Racing was the heartbeat of every shop I worked in. The board went up before the first race at noon, the regulars took their seats by the screens, and from then until the last at Wolverhampton the place never really went quiet. Online racing betting looks different, but the fundamentals have not changed. The price you take, the each-way terms you get and whether your bookmaker will honour a bigger starting price make more difference to your results than any tipster ever will. This guide covers the racing features that matter. For our wider view across every sport, see the full guide to the best betting sites.
Our racing picks at a glance
| Bookmaker | Racing strength | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| William Hill | Extra places on big handicaps | Check which races the offer covers each day |
| Betfred | Bonuses on multiple bets such as Lucky 15s | Bonus terms change, so read them first |
| Betfair Exchange | Best prices on most big races | Commission on net winnings; place markets can be thin |
| bet365 | Streaming of UK and Irish racing | Funded account or bet needed to watch |
| Paddy Power | Racing specials and refunds | Specials vary by meeting |
Best Odds Guaranteed: the feature to check first
Best Odds Guaranteed means that if you take a fixed price on a horse and its starting price is bigger, you are paid at the bigger price. Say you back a horse at 5/1 in the morning and it drifts to 8/1 by the off. If it wins, BOG pays you at 8/1. If the price shortens instead, you keep your original 5/1.
It is a simple promise and a valuable one. Over a year of regular racing bets, BOG can add a meaningful amount to your returns at no cost to you. Most major UK bookmakers offer it on UK and Irish racing, but the details differ.
The small print on BOG
Some bookmakers only apply BOG from a certain time on race day, such as from 8am or from when the market first opens. Some cap the extra winnings you can receive through BOG. And some remove BOG from individual accounts they consider too successful. Check the current terms when you open an account, and check your account settings if you have been betting for a while, because the feature can quietly disappear.
BOG also protects you against one of racing's classic frustrations. Every regular has a story about taking a price in the morning, watching the horse drift to double the odds on the course, and then seeing it win. Without BOG, you are paid at the price you took and left wondering. With it, the market's late opinion works in your favour rather than against you.
Each-way betting and extra places
An each-way bet is two bets of equal stake: one for the horse to win and one for it to place. If the horse wins, both parts pay. If it only places, you are paid on the place part at a fraction of the win odds, typically a quarter or a fifth.
Standard each-way terms
Standard terms depend on the number of runners and the type of race. As a rough guide, races with five to seven runners pay two places, races with eight or more pay three, and handicaps with sixteen or more runners usually pay four places at a quarter of the odds. Always check the terms shown on the race card, because they vary.
Extra places
On big handicaps, bookmakers compete by offering extra places. Instead of four places on the Grand National, for example, you might find sites paying six, seven or more. If your horse finishes in one of those extra places, the place part of your bet pays out when it would otherwise have lost. On festival days it is worth comparing several bookmakers, because the number of places offered can vary a lot from one site to the next.
Extra places are not free money, though. Bookmakers offering more places sometimes offer slightly shorter win prices to balance the risk. When comparing, look at both the price and the terms together. A horse at 12/1 with five places may be better or worse value than the same horse at 14/1 with four places, depending on how likely you think it is to finish in the frame.
Multiple bets: Lucky 15s, Yankees and more
Racing has its own family of multiple bets, and they were the most common slips I ever settled. A Lucky 15 covers four selections in fifteen bets: four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one four-fold. A Yankee drops the singles, covering the same four selections in eleven bets. A Patent covers three selections in seven bets.
These bets suit punters who want a return even if not everything goes right. With a Lucky 15, a single winner returns something, and several winners can return a lot. Many bookmakers add bonuses to Lucky 15s, such as double odds on a single winner or a percentage bonus if all four win. Betfred is particularly known for this, though you should always check the current bonus terms rather than relying on what they used to be.
If you want more coverage, bigger combination bets are available. A Super Yankee, sometimes called a Canadian, covers five selections in twenty-six bets. A Heinz covers six selections in fifty-seven bets. They can produce very large returns when several selections win, but the cost multiplies quickly. A £1 each-way Heinz costs £114, which is worth knowing before you add the sixth horse.
Starting price, early prices and the Tote
You can take a racing bet in a few different ways. A fixed price locks in the odds at the time you bet. Starting price, or SP, settles your bet at the official odds when the race begins. The Tote pools all bets on a race and shares the pool among winning tickets after a deduction, so the dividend is not known until the race is over.
Bookmakers often publish early prices the evening before or on the morning of a race. These are sometimes generous as firms compete for early business, although maximum stakes on early prices can be low. Combined with BOG, early prices are one of the best tools available to a racing punter.
When SP beats an early price
Taking an early price is not always right. If you have no strong view on how the market will move, or you are betting on a horse likely to be well backed on the day, the price may shorten, and an early price protects you. But on horses unlikely to attract much money, prices often drift towards the off, and a bookmaker offering BOG will pay the bigger starting price anyway. Without BOG, you would sometimes do better waiting and taking SP. The practical answer is simple: use a bookmaker with BOG and take a price when you are ready to bet.
