A new gateway to the sport is transforming virtual trots owners into real-life supporters of harness racing, RSN radio program One Out One Back heard today.
Software developer and trots fan Ryan Clements, founder of The Farm Ventures which created the game Off and Pacing, told hosts John Thwaites and Cody Winnell the game was “introducing people to the sport from a new perspective”.
“A lot of people get brought out to the track, they’re first introduced from a betting side of things, we want to introduce a whole other side of the sport, which is the ownership of racehorses,” Clements said.
“We wanted to show people what it’s like to own a horse – the anticipation of your race, the excitement as it comes up, the frustration when they lose or get a bad drive.
“And we are finding that people introduced to the sport through the game end up involved in real life either by buying horses or by going out to the track.”
Clements said Australia accounted for about 20 per cent of the game’s users, who compete across four jurisdictions – the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
“Australia is probably the most difficult (region) to race in, all the top players are there,” Clements said.
Listen to the full interview below:
