The game houses 8 virtual Thoroughbred race horses residing in the fictional Rainbow Thoroughbred Stables at a fictional western Kentucky race track called Plympton Downs (based loosely on long-time sportscaster/Intellivision sales personality George Plimpton).

Horse Racing was also released by Sears for their Intellivision private-label clone, the Super Video Arcade.

For each of the 4 horses entered into a race, the odds—along with past performances—are listed (accessed by a side action button during placing bets).

The track is horizontally scrolling, with its color changing according to the racing surface (khaki for dry, pine green for turf, and brown for muddy).

These are referred to by their colors (unlike in actual horse races where they would get entrant post position numbers in relation to the inner rail).