Harness Racing Victoria (HRV), the peak racing body in the heartland of Australian harness racing, and The Farm Ventures – developers of the popular international trots app game Off and Pacing – have partnered to deliver players an exciting realistic ‘Victorian trots’ experience.
HRV is thrilled to announce some of the highlights of the Australian harness racing calendar, Vicbred Super Series, Breeders Crown, A.G. Hunter Cup and Alabar Queen of the Pacific have been added to the Off and Pacing stakes race calendar, while Trots Melton becomes the first 1000-metre track in the game.
VIDEO: Learn more about Off and Pacing
“Finding ways to reach new audiences including young people and engage them with our sport helps create trots fans for life and that’s the potential genius of this particular game,” HRV Media and Communications Manager Cody Winnell said.
“Players program and race horses, they also breed horses and compete with big-name stables across the world. I know Canadian superstar reinsman Yannick Gingras is an avid Off and Pacing player and the same can be said about Shane Tritton here in Australia.
“These guys see the benefit of marketing the product to the masses and digital is an ever-growing beast. Given it is so easily accessible on your tablet or mobile phone, it especially helps to promote the sport to a new generation and across multiple jurisdictions.”
The Farm Ventures founder Ryan Clements said he was thrilled to be associated with the Victorian trots.
“We get great support out of Australia with so many players enjoying Off and Pacing down under,” he said.
“Hopefully those guys will really enjoy being able to target stakes races that they know and they can also now race regularly at Melton.
“From a marketing viewpoint, these Victorian assets are now being promoted across New Zealand, Canada, North America and in many other countries where players are getting on to Off and Pacing and playing every day. We have about 3000 active users playing daily.”
Clements explained some of the philosophy behind the game in a recent article: “A lot of mobile games are designed to help pass five minutes while you are on a bus,” explains the developer. “While you can certainly enjoy playing Off and Pacing for that amount of time, but the real challenge is trying to build a championship stable over the course of a year or two. Building a successful breeding operation in Off and Pacing could be a challenge that takes even longer to accomplish. A season in the game lasts 26 days, so there is an overload of excitement as you watch your star horse’s three-year-old campaign pan out in under a month.”
Off and Pacing can be downloaded in the App Store or the Google Play Store.
Media enquiries to:
Cody Winnell (HRV Media/Communications Manager)
t: 03 8378 0288 | e: cwinnell@hrv.org.au | tw: @codywinnell
