Understanding Horse Racing betting on Sportsbooks
The majority of sportsbooks in the UK cover horse racing and it’s a great sport for punters to bet on. These sportsbooks offer a wide range of markets and offers on horse racing to keep the bettors on their site and with mobile betting all the rage now, turnover on horse racing is at a very good level.
We’re now well into the jump racing season and every day there is top racing around the UK and Ireland where the big Trainers are running their prime horses either in low grade races for the Group 1 races. Every weekend now we’re seeing the best jump horses run and it’s proving to be a delight at seeing some of them make their first appearance of the season following a fruitful season last year.
The basic markets on horse racing are backing a horse to win the race. This is a simple bet on picking a horse and backing it to win a race. The race card is available on sportsbooks where punters can see the silks (jockey colours) to recognise the horse when it’s running. The racecard will also show the horses form of its previous runs so you can pick a winning horse. When betting on a horse, you will see the odds on the horse to win, which are clearly visible on the sportsbook site.
Another option is to choose a horse and place an each-way bet. This means you are placing two bets on the horse. One is to win and one is for the horse to finish in a place position. The place position will be shown on the race card which an example is “Each-Way ¼ the odds 1-2-3. This means that if you place an each-way bet on a horse at 12/1 for £1 then your overall stake is £2. If the horse wins then you win £12 + your £1 stake on your win bet and then as the horse also got placed you get ¼ the odds of 12/1 so 3/1 which equates to £4 for the place win . In total you will then get £17 back in total.
The use of an each-way bet is advisable if you’re betting on a horse where there are more than 8 runners in the race and some jump races can have to 20+ runners so to give you more chance of a return an each-way bet is worthwhile. If you’re betting on a favourite in a race or a horse priced 3/1 or shorter, then you should be placing a win only bet.
Looking at some of the big racing events coming up in the calendar then on 28th November it’s the Fighting Fifth Hurdle from Newcastle where Epatante is set to run and is the odds on 4/6 favourite to win. Epatante is an outstanding horse having won 5 times from 6 starts and the last win was at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2020. Epatante won the Champion Hurdle a Group 1 race which is considered the best hurdle race in the calendar.
The following week on 5th December the highlight race in the UK calendar is the Tingle Creek Chase from Sandown Park and the favourite for that race is currently Altior. Another top horse making its first start to the new season Altior is a 10 year old horse with 15 wins from 16 starts and hugely impressive horse when running well. Altior suffered an injury prior to the Cheltenham Festival in March 2020, but in previous year won the Champion Chase. All eyes will be on the horse now it has a clean bill of health as a good performance could well mean another trip to Cheltenham to add to previous glories.
Further races this calendar year for horse racing punters to enjoy include the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot the week before Christmas and then on Boxing Day (26th December) is the King George VI Chase where top Trainier Paul Nicholls has the two top horses in the betting in Cyrname and Clan Des Oeaux.
