Rainy Day Dreams

With it raining off and on, and a little bit of money in my PayPal account just begging to be spent, I perused the horse racing collectibles on eBay this afternoon—and what a bunch of neat stuff! Beyond the typical ticket stubs, programs, stock photos and Derby glasses and pins, here are a few interesting items currently up for sale:

Antique Silverplate Horse Racing Box
This is pretty cool looking lock box, with sculpted details on sides and on lid. Jockey riding astride horse on top, but on sides are old-time trotters with huge buggy wheels.

Sterling Silver Trophy, 1993 G2 Gotham
Nice trophy won by later G1 (Pimlico Special) winner As Indicated, but unbelievably sad that the seller advertises it as “this would make a great wine cooler or punch bowl.”

Derby Winner Race Record Game, c. 1944
“Go to the races at home” with this old 78rpm record with race calls of Derby wins by Omaha, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Bold Venture, War Admiral, and Pensive. As the seller states: Basically the record has a number of tracks which all start at the edge of the record. Where you "drop" the needle determines which track the needle goes into and what the outcome of the race will be along with the payoffs. When the needle drops you hear the announcer call the race as if you were listening to it on a radio. You never know what the result is until the record plays.

Belmont Park Horse Racing Game, c. 1940s
Another board game, but this one has six cast-iron horses as playing pieces, along with play coins and dice. Seller doesn’t know if all original parts of game are present, but it’s interesting how, once again, horse racing games were so prevalent in the “Golden Age.”

French Jeu de Course Game, c. 1900-1930s
This auction is over, but what a cool looking toy! As seller describes: “Place your bets in the center cup and watch your horse race! 8 horses, 4 on each track race the circular course, with two tracks. The lever on the base sets them spinning and the horse that comes closest to the flag pole without crossing it is the winner when they stop. The horses are hand painted.” Sorry I missed this one (then again, I could have never afforded it either!)