UK Horse Racing Tips

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Many horse racing betting beginners are instantly disheartened from betting on horses when they see all the types of bets available. This article is intended to help those that have never had the courage to get into horse racing betting.

It’s true that some of the wagers are too complicated for a beginner. But, there are some that are plain, straightforward and simple enough to start acting on those Cheltenham tips that you see around. Therefore, much of this article will be devoted to straight bets, which are simplest to understand.

Straight Bets

North American Straight Bets

There are four common straight bets. Win is probably the most straightforward of these. It’s when you bet on a horse that you think will be the winner. If the horse wins, you win the bet.

The place bet is the second most popular among beginners. It’s a much easier bet than the win bet because the horse that you picked has to finish in the top two, not necessarily win. However, the payouts are lower for this bet.

The show bet is the easiest of these three. You win if your horse finishes in the top three no matter at which spot. Again, the payouts are lower, much lower than the win and place bet, but the chances to win are significantly greater.

Across the board may be the most interesting of all straight bets. You have a chance of winning the entire bet or just parts of it depending on where your horse finishes. If your horse wins, you win your entire bet. If your horse comes second, you win only money for place and show. If it comes third, you only win the show money.

Rest of World Straight Bets

The biggest difference between the North American and Rest of the World straight bets is with place bet. When you make a place bet outside of North America, you bet that your horse will finish in the top two, three or somewhere even in the top four positions depending on the number of horses that participate.

Also, outside of North America the across the board bet is called each way bet. It’s a combination of the Rest of the World win and place bets.

Advanced Bets

If you are a beginner we advise you to stick to the straight bets until you get proficient in horse racing betting. After that you can start making more advanced bets, also called exotics. The most popular exotic bets are exacta, trifecta, reverse exacta, reverse trifecta, superfecta etc. There are also multiples like win double, win treble, pick 3, pick 4 and so on.

If you want to get into advanced betting, it’s probably best to start with accumulators first, also called parleys. It’s when you make several selections and the odds of all selections are combined into one. If any of the selections you’ve made doesn’t come up, you lose the entire accumulator. However, the payouts are much greater if you win.

Betting on horseracing is somewhat of an art form; it is a process which requires a lot of research and some intense thought. Be sure to make as much use of the information available to you as possible.

Assess the horses past races, if the horse has run the distance of today’s race beforehand then look at how well they ran it. If it’s a half decent winning percentage then you may wish to consider that horse, though don’t forget to look at whether the horse changing distances for today’s race.

However, as you know, it’s not as simple as that and their many other factors to consider before you pick your winner.

When you’re picking that winning accumulator for the football, you assess the form of each team and horseracing is no different. The past form of the horse must be considered. Has the horse had a lot of races this year?

That may be bad news if so as horses that are over raced seldom win. If the horse has had less than 10-15 starts over the past 24 months, then they may be more likely to win. As well as how many races a horse has won, look at the speed they raced at.

If a horse is near the winning position in previous races and has shown speed, then it may be a sign that they are close to finally winning. On the morning of the race, look at which horse has the best work-out at any particularly distance as this usually suggests that the horse is raring to go.

One factor that will probably completely slip your mind is the surface of the track. Ask yourself if the horse is use to running on dirt, turf, synthetic?

As well as the surface, be sure to assess the layout of the track as this will help to tell you the horse’s post position. Sprint races around one turn generally favour outside posts whilst two turn races favour inside posts.

So that’s how to spot a winning horse but what about its trainer? Look for the trainers with the biggest winning percentage as they are likely to be the most consistent and will more often than not continue to win.

Also find out how many horses any one trainer has entered, if a trainer has more than one horse racing it suggests that they are looking to win so a horse belonging to them may be a good bet.

If a horse is new to a trainer, then don’t think it will take them time to hit the ground running (if you pardon the pun) as trainers tend to want to win straight away with their new horse.

And after looking at the horse and the trainer, research the jockey, if the jockey has previously won with the same horse then it is a good sign, certain jockeys are right for certain horses and this is visible with their race records.

So that’s how to spot the winner but what about the actual betting? Start with the favourite; it may seem like the obvious yet unadventurous choice but favourite wins more than 40% of non-handicap flat races.

