Fairground derby, wearing antlers
If you played a Donkey Derby down the seaside as a kid, you already know the trick here: fire your balls at the target board, land them where the points are and watch your reindeer jog up the light strip. Aim beats luck on this one - the holes are worth different amounts, and there's nothing to fetch between rounds because the balls find their own way back.
Overhead, the curved backboard carries Santa's sleigh gliding over a snowy village, printed down the lanes as SPRINT, DASH and RUN. Each player reads their progress off their own row of lights, and the speakers call the race, which is what usually gathers the crowd to stand behind the two racers.
One cabinet = two players against each other. Bring the mate cabinet along and it becomes a four-wide heat. Outside December the same cabinet rewraps for carnival and speedway events, so if the race appeals for a summer date, just say.
People ask for this one as a Donkey Derby hire or a Kentucky Derby game - it's the ancestor we mean, in a Father Christmas coat.















