| Bookmaker | Welcome Offer | Claim Offer | T&C’s |
|---|
| bet365 | Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets | Visit Site | #ad Full T&Cs Apply! New Customers only. Bet £10* & Get £30* in Free Bets. Sign up, deposit between £5* and £10* to your account and bet365 will give you five times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply. Registration required. |
How to Start Betting on Horse Racing
Racing runs on most days of the year in Britain and Ireland, and a single afternoon can offer several meetings with a race every few minutes. Pick one meeting and work through the card properly rather than trying to follow all of it. A field of six to twelve runners in a non-handicap is easier to read than a twenty-runner handicap, where the weights are set specifically to bring the field together.
The racecard lists each runner with its number, age, the weight it carries, the jockey and trainer, and its recent form. Form figures read from oldest to most recent, so 3-1-2 means a third, then a win, then a second. A 0 means the horse finished outside the top nine, while F, U and P mean it fell, unseated its rider or was pulled up.
To place a first bet, choose the horse, select the win market, enter your stake and confirm the price. Odds of 5-1 return five pounds of winnings for every pound staked, plus the stake itself.
Most bookmakers offer new customers a sign-up promotion, and the conditions attached vary, so read them before opting in. Our free bets and sign-up offers page sets out what is available.
Win and Each Way Betting
Win and each way betting account for most of the money staked on British racing, and the two behave quite differently.
Win Betting
A win bet is a single selection to finish first, and nothing else pays. It is the simplest bet in racing and the one worth starting with. A horse beaten a short head returns the same as one that finishes last, which is why smaller fields tend to suit win betting.
Each Way Betting
An each way bet is two equal bets on the same horse: one for it to win, one for it to be placed. A ten pound each way bet therefore costs twenty pounds. If the horse wins, both halves pay. If it only places, the win half loses and the place half is settled at a fraction of the odds.
How many places pay, and at what fraction, depends on the type of race and the number of runners:
- Fewer than five runners: win only, no each way betting.
- Five to seven runners: first two places at 1/4 of the odds.
- Eight or more runners in a non-handicap: first three places at 1/5 of the odds.
- Eight to eleven runners in a handicap: first three places at 1/5 of the odds.
- Twelve to fifteen runners in a handicap: first three places at 1/4 of the odds.
- Sixteen or more runners in a handicap: first four places at 1/4 of the odds.
Bookmakers extend these terms for some of the year’s biggest races, paying five or six places on events such as the Grand National. Those are promotional terms rather than standard ones, so check the individual race.
Example: a £10 each way bet on a horse at 8-1 in a sixteen runner handicap costs £20 in total. The place terms are the first four at 1/4 of the odds, so the place half runs at 2-1. If the horse finishes fourth, the win half loses and the place half returns £30, being £20 of winnings plus the £10 place stake. If the horse wins, the win half returns £90 and the place half returns £30, so £120 comes back from the £20 staked.
As a rough guide, each way betting rarely makes sense at odds shorter than 4-1, because where the place fraction is a quarter you need 4-1 simply to cover the losing win half. Non-handicaps of eight to twelve runners tend to place more reliably than big handicaps, even though the fraction paid is smaller.
Place Only Betting
Some bookmakers, and all of the exchanges, price a place only market so you can back a horse to be placed without the win half of the bet. It suits a horse you expect to run well without quite winning, though the return is always a fraction of the win odds.
Early Prices and the Starting Price
Bookmakers put up early prices for British and Irish racing during the afternoon before the meeting, and those prices move as money goes on. The starting price, or SP, is the price returned as the race begins.
Most firms apply best odds guaranteed to British and Irish racing, so if you take an early price and the SP turns out to be bigger, the bet is settled at the bigger of the two. The meetings, bet types and stake limits covered differ between bookmakers, so check the terms.
Forecasts and Tricasts
Forecast and tricast bets ask you to name the finishing order rather than just the winner, and the returns reflect how much harder that is.
Straight Forecast
A straight forecast is the first two horses home in the correct order. Returns are worked out by an industry formula based on the starting prices and the size of the field, so the exact payout is not known when you place the bet.
Reverse Forecast
A reverse forecast covers the same two horses finishing first and second in either order. It is two bets rather than one, so the stake doubles.
Tricast
A tricast is the first three home in the correct order, offered on handicaps with a minimum number of runners set by the bookmaker. A combination tricast covers all six possible orders of three horses, making it six separate bets.
Example: a £2 straight forecast on two horses costs £2 and pays only if they finish first and second in the order you named. A £2 reverse forecast on the same two costs £4 and pays if they finish first and second either way round.
The Tote runs pool versions of these bets, the Exacta for the first two and the Trifecta for the first three, where the return is a share of the pool rather than a price agreed when you bet.
| Bookmaker | Welcome Offer | Claim Offer | T&C’s |
|---|
| Grosvenor | Double the Odds on Your First Bet | Visit Site | Full T&Cs Apply! New Customers. Max £10 (exc. Paypal). 100% Odds boost token. T&Cs apply GambleAware.org | Please gamble responsibly |
Multiples and System Bets
Multiple bets combine selections from different races into one bet. Winnings from each leg roll on to the next, but one beaten horse is usually enough to lose the whole bet.
Doubles, Trebles and Accumulators
A double combines two selections and both have to win. A treble needs three, and an accumulator is four or more, all of which must win. Our accumulator calculator works out what a set of odds would return before you commit a stake.