Though if your research suggests that the favourite is beatable, it shows that the race is very worthwhile when it comes to betting. And as well as assessing a horse’s bullet workout on the morning of the race, assess the odds, horses with odds over 20/1 very rarely win.

Now go and choose your winner!

Horseracing is still one of the most loved sporting events on the planet and is a great British pastime. While everyone in the country likes a gamble now and then, whether it is on the weekly lotto, playing online poker on sites like All Jackpots Casino or betting on football, nothing beats a good flutter on Horse Racing!

2016 has proved to be an action packed year for the sport. The great AP McCoy received a knighthood and Rule the World won the Grand National at an astonishing 33/1 leaving punters everywhere delirious. It is thought that Take That fans, including Robbie Williams, won big thanks to the name of the horse.

But what does horseracing this year have in store for us?

The fixture list for next year includes an additional 14 new meetings taking the planned total to 1,496, the most since 2010. There will also be more evening races, much to the joy of punters. It is said that for the first time ever, we will see year-round racing on Saturday nights with Twilight fixtures on Thursday and Fridays now being held as evening fixtures. Although this comes at a cost as 11 floodlit fixtures are now required for those winter months, the new fixtures will see a rise in attendances and a rise in betting. Of course with it, betting brings an opportunity to win money so be sure to keep an eye for the new races and look out for the best odds.

New Year’s Day starts with ITV taking over from Channel 4 in bringing coverage of horseracing. ITV will kick-off the new era by screening Cheltenham’s New Year Day fixture. In addition to the Cheltenham race, there will also be events at Catterick Bridge, Exeter, Fakenham, Musselburgh and Southwell.

The first major event of the year is of course Cheltenham. The four-day festival will be held from Tuesday the 14^th of March until Friday the 17^th. The festival will kick off with Champion Day, followed by Ladies Day on the 15^th, with St. Patrick’s Thursday next up and then Gold Cup Day will conclude the festival. The famous event is expected to attract over 200,000 racegoers from around the world with over £500 million being gambled over the course of the festival.

The Grand National is known as one of the best horseraces in the world is the race everybody looks for upon fixture release. In 2017 the 170^th annual festival will commence on the 6^th of August and run until the 8^th of August. Grand Opening Day will see a host of exciting races as well as live music and entertainment, Ladies Day follows so make sure you have an eye for fashion on the 7^th. The Grand National will be held on the last day of the festival and will be watched over 600million people worldwide.

Another British course which is held in very high regard worldwide is of course Royal Ascot. In 2016 the total prize money across the five days was £6,580,000 and it is only set to increase next year. The 2017 event begins on the 20^th of June and runs until the 24^th. The 2016 tickets were snapped up quicker than ever so be sure to book early to avoid disappointment!

For all the latest Horse racing news, be sure to keep up with Horse Racing Tips.

Since the advent of the betting exchanges, the ability for ordinary punters to lay bets as well as back horses has completely changed the face of the gambling landscape in the UK.

But is it better generally to back and lay, or is it preferable to simply place your bets using the best race guides you can find and let your wagers take their course?

You will of course hear punters being equally adamant in either direction. Obviously, with backing and laying back at shorter odds, you’re playing more of a percentage game and hoping to benefit over the long term through the shrewdness of your value selections. If you lay a horse back at a lower price, you can effectively have a free bet on the odds difference if things move favourably for you. But this is no different, in theory, to letting the odds ride. After all, if your selections are good, you’ll win on the same number of occasions but your wins will be bigger. The downside is that you’ll lose your entire take on more occasions.

But there are other situations where you can profit no matter what happens by laying back more than your stake at shorter odds and taking a profit.

Of course, this is no different to the way bookmakers have been operating for many years.
It’s really a question of trial and error and seeing what works well for you. One easy way to find out is to establish two exchange accounts and to run them simultaneously with the same selections. One will lay the horses back at a pre-set price you decide on, and one will not. Then, see which works best for you over time.

Each punter is different and what worked well for one won’t necessarily do so for another. If, for example, you’re a value hunter by nature and can see that a 20-1 shot, for example, Arsenal in the Premier League title race, actually has more like a one in 16 chance of winning, then backing at 20s and laying back at 15s may be the way to go. But by running two accounts and being consistent in your approach on each – you should find out which system suits your gambling style best on the bottom line.