Horse Racing Betting
As popularity goes, horse racing betting is among the top sports for UK punters. Horse racing and betting go hand in hand and is unique in the fact that there are various on site bookmakers that pitch up at racecourses to take bets in person. Odds and betting are ingrained in every part of this majestic sport. If you plan to get involved in horse racing betting, then this extensive guide is for you. Here, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the ‘Sport of Kings’ including the best horse racing betting sites, some top betting strategies and a lot more!
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THE GUIDE TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO BET ON HORSE RACING
TYPES OF HORSE RACING BETTING
Horse racing is a truly unique sport in that there are so many different types of races that can take place on a day-to-day basis. Some courses only host one type of race and others host multiple. The types of horse racing betting events that take place are:
- Flat racing
- Chase racing
- Bumper racing
- Hurdling
- Handicap racing
- Cross country racing
- Point to point racing
- Flat racing – A classic version of horse racing that everyone will be familiar with. As the name suggests, flat racing involves horses running on a flat track from start to finish. Often starting in the summer, flat races provide great opportunities for betting on horse racing in the UK.Â
- Chase racing – Another common type of horse race that occurs almost every day across the UK. Horses involved in chases have to jump high obstacles known as ‘fences’ between the start and the finish of the race.Â
- Bumper racing – Bumper races are a term given to National Hunt races that do not involve jumping over any obstacles. They’re very similar to flat races, however there are no starting stalls and the distances tend to be much further (about 2 miles or more).
- Hurdling – Very popular with horse racing betting punters and similar to steeplechasing, however the obstacles, or hurdles, are about half the size of fences. They also have a bit of give in them, so are more forgiving. They are often used in preparation for a horse to go over bigger obstacles in future.Â
- Handicap racing – A handicap race involves various horses carrying different weights (or handicaps). The highest-rated horse carries the highest weight, with the lowest rated carrying the lowest. The aim is to level the field as much as possible.
- Cross country racing – This type of horse racing is similar to steeplechasing, however the fences can be varying sizes and difficulties and the courses tend to be more undulated. Horses that run cross country races are often preparing to run in the Grand National.Â
- Point to point racing – These are races normally run at a minimum of 3 miles, so there’s a lot of emphasis on stamina. Point to points originate from steeplechasing, which involved horses racing from one town (or ‘steeple’ as in from a church) to another, jumping obstacles along the way.
Live Horse Races betting
Traditionally, betting on horse racing has been restricted to bets placed before the race has begun. That’s still mostly the case these days, as lots of punters will take advantage of antepost odds for better value or place bets on the day of the race to take advantage of best odds guaranteed offers. However, the introduction of live betting in other sports has seen an increase in the popularity of live horse racing betting odds in the UK. This development has resulted in a new wave of betting opportunities for punters to get one over on the bookies and is becoming a key strategy for pros.
Live horse racing betting presents you with the opportunity to assess how the race is progressing before you put your money in. For instance, an odds-on favourite might be out in front but working really hard and you can see an outsider waiting for their chance to swoop in. This presents a great opportunity to get a live bet on to increase your profits.
livescore and streaming
Live betting on horse racing also presents an interesting opportunity to live stream the races that you bet on. This isn’t the case with all bookmakers, so be sure to check out our reviews to make sure that the one you choose does offer a live streaming facility for racing. Generally, you’ll find that it’s limited to UK and Irish horse racing betting, but sometimes sites will offer live streaming on races across Europe and even the US.Â
The most common way that the best horse racing betting sites indicate that they offer live streaming is with a small ‘play’ symbol next to the name of the meeting. If you see this, that means that the site will allow you to watch the races live if you place a bet with them. With some sites, you only need to have funds in your account, or to have placed a bet within the previous 24 hours, to stream.Â
As with all ‘live’ streams, they’re never truly live. There is an approximate 30-second delay between what happens live and what you see on the stream. This cannot be helped and is simply how streams work, but it’s always best to be cautious when live betting based on a stream as things can change very quickly.
FAQS
Where does a horse have to finish to ‘place’?
What is a ‘Rule 4’ in horse racing?
A Rule 4 occurs in horse racing betting when a horse is withdrawn from a race too close to the start time for bookmakers to adequately adjust the market. You’ll see an amount along with a Rule 4, for instance ‘20p’ and this means that, should your bet win, 20p from every pound of your winnings will be deducted to reflect what the updated odds of your selection would have been.
What does ‘Best Odds Guaranteed’ mean?
Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG) is a promotion offered by some of the best horse racing betting sites. It’s basically insurance for punters in scenarios when you back a horse at a price, but that price drifts and the horse wins. With BOG, you get paid out at the better price, rather than the price that you took originally when placing the bet.
What happens in a dead heat?
They don’t happen often, but they do happen. A dead heat is when two or more horses cannot be separated by the photo from the finish line. In this case, your winnings are divided by the amount of horses involved in the dead heat as, technically, they’ve all ‘won’ the race. For example, a £10 bet on a horse that had a dead heat with one other horse would result in a £30 payout (½ of the original £60 payout including stake).
What is an antepost bet?
Antepost is probably most popular in horse racing betting. An antepost bet is a bet that is placed a while before an event happens. For instance, it’s not uncommon for punters to place antepost horse racing bets a year before big festivals like the Grand National and the Cheltenham Festival. The reason they’ve popular is that they can provide you with much better value on your bets if placed at the right time.