Racing on the Betfair Exchange
For big races, the Betfair Exchange frequently offers the best win price, particularly on horses near the head of the market. Because you bet against other customers, there is no bookmaker margin built into the odds, only a commission charged on your net winnings for each market. Even after commission, exchange prices are often bigger than anything the fixed-odds firms offer.
The exchange also runs place markets, where you can back a horse just to finish in the places. These can be useful, but they are often less liquid than the win market, so the price you want might not be available for the stake you want. Betfair's Starting Price, or BSP, is another option, settling your bet at an exchange-derived price at the off.
A useful habit is to compare the exchange price with the best fixed-odds price before every racing bet. If the exchange is bigger even after commission, take it there. If a bookmaker's price with BOG is close to the exchange, the bookmaker may be the better choice, because BOG gives you the chance of an even bigger price at the off.
Watching races online
Several bookmakers stream UK and Irish racing to customers with a funded account or a bet placed on the race. bet365 and William Hill both offer wide racing coverage. Streaming is a big step up from watching a static display of positions, particularly on jump racing where the race can change completely at a single fence.
Replays are just as useful. Watching how a horse ran last time, whether it was hampered, finished strongly or faded badly, gives you information that the form figures alone do not show. Some sites also provide race cards with form, trainer and jockey statistics and short comments on each runner.
Reading a race card
A race card packs a lot into a small space. The form figures show recent finishing positions, read from left to right with the most recent run on the right. Letters stand for other outcomes: F for fell, U for unseated rider, P for pulled up. You will also see the horse's age, the weight it carries, its official rating and the draw for flat races. The trainer and jockey names matter too, and many sites show their recent strike rates. Take time to learn the basics and you will enjoy racing more, whether or not your bets win.
Festival weeks and big meetings
Cheltenham in March, the Grand National meeting at Aintree in April, Royal Ascot in June and Glorious Goodwood in the summer are the high points of the betting year. Promotions go into overdrive: extra places, money back if your horse finishes second, enhanced prices on favourites, and non-runner no bet on ante-post markets.
Non-runner no bet
Ante-post betting means backing a horse days or weeks before the race, usually at a bigger price than you will get on the day. The risk is that the horse does not run. Normally you would lose your stake, but with non-runner no bet, your stake is returned if the horse is withdrawn. Most bookmakers switch this on for major races in the final weeks before the festival.
The Aintree connection
For us on Merseyside, National week is something else. The shops were busier than at Christmas, with people who never bet all year coming in for a single each-way on a name they liked. If that is your one bet of the year, take it with a bookmaker offering extra places and BOG, and you will have given yourself the best chance of a return.
Rule 4 deductions
If a horse is withdrawn after you have taken a fixed price, the odds you took no longer reflect the race. To adjust for this, bookmakers apply a Rule 4 deduction to winnings, based on the price of the withdrawn horse. A short-priced non-runner leads to a bigger deduction. The rule applies across all licensed UK bookmakers, and it is not the bookmaker being unfair, but it is a common source of confusion when a winning bet pays less than expected.
Staying in control on race days
Racing runs throughout the day, with races every few minutes across several meetings. That rhythm can pull you into betting on races you know nothing about, just because the next one is about to start. Deciding on your selections before racing begins, and sticking to them, is the single best habit a racing punter can build. Deposit limits and time-outs are available in the account menu of every licensed site if you want a firmer boundary.
It also helps to set a budget for a whole festival rather than for each day. Cheltenham runs across four days with seven races a day, and it is easy to spend the first day's budget by lunchtime on the second. Deciding the total in advance, and treating it as the cost of a week's entertainment, keeps the festival enjoyable from the first race on Tuesday to the Gold Cup on Friday.
Frequently asked questions
Which betting site is best for horse racing?
William Hill is our top pick for extra places and racing coverage, Betfred for bonuses on multiple bets, and the Betfair Exchange for the biggest win prices on most major races.
Do all bookmakers offer Best Odds Guaranteed?
Most major UK bookmakers offer it on UK and Irish racing, but conditions vary, including start times and caps, and some sites remove it from individual accounts.
What is a Rule 4 deduction?
It is a reduction to winnings on fixed-price bets when a horse is withdrawn from a race after you bet. The size depends on the withdrawn horse's price.
How much does a Lucky 15 cost?
A Lucky 15 is fifteen bets, so a £1 Lucky 15 costs £15. If you place it each-way, the total doubles to £30.
Callum Ashworth
Senior bookmaker reviewer
Callum spent fourteen years behind the counter of betting shops in Liverpool and Birkenhead, the last six as a shop manager, before moving into odds compiling support and then writing. He opens every account he reviews with his own money and keeps a spreadsheet of every withdrawal time.