Betting on horse racing online is legal, so gamblers who love Zynga Poker and Angry Birds may have hit Derby Jackpot. The next new thing that may save horse racing?

If horse racing is ever to increase its popularity with the younger crowd, Derby Jackpot may be the way. But as always, we shall see. Derby Jackpot could be horse racing's first real step into social media that could have a true impact. Yes, race tracks, handicappers, trainers, jockeys, owners are on Twitter and Facebook. Yes, there are apps to follow and bet on horse racing. But, now comes the important question: Is Derby Jackpot different?

Again, we shall see.

In describing Derby Jackpot, The Verge reports:

There is no information about the jockey, for example, or the horse's history, or even its age — just the horse’s name and its odds. Bets are as low as $2 and can pay out as much as $2,000. Once the results come in, the site encourages players to tweet their winnings.

Derby Jackpot may have as much to do with horse racing as FarmVille has to do with agriculture, but casual fans are exactly what the horse racing industry needs. Horse racing is going the way of Latin — to put it bluntly, it appeals mostly to old white aristocrats. The average age of a horse racing fan is 51, expected to increase to 57 by 2020, according to a comprehensive industry report released in 2011. And with recent crackdowns on many of the major poker websites, there is a hole in the market for a new breed of online gambling.

The company was founded by brothers Tom, Walter and Bill Hessert, as well as CTO Eric Gay, after a trip to Preakness Stakes. One of Derby Jackpot's advisers is economist and Freakonomics co-auther Steven Levitt.

Here's a video on the topic: