Beginner’s Guide To Uk Horse Racing Betting

BySam
By Published Updated
On this page 20 sections
  1. So Many Unique Horse Racing Bets!
  2. What are Odds in UK Horse Betting?
  3. The Win Bet
  4. The Each Way Bet
  5. The Tricast
  6. Multiple Bets
  7. The Trixie
  8. The Patent
  9. The Yankee
  10. The Lucky 15
  11. The Super Yankee
  12. The Lucky 31
  13. The Heinz
  14. The Lucky 63
  15. The Super Heinz
  16. The Goliath
  17. UK Betting Markets Unique to Horse Racing
  18. Keep it Simple With UK Horse Racing Bets
  19. Count Components Before Choosing a Unit
  20. One Winner Can Still Leave an Overall Loss

beginners-guideHorse racing betting in the UK offers many exciting opportunities for the bettor. This is especially true when you choose to make your bets with an online racebook. You can access all of the important horse racing festivals in the UK with a computer or mobile device at the online racebooks recommended by EZ Horse Betting. Here is a beginner’s guide to UK horse racing betting that will help you get off to a good start.

 

So Many Unique Horse Racing Bets!

The UK is known for a large number of exotic racing bets. Most of these are not found anywhere else in the world. You will find that most online racebooks make these bets available, but some of the less popular ones will only be found on the live track offered by bookmakers. Having a variety of bets helps people enjoy the game more and also offers bettors the chance to make a large sum of money on a single bet.

We would recommend that the UK horse racing bettor stick with the basic wagers until they have become familiar with some of the bet types listed below. A bettor might even want to play some of these bets on paper first a few times without risking real money. This type of practice will come in handy when you get ready to do the real thing.

What are Odds in UK Horse Betting?

The way that odds are assigned to horses in UK horse betting is not that different from how it is done in other countries. The primary difference is that on-track odds from bookmakers can be much different from the tote board odds that you will receive at an online racebook. We’ll keep our focus on tote board odds here because most of our readers like to bet horses online.

When you get ready to make your bet you will see that each horse has been given odds based on how many wagers have been made on it. A horse at 1-1 is a horse that will return even money. In other words, if you bet $2 you will receive $2 in winnings plus your original wager when the horse wins. At settled even-money odds, that means $4 total, not less than $2. Do not subtract pool takeout again from a declared dividend. The take-out is the amount of money that is withdrawn from every wagering pool to facilitate the purse money given to horsemen and the operation of the track.

A price must be compared with an estimated chance. Even money needs a 50% win rate to break even on equal stakes before additional costs; 3–1 needs 25%. Neither price is automatically good or bad. A higher quoted return usually accompanies a less likely outcome.

Now that you understand a little about UK horse racing odds, let’s take a look at some of the different horse racing bets that are available.

The Win Bet

The Win bet is still one of the most popular in horse racing. To make this bet you only need to pick one horse that you think will win the race. You will collect your bet if the horse finishes first. People love this bet because it it simple to make and it is also relatively inexpensive.  

The Each Way Bet

An Each Way bet in the UK is very similar to a Win/Place bet in the United States, with one crucial difference. In many cases a Place bet in the UK pays out if the horse you have chosen finishes third or higher. So, in the Each Way bet you are making two separate wagers. You are making a Win bet and a Place bet of equal amounts. This bet can be useful when you like a horse but feel that it could come up short and fail to win while being a runner-up.

The Tricast

A Tricast and a tote Trifecta require the same straight finishing order, but their dividend calculations differ. In this bet you will be required to pick the top three finishers of a race in the exact order they come in. Trifectas are one of the most popular exotic bets. A successful Tricast can pay the bettor four figures in winnings when betting the minimum. They payout you will receive depends on the odds of the horses that you have chosen.

Multiple Bets

Multiple bets are those that involve more than one race or more than one horse. These bets have a much higher degree of difficulty than a simple bet to win. As such, the payouts on the bets are much greater.

The Trixie

The Trixie is a UK horse racing bet that uses three horses in three individual races. It is a group bet than includes three doubles and a treble. You will need at least two of the horses you have chosen to win in order to collect this bet.

The Patent

A Patent is a supercharged version of the Trixie that includes a regular Trixie in addition to three single bets. You will be making seven separate wagers with this bet. Making a Patent is slightly easier than a Trixie because you only need one of your horses to win in order to collect some money. Still, it can be a challenging and expensive bet. You can choose to make the Patent an Each Way bet, but this will double your investment.

The Yankee

The Yankee is a bet that includes four horses. It contains six doubles, four trebles and one fourfold: eleven component bets. As you might imagine, this type of bet can become expensive to make. At least two of the four horses you choose to include on your Yankee wager must win for an ordinary win Yankee to return anything; that return may be below the full ticket cost.

The Lucky 15

The Lucky 15 is a type of Yankee wager that also adds in four additional single wagers. You only need one of the four horses that you have included in this wager to win for your returns to be secured. Remember, you are going to be making a total of 15 wagers with this bet so things can become expensive.

The Super Yankee

A Super Yankee, also called a Canadian, uses five selections in different events. It contains ten doubles, ten trebles, five fourfolds and one fivefold, totaling 26 bets. At £1 per component it costs £26, and an each-way version at the same component stake costs £52.

Two winning selections produce one winning double under ordinary win settlement, but that does not guarantee profit across the ticket. Count the losing components as part of the outlay. The structure buys combinations; it does not make the individual horses more likely to win.

The Lucky 31

Oh, my! The Lucky 31 is a Super Yankee bet with five single wagers tacked on for a total of 31 bets. If you are beginning to get confused by all of these horse racing bets, don’t feel discouraged. The bets actually become a little bit easier to make as you go along. After a few times betting them you will feel like an old pro.

The Heinz

Does the name of this bet give you a clue as to how many bets you will be making? That’s right. You will need to make a total of 57 bets in this monster UK horse racing bet. You will be using six horses in different races, and the components are 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 fourfolds, six fivefolds and one sixfold.

The Lucky 63

The Lucky 63 is a Heinz wager with six single wagers added on. As is the case with some of the other wagers on this list, you actually need fewer of your selected horses to be successful in order to achieve some kind of return on your investment.

The Super Heinz

We are now getting into a range of horse racing wagers that are only for the strong at heart. The Super Heinz is a bet that requires 120 separate bets on seven different horses. The total cost is 120 times the component stake; a large bankroll does not establish that the bet is worthwhile. You also need to be lucky, because winning big on these bets is something like hitting the lottery.

The Goliath

These bets are rarely made but they do indeed exist. A total of 247 bets which include eight horses in eight different races. At 50p per component, 247 bets cost £123.50. You simply must have a large amount of money to bet with if you want to make these bets. A lot of UK horse bettors would tell you that such a bet is ridiculous. These types of wagers are reserved for the true gamblers, those who like to take a big stab in the dark.

UK Betting Markets Unique to Horse Racing

The UK horse racing betting market has developed several bet types and market features that are either unique to British racing or far more common there than in North American markets. The each-way bet — essentially two separate bets on the same horse, one to win and one to place — is ubiquitous in UK racing with availability and terms depending on the market and operator. Understanding each-way terms, which specify how many places are paid and at what fraction of the win odds, is essential for evaluating whether an each-way bet offers genuine value in any specific race.

Forecast bets — predicting the first two finishers in either order (reverse forecast) or in the correct order (straight forecast) — are another distinctly British betting tradition that provides an alternative to the North American exacta. The returns on computer-generated forecast bets are calculated by an algorithm rather than a pari-mutuel pool, which means the payout is determined at settlement rather than reflecting the live market. Ante-post betting — placing wagers on races weeks or months before they occur, often at fixed odds — is far more developed in the UK than in North American markets, with major races like the Grand National and Cheltenham Festival generating significant ante-post markets throughout the winter season. For more on the UK betting landscape, our articles on bookmakers and UK horse racing and how horse race betting odds work in UK racing cover the key features in detail.

Keep it Simple With UK Horse Racing Bets

We’ve included a list of all these bets so that you can understand the type of wagering action that happens at UK race tracks. This doesn’t mean that we would recommend all of these bets. On the contrary, if you are new to UK horse betting the best thing that you can do is to keep it simple. Stick with Win bets and Each Way wagers until you feel more comfortable with managing your bankroll.

Check current account eligibility, available markets and promotion conditions in the racebook comparison. Bonus credit is not automatically withdrawable cash. Practice ticket construction without money before choosing a complex multiple.

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Count Components Before Choosing a Unit

A £1 Patent costs £7, a £1 Yankee £11 and a £1 Lucky 15 £15. The unit is applied to every component. If the same notation is each-way, those totals double because each component has a win and place stake. Check the full debit on the confirmation rather than treating “£1” as the entire wager.

William Hill’s definitions list the component structures. Keep the base counts separate from any operator-specific bonus attached to a Lucky bet; a promotion may have additional qualifying conditions.

One Winner Can Still Leave an Overall Loss

Suppose a £1 Patent has three selections and only one wins at 2–1. Its winning single returns £3; every double and the treble loses. Against the £7 total cost, the net loss is £4. The Patent produced a return, but did not produce a profit.

With only two winners at decimal 2.00 and 3.00 in a £1 Yankee, the winning double returns £6. The eleven components cost £11, leaving a £5 loss. These examples assume ordinary win settlement with no void selections or promotional adjustments. Review the entire ticket rather than describing any cashing component as a successful overall bet.

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