Breeders' Cup Horse Racing

There are two worlds of horse racing, it seems. Over here in the UK, we've grown up with the idea that betting on horses involves hanging around in a seedy, smoke-filled hole-in-a-brick-wall room with its windows boarded up and glue sniffing yobs hanging around outside waiting to nobble anybody who leaves the joint with a fiver in their pocket.

But the professional betting community is more at home at the race track, watching the paddocks, and (thankfully) it's this world of horse racing that Breeders' Cup focuses on.

Your task is to progress from one of these worlds to the other, beginning with $500 in your pocket and not much of a clue about horses. Travelling around North America, following the professional racing route, you'll soon learn about what it takes to make a living at the track.

Of course, even this far more glamorous side of horse racing still focuses entirely on placing winning bets. The game is full of information, though it takes a keen and experienced eye to turn that information into money. Naturally you can watch the tote board for your favourite horse and jockey, but you also need to talk with the owners, trainers and your fellow gamblers to gather up the hot tips and make an informed decision.

At the end of the season, you're expected to have grown your $500 into $10 million, which is no small task. The excellent graphical interface, which is built right into the racetrack scenery, allows you to visit the paddocks, watch the races, check your betting slips, place different kinds of bets and chat with those in the know, and after a few carefully placed wagers you’ll see that it is indeed possible to bring in those big bucks (and just as easy to lose them).

Therefore, Breeders' Cup Horse Racing is actually something of an in-depth strategy game in disguise, rather than a horse racing simulator, statistics game or RPG. There's always an element of chance waiting at the gates to rob your pockets, but a well played game is always one in which you make the best use of the information and tools available to you - not at all unlike any battlefield or war-based title.

Being a bit jargon packed, Breeders' Cup Horse Racing does still require players to have a keen interest in the betting world, and would probably struggle to satisfy any strategists tempted to substitute conquering of moneymaking. But as far as this niche genre goes, Breeders' Cup Horse Racing definitely comes in first.