There is such a thrill associated with betting on horse racing; you actually get to wager an amount of money on a horse and later see if that horse wins, places, or loses. The dramatic build-up to the climax (the outcome of your wager) takes place within a few short minutes after placing your wager and this simple, yet exciting aspect of horse racing betting is utilized by many of the best racing betting sites available.
Horse racing is one of the world’s oldest sports and has progressed from chariot racing in ancient Greece to today's modern internationally recognized horse racing involving mounted thoroughbreds. Horse racing is strongly associated with gambling and thus is one of the most widely bet on sporting events among all online gambling sites, while also being one of the most popular sporting events to be streamed live.
Best Horse Racing Betting Sites
|
Operator
|
Bonus
|
Features
|
Claim Now
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
300% Bonus
|
|
|
|
100% Bonus
Up to ₦150,000 |
|
|
|
100% Free Bets
Up to ₦100,000 |
|
|
|
100% Match
|
|
|
|
100% Sports Bonus
|
|
|
|
100% Welcome Offer
|
|
|
|
200% Match
Up to ₦130,000 |
|
|
|
100% Welcome Bonus
|
|
|
|
Welcome Gift
Up to ₦10,000 |
|
|
|
Welcome Package
Up to ₦500,000 |
|
|
Top Horse Racing Betting Markets?
Horse racing betting has many different markets to play, and 100s of different bets. Listed below are the most popular horse racing betting markets, but there are plenty more, including the weekend punter's favourite.
-
Win Bet
The standard horse racing bet is a Win Bet; to place a win bet, you pick a horse you think will win, and place a stake on it to win. If it wins, you win a multiple of your stake, based on the odds you were given by the bookmaker - your stake is the second number in the odds, so if they were 2/1, your stake is 1 and your winnings are 2 x 1.
-
Each-Way Bet
An each-way bet is actually two bets: When you place an each-way bet on a horse in a horse race, you place half your stake on the horse to win, and the other half on the horse to be placed. What a ‘place’ is depends on the size of the field and the category of the race, but generally a ‘place’ is considered either the first three to finish, or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Often in large handicaps, like the Grand National Steeplechase, the best online betting sites offer each-way betting down to 5th place, and even 6th.
-
Betting Without
When a horse race has a short-priced favourite, bookmakers often offer a ‘Betting Without’ market. This market takes the favourite out of the betting, pricing up the rest of the field as if that horse was not running. This betting market often gives punters a better return on ‘Win Bets’.
-
Forecast Bet
A Forecast Bet is a wager placed on two horses you believe will be placed first and second in a race. If they finish in the order you predict, then you win. A variation of the Forecast Bet is the Reverse Forecast, which is like an each-way bet; Choose two horses and as long as they both finish in the first two, in any order, you win.
-
Tricast Bet
A Tricast Bet goes one step further than a Forecast Bet, bringing in the third placing. Pick three horses you think will finish in the first three in the race, predict the order they will come home, and if that comes true, you win - quite substantially. The variation is a Combination Tricast, which allows you to win as long as your three horses finish in the first three, in any order.
-
Accumulator Bets
To get more value out of multiple fancies, you can back them all in one bet called an accumulator. The simplest is the Double; where you back two horses to win. If the first horse to run wins, the winnings become the stake that is placed on the second horse. If that horse wins, the bet wins, otherwise nothing is returned. You can apply that principle to any number of multiples - a treble, a four-timer, whatever - and you can also bet each-way. That bet means you are on a Win Accumulator, and Place Accumulator, so as long as all horses are placed, you will get a return.
-
Lucky 15
Punters wanting big returns from small betting stakes love the Lucky 15 and cousins the Patent, Lucky 31, and Lucky 63. These are full cover bets, offering horse racing punters a series of accumulator bets to win on up to six horses, with only one horse needing to win for the player to collect a return. For the most popular, the Lucky 15, this means one wager consists of 15 separate bets: 4 singles, 6 doubles, 4 trebles, and one four-fold accumulator on the same four horses. You can also make your Lucky 15 each-way to cover the placings
-
Trixie Bet
The Trixie Bet is just like the Lucky 15, except it is harder to win with as you need a minimum of two winning selections to gain a return on your stake. The bet is four separate bets on three horses, consisting of 3 doubles and 1 treble. You can place a similar bet on more than three horses, each option given a different name, but applying the same principles.
What Affects Horse Racing Betting Strategy?
Horse racing betting strategy is affected by a variety of factors. The most casual horse racing bettors choose bets based on a horse’s name they like, or the colours the jockey wears, or the number the horse is set to carry in the race. But for those that bet on horse racing based on knowledge, the following is taken into account:
Form
Studying the form of a horse should be the first port of call for punters before betting on horse racing. A horse’s form is its previous racing results; it shows how many times the horse has run, where it has raced, where it has finished, and which jockey was riding, among many other details that should be factored into your horse racing betting decisions.
Distance
Horses generally have a preferred distance to race over, or a preferred range of distances. Younger horses tend to race over shorter distances, and then improve to go further as they mature. As horses age, trainers may test them out over longer or shorter distances, to see if physical changes have made them better suited to a different race trip. You can find out how a horse handles, or may handle, the distance of the race by looking at their form.
Ground (the 'going')
Horse races are run on turf, dirt, sand, and synthetic surfaces (like rubber and silicone). Weather can vary the consistency of all these surfaces, but none more so than turf. The going is most variable for turf races, with a range from firm (hard, dry) ground all the way through to heavy (deep, saturated) ground. Few horses run well on extremes, but many perform on a variety of surfaces. Others have distinct preferences that often gives them a big advantage on that favoured ground.
Trainer
The trainer is the person who trains the horse. They make daily exercise plans and plot racing schedules. Some trainers are particularly good at handling a particular type of horse - like an age group e.g two-year-olds, or a distance specialist e.g sprinters - and some are good at targeting particular races, or types of races. Many trainers have specialities, and if you can work out what that is, then it can be an advantage.
Jockey
Like trainers, jockeys can have specialities. They might be able to ride a type of horse very well, maybe one that likes to race from the front, or from the back. They could be particularly good at one racecourse, or have a notable partnership with an owner or a trainer that always seems to produce winners. Many horse racing betting sites show you a jockey’s form, so you can find out what their strike rates are at courses, in types of races, and for different trainers.
Draw
In Flat horse racing (racing without obstacles to jump), races are started from starting stalls, or gates. Each horse has its own stall to allow all horses to start from a level line at the exact same time. The draw becomes more important the shorter the race is, the tighter the circuit is, and consequently the more bends there are to negotiate in the race.
Weight
The number next to a horse's name on a race card indicates the weight the horse is carrying, which consists of the weight of the jockey, saddle, and weight cloth combined.
There are different ways to determine the weight a horse is carrying, depending on whether or not it's in a handicap race:
Handicaps: In handicap races, horses in the best form carry the most weight. Each horse is assigned a handicap rating (in pounds) based on its recent form, which is used to establish how much weight the horse will be given to carry in comparison with others. For example, a horse carrying a rating of 110 will carry 2 lbs more than a horse whose rating is 108.
Non-handicaps: In general, non-handicap races will either have all horses carrying the same weight (with any allowances for age or sex) or will have the horses carrying different weights based on recent victories. For example, if a horse wins a race during this season, it may incur a penalty of 7 lbs when racing against horses who did not win.
To make a successful horse racing betting strategy, you need to decide if your horse can win against the weight assigned to it or if it can take advantage of its assigned weight.
