Horse Racing Betting Guide 2023

When you’re looking to start betting on horses, you’ll need to find the right sportsbook first. In order to do this, you’ll need to consider factors such as:

• Horse racing odds
• Sportsbook bonuses
• Live streaming
• Betting markets
• Reputation
• Safe payment methods
• Legitimate licensing
• Responsible gambling help
• Customer support

Sports betting online

Once you’ve had a look at the options available to you and chosen the online sports betting site that’s right for you, you’ll need to open a sportsbook account in order to place wagers. Here’s how:

1. Register an account and login with your username and password.
2. Add money to your account with your chosen payment mechanism.
3. Depending on the website you choose, you’ll also be able to claim a sign-up bonus from the site as well.
4. Once you have money in your account and you’re ready to start wagering, choose ‘Horse Racing’ from the category menu bar and take your pick of the races available.
5. Find the bet you’d like to place, and click on the racing odds related to it.
6. The various bet types will then become available.
7. Simply enter the amount you’d like to wager, click ‘Place Bet’, and your bet will be confirmed!

In addition to the most common online betting choices, there are a number of other ways to bet on horse races, most notably with exotic bets. These come in two forms – horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal sports betting

Exacta:

Choose the first and second place horses in exactly the correct order.

Exacta Box:

Choose the two horses to come in first and second, without betting on the exact order. Boxing helps give your wager a little latitude by removing the need to select the correct order.

Trifecta:

Correctly predict the exact winning order of horses for first, second and third place.

Trifecta Box:

Box your trifecta bet and choose three horses to come in first, second and third, in any order.

Superfecta:

Predict the exact winning order of the first four finishers in a race.

Superfecta Box:

Choose four horses in any combination to come in first, second, third and fourth.

Vertical sports betting

Daily Double: This type of bet requires you to correctly pick the winner in back-to-back races.

Pick 3 & Pick 4: Similar to the Daily Double, these bets require you to choose the winners in either three or four consecutive races. The risk is high, but so is the reward!

Pick 5 & Pick 6: Here you’ll be gambling on the winners of either five or six consecutive races. These types of bets have significant risk attached to them, but can pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars if used wisely.

Finding the sportsbook that’s right for you is all about finding the website with the best odds, and that’s why it’s so crucial you know how to read horse racing odds accurately.

Firstly, it’s helpful to know how horse betting works in general. In the USA and in many other countries, wagers are made using pari-mutuel betting, which is a unique type of betting pool. Instead of betting against the sportsbook, you’re betting against the other punters who have placed bets on the same event. All these wagers go into a pool, and after the sportsbook has taken its cut, the remaining money is used to pay the winners. What this means is that as the betting action determines the final odds, pari-mutuel betting odds are not fixed, so payouts can change.

By contrast, fixed-odds betting is set by the sportsbook and is final, so no matter how much money is bet by other punters, the odds and the winnings will remain the same.

How horse racing odds work

While other forms of online sports betting may use decimal odds, horse racing uses fractional odds, which means you’ll see odds displayed as 6/1 or 10/1, for example.

This represents the ratio of the profit to the initial wager made. So if you’re betting on a horse at 6/1, you’ll win $6 for every $1 you wager, including the initial amount you wagered. So, if you bet $1 on 6/1, you will win $7 (your $1 stake + $6 profit). It can be complicated to begin with if you’re new to the sport, but the more experience you gain, the more familiar you’ll become with horse racing odds.

Give yourself the best chance of succeeding with these handy sportsbook tips and tricks:

Do your research

Studying the form of horses, trainers and jockeys will give you an advantage when selecting the right bet.

Read the odds

Similarly, learning how to read the odds and choosing the website with the best odds will also help contribute to your success.

Play favorites

While everyone loves an underdog, the fact is that favorites win 32% of all races on average, with 85% of all winners coming from the first four favorites in the betting. So if you’re looking for a safe bet, the favorites are where you’ll find it.

Start small

As a beginner, your best bet is to start with a small wager and increase your investment over time as you become more confident. This way you’ll gain the experience you need without risking your bankroll.