Horse racing on deck

It is well documented that sailors of the Royal Navy often found themselves pastimes to avoid boredom while at sea for months on end. Games such as ludo and tombola were very much in vogue.

Just by chance, I discovered another very popular game that dates back to the 1940s: horse racing. One might wonder how one could have had horse racing on the deck of a ship.

Well, it would seem an enterprising carpenter, believed to hail from the Three Cities area, came up with a horse racing game. This consisted of wooden horses with jockeys, very colourfully painted, stuck on sticks which, in turn, were attached to a circular base, six fences and starting and finishing posts ... and two large dice.

This was a simple but very entertaining game for six players who each selected a horse then rolled the dice and raced over an agreed distance. A six would get you over the finishing line.

This could also be seen as legalised gambling. In fact, many a sailor lost his week’s wages, I am told.

Bearing in mind the close links between the Royal Navy and the Three Cities, it is no surprise that the game was introduced to the navy. It would also have been used on dry land during events of that era. I am proud to say that recently I acquired one of these games. I would be very interested to hear from anyone who experienced such a game first hand.