Horse Racing Betting Odds

Bet UK's online betting has horse racing markets available every day, on all major single meetings throughout the racing calendar. As well as betting on standard meetings, we also have free bets available on a wide range of events such as the Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot.

Betting on Horse Racing

Before placing any horse racing bets, there are a number of factors to take into consideration. Form is obviously important for horse racing, with good form a strong factor in choosing a horse to bet on. As well as form, the trainer and jockey of each horse is a critical factor. An experienced jockey matched with an exceptional trainer can turn an average horse into a winner. Finally, there are also weight and age to consider, although they may not have as much of an impact as the other two factors. If you want to get into racing betting but aren’t bothered about form or trainers, then simply pick the horse with your favourite name, it can be as simple as that! The horse racing odds will be initially displayed as fractions. For example, 1/4 would suggest this is an 'odds on' horse and therefore a favourite. This means for every 4 units you stake you will receive 1 unit back if you win plus your stake. You can also change the odds to present them as decimals.

Horse Racing Betting Markets

Typically, horse racing betting markets are restricted to bets regarding the finishing position of the horse. Mainly, bettors may place bets on the winner of horse races. However, there are number of horses who look good as outside bets, this is where some bettors may wish to place Each Way bets. Each way betting allows bets on horses to finish in the top three of a race (sometimes expanding to top five depending on the race, Grand National is an example of a race that expands). For smaller races, you may wish to look at other horse racing markets such as tricast and forecast, this is where you look to correctly predict the top three of a race, for most horse races, this is an extremely risky bet, because you're banking on the performance of three horses rather than just one.

Horse Racing Betting Podcasts

The United Kingdom and Ireland are the most popular countries for Horse Racing in the world. To represent that, we have massive betting markets and odds for every race in the horse racing calendar, whether you're looking to bet on horse racing in the UK or looking out to Irish Racing. However, that's not all! We'll also have a wide array of betting tips available for your to browse at Bet UK, including the popular Bet UK podcast - Scu Selects! Where we'll take our expert ambassadors' betting tips and provide enhanced odds across the weekend, so if you're looking for the best odds on a particular horse be sure to check out the Bet UK podcast and see if your pick could have enhanced odds this weekend.

The Biggest Horse Racing Betting Events

When looking at the biggest betting events Horse racing events are always centred around the sport’s biggest festivals. These festivals run every year and attract thousands of racing fans. The Cheltenham Festival takes place every March, with some of the biggest races taking place throughout the 4-day event. A selection of the world's best horses will take to the course at Cheltenham, giving you a great opportunity for betting. The Grand National betting is one of racing biggest draws, with close to 50 horses taking part each year. The Grand National is famous for punters placing horse racing bets, often being the most bet on race of the racing calendar. Royal Ascot takes place every June and is the next big racing opportunity for betting. The festival that is favoured by the royal family, Royal Ascot is the oldest festival that is still running today. Check out our Royal Ascot Betting markets.

Watch Live & Bet on Horse Racing

Looking to watch Horse Racing live on BetUK? To find out how to live stream horse racing on Bet UK, check out our horse racing live streaming guide. You can also place bets live when you are viewing a race.

Terms for Horse Race betting

Following Horse racing can be made quite confusing with a number of different terms that might not be clear to understand.

Accumulator - An accumulator bet is made up of multiple selections that are combined into one bet. For this bet to win, all selections must result as winners or places.

Best Odds Guaranteed - This is a promotion offered by Bet UK that applies to certain horse race betting. It means if bettors take an early price and the SP (Starting Price) has better odds, you will be paid out at the bigger odds.

Flat Racing - Any horse race that doesn't include jumping over fences.

NAP - A term found in tips blogs meaning the best bet of the day for anyone betting on horse racing.

Places - Each race will have a number of places, dependent on the number of horses racing. The places are often up to 3 or 4, meaning horses who finished up to 4th may end up being paid out on each-way bets.

Each Way - Each way bets will split your horse racing bet between outright winner and placing. This means if your horse wins, you win the full amount. If your horse places, then you will lose half of your stake, but will still get money back from the other half. With this bet, you can win even if your bet isn't the first horse to cross the line.

Common Horse Racing Bets

When placing bets on any Horse Racing event, it is important to know exactly what kind of bets are popular. The standard bet is a single bet on one race that players typically use their free bets on. However, there are a number of bet types that players may use when betting on the Cheltenham Festival, they are:

Each Way Accumulators - A great way to back multiple horses for a small stake comes from Each Way accumulators. You can place bets on all the races in a singular day and as long as each horse finishes in the top 3 (sometimes extended to 5) positions, you'll receive money back!

Forecast Bet - A good bet for large odds on selected races such as the Epsom Derby and this bet allows players to place bets on both the winner of the race and the horse that comes in second place.