Full Cover Bets
Full cover bets back every possible combination of your selections, so a return is still possible without every leg winning. The stake rises accordingly, because each combination counts as a separate bet.
- Trixie: three selections in three doubles and a treble, four bets. Two winners produce a return.
- Patent: the same three selections with three singles added, seven bets, so one winner produces a return.
- Yankee: four selections in six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold, eleven bets.
- Canadian, also called a Super Yankee: five selections in twenty six bets.
- Heinz: six selections in fifty seven bets.
- Super Heinz: seven selections in one hundred and twenty bets.
- Goliath: eight selections in two hundred and forty seven bets.
Each of these needs at least two winners before anything comes back. The system bets section sets out the full combinations for every one.
Lucky Bets
The Lucky bets are full cover bets with singles added, so one winner is enough to produce a return. A Lucky 15 is a Yankee plus four singles, fifteen bets in total, and the Lucky 31 and Lucky 63 do the same with five and six selections. Bookmakers often attach a bonus for one winner or for all of them, and those terms differ between firms.
The singles are what you are paying for, and they cost four extra points on a Lucky 15 compared with a Yankee. Short priced selections rarely justify that, because one winner at a short price will not cover the extra stake.
Tote Pool Bets
The Tote runs its own multiple pools. The Placepot asks for a placed horse in each of the first six races at a meeting, the Quadpot does the same across four races, and the Jackpot requires the winner of six. Returns are a share of the pool and are declared after the last leg.
Special Bets
Bookmakers also price occasional specials on racing, such as a named jockey to ride a winner at a meeting or the number of winning favourites on the day.
Ante-Post Betting
Ante-post betting means backing a horse before the final declarations, sometimes months ahead of the race. The appeal is the price, because a horse is often available at much bigger odds ante-post than it will be on the day.
The catch is that ante-post bets are normally settled all in, run or not. If your selection is injured, is aimed at a different race or is left out at declaration stage, the stake is lost and the race goes ahead without it.
Cheltenham Festival markets are the clearest example, and they stay open for most of the year. For the feature races, many bookmakers switch to non-runner no bet at some stage during the run up, which returns the stake if the horse does not line up. The point at which that happens differs between firms, and taking a slightly shorter price under non-runner no bet removes the main risk of the bet.
Exchanges and In-Running Betting
On a betting exchange you bet against other customers rather than a bookmaker, which means you can take either side of a bet. Exchanges charge a commission on net winnings in each market, usually a small percentage, instead of building a margin into the odds.
Backing is the familiar side, staking money on a horse to win. Laying is the opposite: you accept somebody else’s bet, keep their stake if the horse loses, and pay out at the odds you offered if it wins. Your liability on a lay bet is the stake multiplied by the odds, so it can be far larger than the amount you stand to receive, and that is the part newcomers most often underestimate.
Prices carry on trading while a race is being run, and betting in running means taking those prices mid-race. They move very quickly, particularly over jumps where a single mistake changes the picture, and a live stream normally runs several seconds behind the race itself. It is a market for experienced traders rather than a place to start.
Rules That Affect Your Payout
Two rules decide what a winning bet actually returns, and both catch people out.
Rule 4 Deductions
Rule 4 is a deduction applied to winning bets when a horse is withdrawn after you have placed your bet but before the race starts. The remaining runners all have a better chance than when you backed them, so an amount is taken out of the winnings to reflect that.
The deduction is set by the odds of the withdrawn horse at the time it came out, on a published scale used across the industry. The shorter its price, the larger the deduction, and a horse withdrawn at odds longer than 14-1 carries none at all. Where there is time for a new market to be formed, the deduction applies only to bets placed before that point.
Example: you back a horse at 5-1 for £10 and another runner is withdrawn at 2-1, which carries a deduction of 30p in the pound. Your horse wins, so the £50 of winnings has 30 per cent taken off, leaving £35, and your £10 stake is returned on top. The stake itself is never reduced by Rule 4.
Dead Heats
A dead heat is declared when the judge cannot separate two or more horses at the line. Your stake is divided by the number of horses involved and the remainder is treated as a loser, with the reduced portion settled at the full odds. On a two way dead heat for first, half of a win stake is settled at your price and the other half is lost. The same applies to the place part of an each way bet.
Ten Tips for Betting on Horse Racing
- Learn to read a racecard first. Form figures, the weight carried and a horse’s preferred ground tell you more than the price does.
- Check the best odds guaranteed terms where you bet. Most firms settle at the SP if it is bigger than the price you took, but the meetings and bet types included differ.
- Compare prices before betting. Early prices are up the afternoon before racing, and the same horse can be several points bigger with one firm than another.
- Read the going report. Ground conditions change form more than almost any other factor, and few horses run to the same level on soft ground as on quick.
- Look at the whole race, not just your selection. Knowing which horses are likely to set the pace often explains the result.
- Keep a record of your bets. Writing down what you backed and why shows which races and bet types you read well, and which to leave alone.
- Stick to one or two meetings. Following a couple of cards properly is more useful than having a bet in every race.
- Confirm running plans before an ante-post bet. Check the declarations and whether the market is non-runner no bet.
- Understand the place terms before betting each way. The places paid and the fraction applied change with the field size and type of race.
- Decide on a limit before you start and stay within it. Betting should be treated as entertainment and kept to an amount you are content to lose. Free, confidential advice is available at gambleaware.org.