Horse racing is where British bookmaking began, and the vocabulary has barely changed since. It is also the sport where the betting mechanics are least like football: prices move until the tapes go up, a losing horse can still pay out, and there are two entirely separate systems for pricing a race.
Win, place, and the each-way bet
A win bet needs the horse to finish first. A place bet needs it to finish in the places, which depends on the size of the field. An each-way bet is both at once: two equal stakes, one on the win and one on the place.
So £5 each-way costs £10. If the horse wins, both halves pay. If it finishes placed, the win half loses and the place half pays at a fraction of the odds.
| Field size | Places paid | Place terms |
|---|---|---|
| 5 to 7 runners | 2 | 1/4 of the odds |
| 8 to 11 runners | 3 | 1/5 of the odds |
| 12 to 15 runners | 3 | 1/4 of the odds |
| 16+ handicaps | 4 | 1/4 of the odds |
A worked example. £5 each-way on a 10/1 shot in a twelve-runner handicap costs £10. If it wins: the win half returns £55, the place half returns a quarter of 10/1, which is 5/2, so £17.50 — £72.50 in total. If it finishes third: the win half loses, the place half returns £17.50, for a profit of £7.50 on a £10 outlay.
Place terms are set by the bookmaker, and they are not identical everywhere. Extra-place offers on big handicaps — paying five or six places instead of four — are among the few genuinely valuable promotions in betting, because they change the structure of the bet rather than just the price.
Starting price against fixed odds
You can take the price showing now, or take SP and accept whatever the official starting price turns out to be when the race begins.
- Fixed odds lock in what you see. If the horse drifts from 6/1 to 10/1 you have taken the worse price; if it shortens to 3/1 you have taken the better one.
- SP takes the price at the off. It is the safer choice on a horse you expect to drift and the worse choice on one the market is about to back.
- Best odds guaranteed is the compromise most British bookmakers offer: take the early price, and if the SP is bigger you are paid at SP instead. It is a one-way option in your favour and, where available, there is little reason not to take the early price.
The Tote is a different system entirely
Fixed-odds bookmaking sets a price and takes a position against you. Pool betting — the Tote in Britain, pari-mutuel in the United States — does neither. Everyone's money goes into a pool, the operator takes a percentage, and whatever is left is divided among the winning tickets.
So the payout is unknown until betting closes. A horse heavily backed in the pool pays little, regardless of what the bookmakers were quoting. On small fields the difference is negligible; on big-field handicaps and exotic bets the pool can pay considerably more than the board price, or considerably less.
Reading a racecard
Four things carry most of the information:
- Going. Firm, good, soft, heavy. Many horses are transformed by the surface, and a soft-ground specialist on firm turf is a different animal.
- Distance. A sprinter asked to go a mile and a half will be beaten before the final furlong.
- Weight. In a handicap the weights are assigned to equalise the field. Top weight is the horse the handicapper rates highest.
- Recent form figures. Read right to left — the digit nearest the name is the most recent run. A P means pulled up, an F fell, a U unseated.
Rule 4, and the deduction you did not expect
If a horse is withdrawn after you have placed your bet but before the race, the remaining horses become more likely to win, so the bookmaker applies a deduction to winning bets. The amount depends on the withdrawn horse's price: a short-priced non-runner produces a large deduction, an outsider almost none.
It is the most common source of confusion about a payout being smaller than expected, and it is not an error.
The festivals
The British racing year has peaks, and betting turnover follows them: the Cheltenham Festival in March, the Grand National at Aintree in April, Royal Ascot in June, Glorious Goodwood in July. These are also when extra-place offers and enhanced terms appear, and when the biggest fields — and therefore the best each-way opportunities — are found.
Frequently asked questions
What does 1/5 odds a place mean?
The place half of your each-way bet is paid at one fifth of the win odds. A 10/1 winner placing at 1/5 terms pays 2/1 on the place stake.
Is each-way worth it on a short-priced favourite?
Rarely. At odds below about 4/1 the place return at a fifth of the odds is small, and you would usually do better staking the whole amount to win.
What happens if my horse is a non-runner?
Your stake is returned in full, and a Rule 4 deduction may apply to other winning bets in the same race.
Can I bet on horse racing from the United States?
Pari-mutuel horse wagering is legal in many states under a separate framework from sports betting, and the rules differ from state to state. See our page on US sports betting for how state licensing works.
Related guides: ante-post betting · head-to-head betting · UK bookmakers · compare bookmakers