Trixie - A bet consisting of three selections and totalling four bets, three doubles and a treble. Two selections must come through to make a return. This is commonly created when there are three overwhelming favourites racing in one day.

Patent - A bet consisting of three selections and totalling seven bets, three singles, three doubles and one treble. Similar bet to the Trixie but contains singles. This is the better alternative when your three selections are over evens.

Yankee - A bet consisting of four selections and 11 bets, six doubles, four trebles and a single fourfold accumulator. This means that two selections must win to provide a return.

Lucky 15 - A bet consisting of four selections and 15 bets, four singles, six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold. Similar to a Yankee bet but this bet contains singles. Similarly to the Patent bet, this selection is preferential when all bets are over evens.

Canadian/Super Yankee - These bets consist of five selections and 26 bets, ten double bets, ten trebles, five fourfold accumulators and one fivefold accumulator.

Lucky 31 - A bet consisting of five selections and 31 bets, five singles, ten doubles and trebles alongside five fourfold and a five fold acca. This is the upgraded version of Lucky 15 bet.

Heinz - A bet consisting of six selections and 57 bets, 15 doubles and fourfolds, 20 trebles, six fivefold and one sixfold accumulator.

Lucky 63 - A bet consisting of six selections and 63 bets, six singles, 15 doubles and fourfolds, 20 trebles, fivefold and one sixfold accumulator. This is further upgraded from the Lucky 31 bet type.

Super Heinz - A bet consisting of seven selections with 120 bets! 21 Double bets and fivefolds, 35 trebles and fourfolds, seven sixfolds and one sevenfold accumulator.

Goliath - A bet consisting of eight selections totalling 247 bets. 28 Doubles and sixfold, 56 trebles and fivefolds, 70 fourfolds, eight sevenfolds and finally one eightfold accumulator.

Have you placed any of these bets? Or at your perhaps looking to this Cheltenham Festival? Why not check out our betting calculator and check out how much you can win using all of our bet types.

Horse Racing Free Bets

Looking to maximise your potential profit at Bet UK? Looking for more than just the best odds guaranteed? Then you're likely looking for a free bet! Our BIG Cheltenham free bet offer is our bet £20 get £60 for new customers where if you place a £20 qualifying bet, and the bet has settled (also known as bet settlement) then you'll receive 3x £10s to use as free bets on the festival as well as other free bets on Football and Golf. T&Cs apply.

Secondly, here at Bet UK, we have specialised bets across the horse racing season, so when you look to place a bet on horse racing, be sure to check out Bet UK's betting offers page to see what free bet offers we have on at the time. It is likely that these bets will require a qualifying bet with minimum odds and T&Cs will apply. However, with the best odds available at Bet UK plus the chance for enhanced odds on horse racing, why place horse racing bets anywhere but Bet UK?

Horse Racing Betting FAQs

How do I read Horse Racing odds?

Horse Racing odds can be read similarly to any other odds in the fractional, decimal or American bet formats. However, if you're looking to evaluate how good the betting odds are for a particular race, you should use the information provided on-page, including the form, and previous races. For example, if you found a horse running a 2l race, where it is unbeaten and all of its losses have come in a longer format, you'll typically find the best racing odds for that horse, as its form isn't fantastic but on a particular length of track, it performs well. This is just one of the many things you should consider when you select race bets.

What is the best bet in horse racing?

The best bet largely depends on the horse racing betting odds. For example, if you're betting on a 20 horse race, it's a lottery, we recommend going for horses of slightly higher odds but there will likely be three or four horses you like the look of before the race.

For smaller races, it's likely that there will be a horse rated as under evens in the odds, if this is the case, you're better off trying to predict the horse that is going to come second and placing an each-way bet, that way if a shock occurs, you pick up a big win, if the horse comes second, you'll still make a profit due to the seismic odds of your chosen horse.

What is it called when you bet on four horses?

This is called a Yankee bet, which is a 4 selection wager that consists of 11 bets, 6 doubles, 4 trebles and one four-fold. This is also one of the smallest bet types for multiple bets, so if you're placing a bet on a small number of horses, you may wish to look for this bet. If you're confident on a selection of horses but their odds aren't as high as you might have wanted or you believe one selection may let you down, this is a good way of hedging your bets, so even if one selection loses, you still look to make a profit.

When does the National Hunt season start?

The National Hunt season never truly ends as there are jumps races across the 12 months of the year but the majority of the National Hunt fixtures take place during the Autumn and Winter seasons. As the bigger meetings begin at the back-end of October, this is widely regarded as the start of the season, this runs all the way through to the end of April, which is regarded as the official end of the campaign when flat racing takes centre stage.

