It has been a long time since I last played this classic. Here's a bit of history on the title - This was one of a handful of novelty pinballs done by Williams in the early 70's. There was "Winner", "Zodiac", "4 Aces" and "Derby Day". These were slightly different from traditional pinballs as they were widebody, they had a sheet of perspex covering the playfield, they were very much an open field of play, and they had some sort of interesting feature that involved the gameplay.
"Winner" - The game has 6 mechanical horses on the playfield. They run on tracks activated by motors. Quite complicated for the period. The game is so simple, yet it is addictive - The ball is launched from the centre of the playfield - this is where you pick your horse. You then use the flippers to hit the corresponding target with the same number as your chosen horse. Hit the other horses' targets and they advance. Hit yours, and you advance. You can move your horse two steps forward by hitting the far left or far right target, but be careful as you also move one of the other horses. This might not be 100% accurate - but it is what I can remember...
This title is a game I've wanted because Dad operated one of these (and a "4 Aces" - not sure about "Zodiac" or "Derby Day"). What I'm trying to do with my collection is slowly collect he games I remember playing when I was a young child. I have several of these already - Nip It, Fireball, Captain Fantastic, Smart Set, Honey, Sky Jump (originally was Dad's) and Spirit of 76 (Dad's). what I'm still after is Olympic Hockey, Super Score and Rocket Ship
The opportunity to own this title came courtesy of Oscar (Pinball Memories), and we came to an agreement and now I own this title - Which I'd like to publicly thank Oscar for this game. It means a lot to me
The plan is simple. Get the game going and enjoy it for a short while. Then I'm going to completely restore it. I'm REALLY excited about this, and I hope to start it within a couple of years
The game is VERY heavy - and I'll document the process here. The headbox is much larger as most of the relays and steppers are located here. Anyway - Here are the pictures !
The backglass is in excellent shape, and the playfield is also very good ! Anyway, I thought I'd share the pinball happiness and hopefully it will be playable by the time i have my first meet
