Find the top horse racing bookmakers and their free bet offers. Check our list and find the perfect bookie for betting on horses. Learn more now!
Find the best horse racing bookmakers
Betting on horses is one of the pillars of world’s sportsbetting industry. Horse racing bookmakers have been around for a few centuries and even longer with betting on horse racing online and virtual horse racing betting being the latest trends in gambling.
Top horse racing betting sites offer in-play odds and betting options and live streaming of horse races while bettors can experiment with various horse racing betting systems depending on their preferred bet type and the level of risk they are willing to accept.
We will provide you with the basics of the horse racing sports betting in the paragraphs below and will also offer essential horse racing betting tips that cover different horse racing bet types and betting strategies.
✔ New customers only | ✔ UK players allowed | ✔ Place a £10/€10 bet at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater 💰
€30 in Free bets
✔ Promo code: 30fb | ✔ A qualifying bet of at least £/$/€10 with minimum odds of 1/2 (1.5) is required | ✔ UK players allowed
✔ Matchbook is offering a flat rate of 2% Commission on all sports | ✔ You will only pay commission if you make a profit 💰
Basics of horse racing betting
You can place wagers on horse racing through brick-and-mortar bookmakers or via horse racing betting sites. Of course, the betting experience you get during live horse racing on the race-course is incomparable but most punters rarely visit a live race these days. On the other hand, there are plenty of horse racing live stream bookmakers where you can place wagers in real time.
Most bettors start with straight wagers on horse racing events. They involve horse racing fixed odds and we call these bets Win, Place and Show.
The minimum wager on these bet types is set at $2. There are a number of horse racing betting sites and betting sites exchanges that allow bettors to place a minimum of $1 on horse races but the majority of the reputable sportsbooks stick to the traditional $2 minimum bets.
Every strategy for betting on horses for beginners starts with the Win wager. It is the simplest of all bets and is probably the most popular one. Simply put, you bet on a horse to win the race i.e. your selection should finish first.
The catch with the Win bet is that you need to know all the horses in a race very well, be well acquainted with their current form and the jockey who rides with each horse. Even if you bet on the favorite horse in each race, you will still see one third of your wagers lose, on average.
Then we have a strategy that involves betting on horses to place. The Place bet is another straight bet where you need your selection to finish on first or second place in any particular race.
Your chances with a Place wager are better when betting on horse racing games but the odds are less lucrative. It is a bit hard to calculate the actual payoff on a Place bet since it depends on who finishes first and who comes second and the respective amount of money bet on each horse.
Probably the most popular wager in international horse racing betting is the Show bet. When you place a Show wager, you actually make a bet that your selection, or horse, will finish either first, second or third.
It is the safest bet available in horse race betting and you should expect the lowest payoffs when placing Show bets. Show wagers are part of most strategies that rely on horse racing sure bets; in other words, show bets enable you to yield results but at a slower rate.
Betting on horses to lose is available through betting exchanges where you are allowed to act as a bookmaker and “lay” a wager against a fellow punter who in turn bets on this very horse to win.
Exotic bets in horse racing betting
All of the best betting sites for horse racing enable punters to place wagers that go beyond the Win, Place and Show bets. These are called “exotic” wagers and can yield markedly greater payoffs compared to the three basic bet types.
For example, racing bookmakers allow you to select the exact order of the first two finishers in one race, which is called Exacta bet. There is a variation of the Exacta bet that goes under the name of Quinella where you are allowed to select the first two finisher without guessing the exact order. Not all horse racing betting offers include the Quinella wager, however.
There are betting options to place a wager on up to five horses that will finish at the top. This variation of the Quinella bet does not require to select the correct order of finishing but to select the three, four or five finishers instead.
All of the above bets are singe-race bets and you should choose the respective finisher in one race.
Any reputable horse racing sportsbook also offers multi-race exotic bets. These bets require the punter to select the winners in two consecutive horse races. We call this wager Daily Double bet and you can use this bet type to pick the winners in up to six consecutive races. Naturally, the higher the number of winners you select, the higher the horse racing betting odds.
You can also improve your chances by using each way horse racing betting. You do that by placing an Each Way bet where you wager 1 on the ”Win” and 1 on the “Place”. Hence, you bet on a selection to win the race while the Place part of the bet is that your horse either will finish in the first place or will be placed second, third and so on.
A specific wager is the horse racing match bet. When betting on horses in the UK betting sites, most horse racing bookmakers across the UK will offer you match bets where you select by how many lengths a given horse will win over or will lose to another horse in a particular race at a race.
The maximum length varies from 12 to 15 lengths, depending on the race type. These match bets are available in international horse racing betting as well.
How to find the best bookmakers for horse racing
First of all, you need a bookmaker that offers all the above wagers and has advantageous odds. The average bookmaker will cover these bets a best bookie for horse racing will also provide in-play horse racing betting and horse racing live streams.
In-play betting on horse racing is getting very popular among punters all over the world, as a growing number of sportsbooks go online and mobile. Finding a horse racing live stream is getting easier but you need check also details such as odds on offer, payment options and how long taking your winnings requires.
A good horse racing sportsbook offers live betting on horse racing while paying out winnings within hours or a couple of days. This is important, as unlike UK and Ireland horse racing where bettors have a good number of racing tracks to visit, international bettors rely on televised horse racing events or online streaming of races to place live and in-play wagers.
Horse Racing Bonuses and Free Bets
Horse racing free bets are widely available when you sign up with one of the top horse racing betting sites or when you make your first deposit with a horse racing bookie. You can also take advantage of specific free bets and bonuses that are available for horse betting only.
For example, your betting strategy may include horse racing cover bet. The cover bet enables you to take you winnings if your selection wins the race as if you place a straight Win bet. On the other hand, you get your bet refunded if your selection happens to finish second or third. This way you insure your bet and in fact place a risk-free bet on your favorite horse.
Horse racing enhanced odds is another method for sportsbooks and bookmakers to attract more punters interested in horse betting. Enhanced odds boost your winnings by offering better odds on specific horse races.
You can also improve your chances of winning by using horse racing arbitrage gambling where you can take advantage of a mix of betting promotions and wagers such as cover bets and enhanced odds to both back and lay a specific horse.
You can apply horse racing arbitrage with the help of betting exchanges that enable bettors to become de facto bookmakers by laying a bet on a selection.
Advanced horse racing betting systems
After you have the basics of betting horse racing explained, you may decide to take greater risk and make more profits by using an advanced betting horse racing strategy. You strategy may involve free bets and various kinds of available wagers on horse racing.
For example, you can place long-term wagers on the jockeys and trainers to win a specific championship. Your betting strategy will evidently involve multiple bets that pay big on small wagers but you really have to know your favorite horses very well.
You can place a Trixie, Yankee, or Canadian bet, which combines multiple horses in multiple bets. Other bet types include Lucky 31 and Lucky 63, as well as wagers like Heinz, Super Heinz and Goliath. Even more multiple bets are available at the top horse racing betting sites and racing bookies.
You can also experiment with the beaten favorite betting system where you bet on a favorite but one that has lost the last race. This particular horse racing betting system is based on the crowd’s psychology i.e. many punters will avoid betting on a favorite that had just lost.
One more thing to know when using betting systems for horse racing is that you can find horse racing fixed odds mainly through virtual horse racing betting. That is where you can take the most out of in-play horse racing betting as well.
Conclusion
You can start betting on horses by using straight wagers only. In fact, you do not need a complicated strategy to place straight wagers at horse racing betting sites and make profit. You just need to stick to the best bookmakers for horse racing and take advantage of the different horseracing free bets and horse racing bonuses available online.
You may also like: