Into the Spotlight, sponsored by Huddersfield-based Scriba PR, is a weekly feature which highlights some great businesses. This week we feature Huddersfield entrepreneur Richard Ward and his Last Horse Standing app.
Entrepreneur and former racehorse owner Richard Ward is hoping to make it big with a fun horse racing game.
Last Horse Standing is a free to download app with a weekly jackpot of £1,000. Launched in January the app has had around 2,500 downloads with hundreds of players for its weekly game, which is also free to play.
Richard, 40, of Kirkheaton, has been trialling the game ahead of a major relaunch in three weeks’ time which will mean a new name and an exciting new format.
Last Horse Standing requires players to pick a horse to finish in each of up to 10 races. All those remaining share the jackpot. Running alongside Past the Post are two separate games Big Winner – where the players who get the most winners share £100 – and Win Streak for those who have the most successive winners, again sharing £100.
With the working title Ten to One, the format of the game will be similar, though it will be harder to win. The prizemoney, however, will be much greater with a bonus of up to £100,000.
Richard said: “We’ve had a great response so far and this isn’t just a game for gamblers or horse-racing fans. It’s a fun game that everyone can enjoy. We have multi-generational families playing together.”
Richard previously devised a gaming technology app, Low6, which is about to float on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, which could earn its shareholders millions.
Though he won’t make a fortune himself, Richard is hoping to repeat the success with Ten to One.
“We will develop the business to a point and then someone will buy it, probably a bookmaker,” he said. “I would keep a small stake and stay on to run it.”
Last Sunday’s game had 659 players and 162 were still standing after the 10 races. That meant they received £4.94 each from the £800 jackpot. Players can take the cash prize or choose to donate to the Racing Welfare charity. So far over £1,000 has gone to the charity.
Richard previously ran a horse-racing syndicate which owned a Huddersfield Town-themed horse called Huddersfilly Town. The horse won two of its 12 races.
Back in 2017 Richard sold a Leeds United-themed racehorse called Marchingontogether to a billionaire Qatari sheikh – Fahad al-Thani – for what he described as a “life-changing” sum of money. The horse, which cost just £800, won first time out at 14-1 and went on to run at Royal Ascot.
Richard was later one of the partners in the former TriBeCa restaurant in Huddersfield town centre, which closed just before the start of the pandemic.
Last Horse Standing can be found on the app store.
