The idea of a day out at the racetrack remains hugely appealing, but what about those moments when you want to feel the horse racing atmosphere without leaving home? A range of online slot games based on the sport attempt to capture that special feeling, but which manages to do it best?

Frankie Dettori: Sporting Legends

Legendary jockey Frankie Dettori has lent his name to a series of online games. The list of online bingo slots on this site includes Frankie Dettori: Sporting Legends, as well as games like blackjack and roulette with his name. This slot by Playtech transports us to a racetrack, with five reels sitting in front of it. The symbols include trophies, winner’s rosettes and the jockey himself.

The basic gameplay is fairly simple, as wins are made when matching symbols land on one of the 25 paylines. However, the Galloping Wild Respins bonus cranks up the excitement as a horse races across the reels one at a time, acting as a wild symbol that completes wins where possible.  As for Dettori, the iconic jockey’s long career is finally coming to an end this year, and he plans to move into a global ambassador role, while there are some suggestions that he may become a reality TV fixture in the near future.

Big Bass Day At The Races

This game is part of the successful Big Bass series of slots by Pragmatic Play. While most of the games in the series are based on fishing trips, this title sees the fisherman from Big Bass donning his finest clothes and having a well-deserved break from the river to catch some races.

The symbols are drawn in a fun style rather than being realistic. Several horses and their jockeys have cash values shown on them. They are money symbols that can be collected randomly at the end of base game spins or during free spins, when the man symbol scoops them up if he lands at the same time.

Rainbow Riches Race Day

This is another popular series of slots that has branched into horse racing for one game. Rainbow Riches is an Irish-themed game by SG Digital, but the Race Day title takes place in a racetrack. The Irish element from the other games in the series continues thanks to symbols like harps and lucky horseshoes. With a long history of horse racing in Ireland, this link makes a lot of sense.

What makes this slot stand out is the way that five horses are shown above the reels, each with a different colour. These horses move forward a space every time a horse of that colour lands on the reels. When one of the horses reaches the finish post, you’re taken into the Grand Derby free spins bonus feature.

These slots all take a light-hearted approach to horse racing. They tend to stick to the basic slot gameplay but add special features based on the racetrack theme. This leads to interesting games that provide some fun moments, rather than attempting to fully recreate the race day atmosphere.