Horse Racings Bets

Guide to Horse Racing Betting

If you are new to horse racing betting, it may seem confusing at first with all the terms and bet types available in the sports. Horse racing may not be the most popular sport that punters in the US love to bet on, but if you can understand how it works, you may be lucky to win big from it. In this guide, we will explain the vital things you need to know about horse racing betting. We’ll discuss the types of bets you can place and how to choose the best horse racing betting sites. Let’s get started.

Types of Horse Racing Bets

Generally, there are two categories of horce bets you can place — Straight Bets and Exotic Bets. Straight bets are the most basic type of bets on the sport. The risk associated with them is lower and so is their payout. As for exotic bets, they pay more but are generally much harder bets to hit.

Straight Bets in Horse Race Betting

Win Bet

This is a bet on a particular horse to win the race. It is one of the simplest bets you can place, and it only requires you to predict the horse that will finish in the first position. When you place a win bet at a sportsbook, you’ll see the odds assigned to the prediction. The odds are based on the bookmaker’s perception of which horse is the favorite to win the game. If the majority of the public places a win bet on the same horse, the lines will move and the odds may get reduced. As with other sports, you can expect to get more potential returns if you place a win bet on a less favorite horse.

Place Bet

Place bet is also similar to win bet in that you are selecting just one horse. However, instead of betting on the horse to win the race, you are betting that it will come in first or second. It does not matter by how many lengths the horse finishes the race so long it is first or second to cross the line.

Show Bet

When you place a show bet, you are betting on a particular horse to finish either in first, second, or third place. As with place bets, you do not get paid anything extra if your horse finishes first or second. The payout remains the same as when you placed your bet. As you may have guessed, the odds for win bets for a particular prediction is higher than that of place bet, while that of place bet is higher than show bet.

Exotic Bets in Horse Racing Betting

Exacta Bet

In this type of exotic horse racing betting, you are betting on two horses to come in first and second in exact order. For example, assuming you wager $5 on horse 1 to finish first and horse 3 to come in second. If horse 3 comes in first and horse 1 comes in second, then you lose the bet.

Quinella Bet

Quinella bet is pretty similar to exacta bet. It involves betting on two horses to finish in the first two spots but in any order. So if you place a $5 quinella bet on horse 1 and 3, you win as long as the two horses come in first and second in any order.

Trifecta Bet

When you place a trifecta bet, you are wagering on three horses to finish first, second and third in exact order. Trifecta bets are often referred to as triple or big triple bets

Superfecta Bet

This type of exotic bets involves predicting the first four horses to finish the race in exact order. Superfecta bets can be quite difficult, but if you can predict right, it can lead to massive wins

Other Exotic Bets

Apart from the previous exotic bets we’ve discussed so far, there are other types that top sportsbooks allow players to place. This includes Daily double, Pick 3 and Pick 4. These bets involve predicting the winners of a series of races.

Boxing in Horse Racing

Boxing is a strategy that you can use when placing exacta, trifecta, and superfecta bets. The strategy allows you to win if the horses you wager on come in any order. However, boxing exotic bets come with additional wagers.