The game is contained in a varnished wooden oblong box with a hinged lid. There is a coloured paper label on the lid, with the title and maker, and an illustration of three horses being started on a race by a man with a white flag. Inside the lid is lined with green baize. There is a wooden cover, painted black on one side and covered with green baize and with a black knob on the top. When removed, the box contains a brass rod, running the length of the box and fixed at the sides. At one end it is attached to a bone handle, placed on the outside which turns the rod. In this rod there are 6 holes. There are 6 painted lead horses and jockeys; the horses are in a galloping stance. Protruding from the neck of each is a hook, to which a piece of black cotton is tied. In the front of the box are 6 holes, each fronted by a bone knob. The string is threaded through these holes , through the slits in the box and through the holes in the brass rod and then tied to the rod.
When the rod is turned, the horses race against each other with an erratic movement so it is not possible to know which horse will win.