Santa Anita

The Santa Anita, manufactured by Bally in 1940, is a one-ball, single-player payout machine built around a horse-racing theme, reflecting the popularity of sports and wagering-style amusements in the pre-war pinball era.

Gameplay centers on Santa Anita's payout system: in addition to the regular payout, a special feature awards $3 to $10 in silver dollars, adding a high-stakes thrill for players chasing the bigger reward. As a one-ball game rather than a multi-ball EM machine, its mechanics are simpler than later flipper-equipped pinballs -- flippers would not be introduced to the industry until 1947, seven years after Santa Anita's release.

A free-play version of the game was also released by Bally the same year under the title 'Record Time.' Beyond these details, little specific information survives about the machine's designer or artwork, but Santa Anita remains an interesting artifact of early payout-style pinball machines built around real-world sporting themes.