What does SP mean in Horse Racing?

In the context of Horse Racing betting, the term "SP" stands for Starting Price. The "SP" is the odds of a particular horse as it begins the race, this price will be taken as the official odds for the horse at the start of the race or the event.

When looking to place a bet using "SP", you will be accepting the odds that are offered at the start of the race rather than the odds offered at the time of betting.

"SP"'s advantage and disadvantage is virtually the same, as it means bettors don't have to worry about picking the best time to bet on the horse due the fluctuations in odds before the race begins. However, it does mean that they could find the horse at significantly lower odds than what was presented to them when they placed the bet.

Where can I find betting for today's Horse Racing?

You can always find betting for the latest horse racing events by checking out our sportsbook pages, we have individual pages set-up for the biggest events in Horse Racing but if you're looking for smaller events that happen every day, use the filter in our sportsbook to pick todays horse races.

What is the most popular bet for horse racing?

There are two bets that are particularly popular in horse racing, the first is the race winner and the second is the each-way bet available in racing sports which means you can bet on a horse winning upcoming races and if they finish in the top three you'll receive a payout.

What should I look for when making a horse racing bet?

There are a number of things that should be considered when placing a bet on the races such as form of the horse, jockey and trainer, if all three are in good form, then you'll likely find the horse has a good chance of being successful, you can information regarding the horses form on the BetUK website.

What are the big races for betting in the UK?

The biggest UK races mainly consist of two festivals, the Cheltenham Festival and the Aintree Grand National Festival. Taking part in March and April, the National Hunt season hits it's pinnacle with 25 grade one races during these two festivals. In comparison, there are only 14 grade one races taken outside of these two Festivals.

What are the biggest International Horse Races?

There are hundreds of massive international races every single year and we believe that in some cases, International racing can offer the most competitive odds across the entire festival.

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is the most prestigious race in Europe and takes place at the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.

The Everest Horse Racing is the richest horse race in Oceania at the Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia. The purse for this race is an incredible $15 million. However, Oceania also hosts the Melbourne Cup which is widely regarded as one of the biggest horse races in the world.

In the middle east, the Dubai World Cup is massively prestigious, drawing over 60,000 spectators every year with a massive $12 million in prize money and is one of the most popular races in the world.

Finally, in the Americas, the Kentucky Derby takes the number one spot as the longest running and most prestigious horse racing event in the Americas.

These are also the events that see some of the high levels of ante post betting in the world has fans of horse racing do their research across the year to get the latest horse racing odds rather than the starting price for a horse which could be considerably lower. The Golden Gate Fields in San Francisco and the Tampa Bay Downs are also massive in regards to horse racing.

What does nap mean in horse racing?

NAP is a common term in regards to Horse Racing betting tips, the term - NAP, refers to the tipsters best bet of the day. Typically, a tipster will give three tips and the NAP of these tips is the bet of which, the tipster is most comfortable with. These bets are the ones to watch for any tips across the day. The term NAP is derived from the card game known as Napoleon, where the highest-ranking card is called the 'Napoleon'. In Horse Racing, the NAP is usually a horse that has a variety of contributing factors in it's favourite varying from previous performances all the way to course conditions.

Is there any horse racing today?

Yes! To find today's horse racing action, click on the meetings tab at the top of your horse racing sportsbook to see all the meetings in Horse Racing today from the UK to Australia to the USA

What does UR mean in horse racing?

If the horse you've bet on has UR next to it's name, it unfortunately means that the horse unseated the jockey during the race. This can happen for a number of reasons, jockey error, poor jumps or something as simple as a horse misbehaving on the track.

What does BD mean in horse racing?

The acronym BD means that the horse has been brought down by another rider. It is possible that this is due to foul play. However, in most situations, this is due to an accident by another runner.

What does PU mean in horse racing?

PU means that the horse has been pulled up by the jockey, this can sometimes mean that the horse is injured but in most situations it means that the horse has started a race poorly and the jockey has decided it is best to pull the horse out of the race rather than continue it.

What does OR mean in horse racing?

This means the official rating of the horse, the higher the OR, the better the horse is supposed to be. However, just because a horse has a higher OR doesn't mean it will guarantee success, it just means that success is more likely.

What is handicap horse racing?

Handicap races are races where horses of varied ability race competitively in categories of weight, if a horse has a higher handicap, it means that is has to have a higher weight in comparison to opponents.

What does RPR mean in horse racing?

RPR rating is officially known as the Racing Post Rating, similar to the official rating but this rating is created by those at the Racing Post, this takes into the account the weight of the horse as well.

What is a bumper horse race?

A bumper horse race is similar to the National Hunt flat races where there are no hurdles or fences. In-short, you'll see an increased number of bumper races during National Hunt season.