. (Hey! It would make a FANTASTIC wedding, house-warming or hostess gift!)

Also, the racing holes are inserted with metal grommets, which protects the board and gives a nice, finished look.

FINENI Horse Racing Board Game

But the Horse Racing Board Game by FINENI is a hot contender! It doesn’t have the same number of reviews yet, but they’re good ones.

Both games are about the same price (at least, as of this writing) and the same size. And the FINENI game is also beautiful.

But instead of maple construction, the FINENI game is solid birch. AND… The FINENI game has metal horses. Now, that’s pretty cool!

If your horses run off, FINENI also sells metal replacement horses. They may or may not fit the Across the Board game (if metal horses are important to you). I suppose you could buy one horse and try it.

Horse Racing Board Game DIY

Our introduction to this game was a homemade version at our friends’ house. Melanie’s dad had spent a little time in his wood shop and come up with a pretty snazzy playing board.

Instead of the grommets in the above games, it had grooves for the horses to run in.

And the finish line was angled so the center horses ran longer and the side horses ran less.

We liked the game so much, we wanted to play it at our own house.

So when Tim and Melanie came to visit, we trotted out to Randy’s shop and made one of our own.

(Our game is shown just above or to the left, however your screen adjusts the image.)

Instead of horses, we used small wooden dowels, each painted a different color, with numbered tops. We included corner pads, too – one for dice and one for the pot.

It wasn’t as nice as Tim and Mel’s, but for a quick prototype it wasn’t too bad! And we had a fun time working in the shop together.

And then we shared the game with our friends Ray and Della. Ray was way ahead of us; he’d already made a beautiful, lacquered Horse Racing Board Game of his own – complete with storage drawer for the dice, cards and game pieces!

Ray’s DIY horse racing board game put ours to shame. But it hasn’t stopped us from enjoying our little homespun version. Here’s what Ray’s version looks like.

What’s especially great about Ray’s board is the storage. That way, everything stays together. So when it’s time to play the game or grab it for a road trip, all the pieces are ready to go.

A Must-Have Game for Your Northwoods Lifestyle

Games that involve racing horses are always popular, and the Horse Racing Board Game is no exception.

The game is so fun, it’s downright addicting – trust me!

It’s simple to play, and it’s a lot of fun for people of all ages.

You can buy your own game today, or you can make your own version with a few simple supplies. Get ready for some horse racing fun!