Few sports are quite as embedded in British culture as horse racing. In the UK it dates back to the 18th century when its capital, at Newmarket in Suffolk, was first established thanks to the enthusiasm of Charles II.
Betting has always been closely entwined with the sport itself – without its financial input horseracing as we know it would not be able to continue in this country.
There are a number of big races in the course of the year in which people who never otherwise bet tend to have a flutter, the leading one being the Grand National on which it’s estimated that around £175 million is bet each year.
But some people are still a little intimidated by the prospect of placing a bet, put off by all the jargon that surrounds the sport in general. Hopefully this short guide will help to overcome this fear.
Types of horse race
There are three main types of horse race that are run throughout the year. The summer months from May to September see the flat racing season. These are races that can range from a few furlongs (a furlong is 220 yards or 1/8th of a mile) up to two and a half miles but which are generally shorter than this. In athletics the equivalent would be races from 100m sprints up to 800m.
Through the rest of the year there are jumps races, either steeplechases over fences or hurdles races. The distances of these races are longer, between two and four and a half miles so they’re more like middle-distance to marathon races.
Odds explained
The next aspect to understand are the horse racing odds. These determine how much you’ll win if your selection, or selections win. These are expressed as figures like 5/4, 2/1, 11/2 etc.
They simply explain the ratio of stake to winnings. So if you put £5 on a horse at 2/1 and it wins you will receive your stake back along with £10 in winnings. When a horse is heavily favoured to win it might be at odds of “2/1 on”. This means that you would get your £5 stake back as well as 50% of its amount or £2.50.
Types of bet
This is where it starts to get a little more complicated.
The simplest bet you can place is simply called a Win. In this you’re just betting on one horse to come first in a race.
Then there’s an Each Way bet. You double your stake and half goes on the horse winning, the other half goes on it coming in the first three to five places in the race. You are paid at the full odds for the win and at a fraction of them for a place.
A forecast is a bet that aims to predict the first and second horses in a race, if it’s a reverse forecast they can come in either order. A tricast is a bet that covers three horses coming in the exact order.
We then move into combination, or accumulator bets. These aim to predict the winners in a number of different races. They need to produce winners in each race with the winnings forming the stake in in each subsequent race. If successful, these can add up to huge winnings.
Understanding form
Form is the word used to describe how a horse has performed in the past, hopefully to give an indication of how well it might do in the race that you’re planning to bet on. Understanding form is essential for betting success.
Probably the most important pieces of information for the novice gambler are the previous results for the horse. These come in a series of figures like 124P3F1. The numbers represent the horse’s finishing position, the letter P means it was pulled up by the jockey before the end of the race, F means it fell.
Many other aspects such as how the horse runs in certain conditions, the jockey who will be riding and how successful the horse’s trainer is at the moment also have a bearing.
But, for the absolute beginner and until you get to know more about the subject, just following the experts’ tips online or in your daily paper is a good place to start.
Placing a bet
Whether you’re placing a bet online or in person, it’s very simple. You simply specify which horse/s you want to back in which race and the stake you want to put down. You will also be given the choice of placing a bet at its current odds or its odds at the start of the race which may be higher or lower depending on how many other people are betting on it.
So that, in a nutshell, is a beginner’s guide to betting on horse racing. Once you start with these basics, you’re sure to quickly pick up more information and soon you could well be an expert yourself.
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