Derby Day

Derby Day is a single-player electro-mechanical woodrail pinball machine released by D. Gottlieb & Co. in April 1956. Designed by Wayne Neyens with artwork by Roy Parker, it features a horse-racing theme and is remembered for its unique gameplay rules and historical hardware transitions.

The playfield is designed around a horse race tracking system, tracking four individual horses. There are three specific targets/ways on the playfield to move each horse forward. A unique trait of this table is that the main pop bumper sits below the flippers, creating chaotic bounces that can either save the ball or push it straight into the drain.

This was the first single-player Gottlieb table to feature an integrated metal lower ball arch and shooter gauge. Manufactured during a transition period, this model used a wooden back door that tipped into the backbox frame just before Gottlieb switched entirely to metal backs in 1958.

Gottlieb producued 1,600 units of Derby Day.