Horse Racing

Horse racing is one of the best-loved sports in the UK. Whether you’re a huge fan or a casual follower, it helps to be clued on key things like the different horse racing betting types and how to pick the best horses.

To help you get to grips with how to bet on horse racing, we’ve created this horse racing betting guide that covers all you need to know, including how to understand odds, the wager options, and the form guide.

Intro to Horse Racing Betting

Horse racing is thousands of years old and the sport in its current form has existed in the UK for over 500 years. For almost all this history, fans of the sport have enjoyed making wagers on which horses they think will win the races.

Today, this tradition lives on with markets for practically every flat and jump race in the UK and across the world. No matter where the event you want to bet on is taking place, horse racing betting types are the same, so you’ll have an entire world of wagering options at your disposal.

Placing a horse racing bet is easy. Just browse our list of meetings and the races taking place at them, comparing the odds of each runner and adding it to your BetMGM betting slip. If you back a winner, then your bet will pay out.

Betting markets

There are races taking place almost every day, creating a near-infinite number of betting markets for you to pick from. The highlights include these top events:

Cheltenham Festival

One of the first major horse racing events of the year, taking place in mid-March. It features several Grade 1 races, with the Gold Cup being the highlight of the week. Being the first meeting of its kind on the calendar, a lot of energy surrounds the build-up to Cheltenham.

BetMGM’s Cheltenham betting markets open early, with odds offered months before the horses are scheduled to be under starter’s orders. This gives you plenty of time to find value among any outsiders you think could become a favourite closer to the time.

Grand National

Taking place a couple of weeks after Cheltenham, the Grand National is the most-watched and most-bet-on horse race of the year. It is hosted at the famous Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool and has up to 40 horses compete over a four-mile run that features 30 different fences.

Our Grand National ante-post odds are published early, giving you opportunities to find value on the horses you think are likely to win and place. In early markets, Corach Rambler, Gaillard Du Mesnil, Mahler Mission, and Vanillier are getting the best odds.

Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot is another important date on the British horseracing calendar that even sees the King and other royals in attendance.

In 2024, the event begins on Tuesday 18th June and runs until Saturday 22nd, giving you five days of epic horse racing to watch and wager on. Some of the races to watch include The King Charles III Stakes, The Prince of Wales’s Stakes, and The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

Other British Events

There are plenty of other British horse races throughout the year, including the Epsom Derby and Kempton. You’ll also find events at classic racecourses like Chester, York, Goodwood, Doncaster, Newmarket, and Sandown Park.

International Horse Racing

In addition to the action you can find here in the UK, you can also test your picking skills on international racing from around the world. This includes major US races like the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, as well as Australia’s Melbourne Cup, the Dubai World Cup, and the French Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Types of bets that can be placed

You may notice that horse racing betting types have slightly different names. This is reflective of the fact that the sport operates differently from the likes of football, tennis, and cricket. Thankfully, they’re all straightforward to understand.

Here are the most common ones that you’re likely to come across.

• Win - The simplest wager you can make in horse racing, it’s simply a bet on which horse you think will cross the finish line first.
• Place - A place bet is similar to a win but will also pay out if your chosen horse finishes in the top few places. The exact number varies, but it’s usually two, three, or four.
• Each-Way - This is a combination of a win and a place bet, with equal amounts placed on both.
• Forecast - A bet on which horses will finish first and second, and the order in which they’ll cross the line.
• Tricast - Similar to a forecast bet but covers the top three, without the requirement to get the order correct.

Understanding Horse Racing Betting Odds

Horse racing betting odds work in the same way as they do for other sports. Here in the UK, it is standard to use fractional odds, though it is possible to switch between them if you prefer. In all cases, the smaller the number, the less you will win from your wager but the more likely your bet is to pay out.

For example, a horse with odds of 1/3 is more likely to win than one with odds of 1/9. However, you’d win £3 for every £1 you wagered on the first, while the second option would yield £9 for every £1 you staked.

This example would be the same if you were using decimal or American (moneyline) odds. The only difference is that they would be displayed differently. Using 1/3 as the example, the decimal equivalent is 1.33 and the American odds would be displayed as -300.

We’ve created a betting calculator that you can use alongside this horse racing betting guide to help you compare your options and make the picks you think are the best ones.

Understanding the form guide

In horse racing, fans don’t build a life-long affinity with any particular runner, nor do they build up years of knowledge of the form of individual horses. There are several reasons for this but namely, there are too many horses to choose from and most only spent a few years in the sport before retiring.

Therefore, you’ll want some additional info to help you make your picks. That’s where the form guide comes in. These are produced for each race, listing the runners and riders taking part, as well as other key information like their track record for similar races, tracks, distances, and conditions.

To get the most from the form guide, it’s a good idea to understand what you’ll find in there and how it can influence the outcome of a race. To help you, here’s our guide to using the form guide.

Going

Going is a term used in horse racing to describe the conditions on the track. This is important because some horses will favour one particular condition over another and will, therefore, perform very differently on each.

Note that terminology varies from country to country but in British horse racing, the official descriptions of going are:

• Heavy

• Soft

• Good to Soft

• Good

• Good to Firm

• Firm

Seasoned bettors will look for horses and jockeys that have seen success in the same conditions before.

Course

A form guide may display a C symbol next to a horse. This indicates that they have won at that course in previous races. While not a guarantee of repeat success, it can suggest that there are unique conditions at that venue that make it favourable for that particular horse.

Distance

Some horses perform better at one specific distance. Therefore, previous success over that same distance is a factor you’ll want to consider. To help you, this will be shown in the form guide as a D.

Course and Distance

When a horse has won a race over the same distance at that course, then this is an even better sign. It is, therefore, marked on the form guide as CD.

Beaten Favourite

If a horse has previously been the favourite to win a race but was beaten, it will be denoted in the form guide as BF. This is not always something to put you off picking a horse, but it’s worth digging a little deeper to learn why that was the case.

Past Results

You’ll also see how a horse performed in its previous races. Generally, you’ll see these numbers and symbols to help you understand how we’ll they’ve run.

• 1-9 or 0 - Where they finished in a race. 0 indicates finishing outside the top nine
• / - A slash shows you that a horse missed an entire racing season
• P or PU - The horse did not finish the race because it was pulled up by the jockey
• F - Horse fell
• R - The horse refused to run
• BD - The horse was brought down by another horse
• U or UR - The horse unseated the jockey