Horse racing betting is arguably the most popular sport to bet on online with every bookmaker offering hundreds of odds on races across the UK, Ireland and the rest of the world.
For betting experts, knowing the markets and odds is a straightforward process. But for those new to betting online, we’ve come up with a guide to steer you through all the different types of horse racing bets.
Our breakdown will be useful for your horse racing bets on the Grand National, Royal Ascot and Cheltenham Festival among many others.
Betting sites offer competitive odds on horse racing and many provide live streaming races across the UK and Ireland so you can watch and see how your picks compete.
Check out our guide below before you sample the best horse racing betting sites on the market so you’re well versed in the different types of horse racing bets.
Introduction to types of horse racing bets
There are many different types of horse racing bets available from the best betting sites in the industry. These can range from simple bets that can be placed very easily by new bettors to the more complex to satisfy more experienced hands.
As horse racing is one of the most popular sports to bet on online, bookmakers are always looking at new ways to offer different betting experiences for customers. But, the tried and tested are their bread and butter, especially for horse racing betting.
Here are the most common types of horse racing bets explained in detail.
What is a win bet in horse racing?
This is the easiest of all the horse racing bets to understand, and punters will simply bet on the horse that they think will win the race. Beware that if your horse fails to win the race, you will lose the entirety of stake.
Be sure you’re 100 per cent confident in your selection before lodging your bet online.
What is an each-way bet in horse racing?
This is slightly more complicated, where you can pick a horse to win and to place.
A horse’s placing refers to the need for it to finish in a specific position, usually the top three, although this is variable depending on the type of race and the number of horses running. Bookmakers will specify this on the betting page.
On this bet, you split your stake 50/50 between a win bet and a place bet. For example, a £5 bet will be split £2.50 on the outright win and £2.50 on the place market.
Winning a place bet will pay out a fraction of the outright odds (usually around 1/5) and each way bets are usually reserved for horses with long odds. Bear these factors in mind before lodging your wager.
Place bets
A place bet means rather than betting on a winner you are betting on a horse to finish in a particular place, such as top two, top three or top four depending on the number of runners in the race.
Look out for promotions on bookmakers websites and betting apps, which will offer extra places on both each-way and place bets. These are available on a daily basis and gives you a bit more bang for your buck, especially when backing large outsiders.
Exotic bets: Trifecta, Forecast and Reverse Forecast/Quinella
Exotic bets are perhaps more suited to experienced bettors that know the horses, jockeys and trainers in the race along with the fine details such as the weather and ground conditions.
These types of bets are interesting because they offer higher payouts, although the higher odds do mean a greater risk. Here are a few examples of exotics bets that are available online.
Forecast/Exacta Bet: A forecast or exacta is where you pick the first two horses in a race in the correct finishing order.
Reverse Forecast/Quinella Bet: A reverse forecast or quinella is when you choose the horses you think will finish in first and second and they can finish in any order.
Trifecta Bet: A trifecta is when a bet is placed on which horses will finish first, second and third in the exact order.
Accumulator bets in horse racing
Accumulator bets are a type of betting that allows a punter to combine multiple selections from different races into a single bet.
There are many different type of acca betting for horse racing as well as the more familiar, including doubles and triples. There are also other types of accumulator bets including Trixie, Patent, Yankee, Lucky 15, Lucky 31, Canadian, Heinz and Goliath bets.
An acca is traditionally four separate races all put into one bet, but there is often a risk and reward balance as all selections must win before the bet is paid out.
These types of bet are great for betting on Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot along with other major meets. They offer a higher payout, but users must balance that with the risk of losing their stake if one selection fails.
Look out for special offers when making accumulator bets, including acca boosts, acca insurance and acca loyalty that provide free bets for punters that place regular bets online.
Placepot and Jackpot
Placepots allow punters to predict six horses that will place in a race. If all are right then the customer will receive a share of the toal pot.
Jackpot allows bettors to guess six winners, which offers substantial returns, but on the other hand is a lot harder to predict than just betting on a single winner in a single race.
These bets can also be utilised on betting sites in free games. Look out for these games when using your horse racing betting site to make six correct predictions or more to win cash prizes and free bets.
Ante Post Bets
Ante post bets allow bettors to place bets on horse racing a long time before the actual event. These bets are useful for the highest profile races like Royal Ascot, Grand National and Cheltenham Festival.
However, there is an element of risk as horses are not guaranteed to race in events. Be sure that you’re aware of all the conditions before placing this wager online.
Responsible Gambling
Betting is not a way to make money online and should only be considered a form of entertainment, only bet amounts you can afford to lose and assume every bet will lose.
The same applies whether you’re using betting sites, casino sites, slot sites, poker sites or any other form of gambling.
It’s particularly important not to get carried away by free bet offers or casino offers, both of which are available in abundance on gambling sites, but must be approached with caution.
Even if you are knowledgeable about horse racing any bet can still lose so set budgets and always remain in control.
All the top bookmakers offer a number of responsible gambling tools including deposit limits and self exclusion options.
Should you want to seek help for gambling-related issues, there are multiple charities and healthcare providers who offer support and information:
We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
