Past the Post - Tabletop Horse Racing (Flats and Jumps)

One die. Four ratings. Any race ever run.

A six-furlong sprint at York. The Gold Cup up Ascot's hill. The King George over eighteen fences with the favourite still standing at the last. Or even a fictional Tuesday afternoon meeting at your local racecourse. Past the Post runs all of it with one six-sided die, a printed sheet and a pen, in about five minutes a race.

Every horse gets four numbers: Gate, Stay, Kick, Jump. Roll once per segment, add the rating, gain or lose ground. A raw 1 at a fence is a Fall Check. Highest ground at the line wins, and the gaps are real lengths, down to a short head.

In the box

Book 1, The Rules. Eight race types from a sprint to a staying chase. Fallers, unseated, brought down, pulled up. Going, draw, margins, the Betting Window, a Quick Race option, and how to rate any racecard.

Book 2, The Courses. Fourteen course cards, each with one rule that makes it play like itself. Ascot's hill, Tattenham Corner, Chester's draw, the Railway Fences, Becher's and The Chair, Churchill Downs, Flemington.

Book 3, The Toolkit. The paddock, the betting ring, jockey styles, the stewards' room, race report tables, a name generator for horses, jockeys and racecourses, and a season with a bank, a sales ring and a winter.

Eight sheets. Scoresheets for Flat and jumps, two rated races to play tonight, the Legends (Arkle v Kauto Star, Sea-Bird v Sea The Stars, with a Timeform-to-table conversion), a blank race card, and the app guide.

The Race Builder app. One file, offline, phone or laptop. Paste any racecard and it rates the field from the odds, or make up a field in one click. Print the pack or run the race on screen with commentary. Build your own courses. Run a season against six rival yards.

Who it's for

Anyone who has had a fiver on a horse and wants to know what the race felt like from the inside. Solo, as a sweepstake, or as owners round the table.

Same engine as the Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup packs. If you own those, you already know how to play. New stuff is the jumps, the fictional rules, the app.

A4 PDFs, black and white. US buyers: Fit to page.