Known as the ‘Sport of Kings’, Horse Racing has been growing in popularity year on year all around the world ever since the Ancient Greeks made it popular at the first Olympiads. Indeed, the first jockey was himself a King, although it was the sport’s popularity with British aristocrats and Royalty that gave it this name.
Horse Racing is still popular within the highest of societies even today, but it is more inclusive these days than ever before and that is all down to the gambling industry. Bookmakers across the land take bets from as little as 3 pence to try and get as many people involved as possible. They offer several enticing bets just to whet your appetite. There are bonuses on offer, big returns and competitions. The media does its part in promoting the sport, with The Grand National and The Gold Cup in the UK, Kentucky Derby in U.S and The Melbourne Cup in Australia.
There are many bets that you can have on a Horse Race. The most common bets to have would be the Win, Each Way (e/w), Win Double, e/w Double, Straight and Reverse Forecast and Tricast. These are popular because they are the least complicated, so take no real time to prepare. More complex bets would start at Patent win, e/w Patent, Round Robin, Lucky 15, Lucky 31, Goliath, Yankee, Super Yankee, and many more.
In this article we are going to explain about 2 of the more standard ways of betting to help all the beginners out there to get started.
Get Free Horse Racing Tips Every Day
Before we jump straight in and tell you all about the different types of horse racing bets and how they work, we wanted to give some advice on how to choose the best bets. There are some great expert horse racing tipsters which feature at online resources. These sites will give you free horse racing tips on all the big events and give you a peek at some of the best value horse racing predictions.
Freebets.com is one great website as it offers all the above from expert tipsters such as Alan Kelly and the legendary Peter Scudamore. They will tell you which horses to watch out for, and the horse racers you should place bets on. You will also learn about the best online bookmakers and any special offers you should not miss out on.
1. Win and E/W
A win is the simplest bet possible. It is exactly what it says it is, ‘Win’. Your horse has to finish first in the race or joint first (dead heat). If your Horse is 12/1 and you stake £1 Win, then you receive 12x your stake plus your stake, so a return of £13. In the event of a dead heat, the stake is divided proportionally between the number of winners in the event. If there are 2 horses then your stake would become 50p (£1 divided by 2) and your total return would be £6.50.
2. Each-Way – e/w
An Each-Way bet is common for those who don’t like to take as much of a risk. Each-Way means that your horse just needs to place in the top 3 for you to get a return (some bookmakers offer top 5). Essentially, the each-way bet is two bets (and your total stake is split equally into two) – a win and a place in the top 3. The win will pay the normal odds, whereas the place will pay reduced odds (1/4 of the price for example). So, if you have £1 e/w, your total stake will be £2. There will be £1 on the horse to win and £1 on the horse to finish in the top 3. If the horse wins at 12/1, you will have won £1 at 12/1 and the horse placed giving you a £1 at 3/1 (1/4 of 12) – so in total your return would be £13 (win) + £4 (place) is £17. If that horse finished second, you would lose the win bet but you would get the place bet, so your return would be £4.
Now that you know more about the different types of bets, why not go place a bet at leading festivals including the Cheltenham Festival?
