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Betting

Best Horse Racing Bets

A popular question posed by new horse racing fans is, “what is the best bet to put in horse racing?” It’s understandably an open-ended question with varying responses depending on who asks it. In reality, the response will vary depending on the ground/weather conditions, the type of race (such as steeplechase or flat race), the relative shape of the competing horses, the jockeys and trainers involved, and, of course, the amount of money you’re comfortable betting.

In reality, the response will vary depending on the ground/weather conditions, the type of race (such as steeplechase or flat race), the relative shape of the competing horses, the jockeys and trainers involved, and, of course, the amount of money you’re comfortable betting.

Horse racing is one of the most common and watched sports globally, with a particular fondness for National Hunt racing amongst gambling enthusiasts, who regularly watch the latest racing action either in traditional bookmakers’ shops or on their phone or tablet through online streaming or betting sites.

Following a thorough examination of the related factors listed above, you may wish to consider the following horse racing tips :

Bet on an outright victory

If there is a horse that is clearly favoured by race conditions; a horse that is in good shape, is used to running in the prevailing conditions on the day and is only being challenged to do what he has already shown he can do in the past, you might want to maximize your returns by betting it outright to win. However, keep in mind that outright favourites do not always deliver great odds, and if it does not win, you will lose your entire stake!

Each-way betting

An each-way bet involves placing two bets on the same horse. Half of your bet is on the horse to win, and the other half is on the horse to “place” (in other words, to finish within the number of places the bookmaker agrees to pay out for that race). An each-way bet’s position portion is paid out at a fraction of the winning odds. Place terms are as follows: 4 places paid on 16+ runner handicaps and above; 3 places paid on 8+ runner races and above; 2 places paid on 5+ runner races and above; and above win only on less than five runner races.

The use of multiples

More experienced horse racing bettors looking for a higher pay-out in relation to their stakes may want to play with multiple bets. This entails betting on two or more horses to win or place in various races. When many short favourites are running in various races at a meet, this can help raise returns.

The best multiple bet strategies are as follows:

Multiples and accumulators come into play when a top jockey teams up with a top trainer who has a proven track record at a given meeting (such as the Cheltenham Festival) or in a specific race (such as the Cheltenham Gold Cup). Frankie Dettori’s “magnificent seven” victory at Ascot in 1996 is an example of this. Before the race, the chances of Dettori riding seven winners were over 25,000/1, and the bookies received one of their worst-ever canings!

Miriam Brown

The author Miriam Brown