Horse racing is the oldest wager when it comes to sports betting. It has literally been around for hundreds of years and while it may not be the most popular wagering anymore, it still has a loyal following that is the envy of most other sports. A day at the track is always time well spent and a day at the OTB is always an adventure.
Horse racing was built to last, that’s for sure. Of course, it didn’t take long for the online gambling world to take notice and many online gambling sites were built around the software horse racing has been using for years. In fact, one has to wonder, where would online gambling be if it wasn’t for horse racing and poker. They were the reason all the action moved to the internet in the first place.
Top 5 Horse Racing Betting Sites
Bovada
- Established industry titan
- Reliable payouts
- All-inclusive immersive gambling
BetOnline.ag
Intertops
MyBookie
XBet
These days, the internet can provide you with an OTB in the comfort of your own home. Most of the online gambling sites available now are one stop shops featuring everything a gambler could ask for. Casinos, sportsbooks, poker rooms, and, of course, racebooks are a point and click away. However, not every site or every racebook is right for your horse racing action.
Finding a site is simple, finding a good racebook site is not. There are many things to learn when gambling online, it’s a different game than the brick and mortar shops. You must find a online racebook that works for you. Before you lay your next trifecta online, be sure to go over our list to be sure you are in the right place. We’re here to help find you the best racebook you can.
Separate Books
Finding a online gambling site is almost too easy. However, finding one that treats horse racing with the respect it deserves is not. Often, sites will cut corners and these are racebooks you don’t want to wager in. One of the tell-tale signs of this is when an online gambling site carries its racebook inside of its sportsbook.
As if horse racing is just another sport like basketball or football. As we all know, horse racing is better than that and deserves its own space in the online site. If you find a site like this, it’s best to avoid it. You won’t be getting all the perks online gambling has to offer if horse racing is just another sport. Ideally, you’ll find a site with a stand alone racebook with a stand alone racebook account.
This way you keep you horse money separate from your sports money. It may seem like a nitpick but there is much more to gain in way of rebate, bonuses, and special features if the online site you choose keeps its racebook separate from the sportsbook.
Rebate System
One reason you want these books separated is for the rebate programs all the good sites are offering. A day at the races is a day at the races, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose and the good online racebooks understand this and want you to come back after one of those tough days. A great way online racebooks retain business is by offering rebates.
This way a player never leaves empty handed. You won’t find this kind of deal at the track or in the Off Track Betting. We’ve seen 7%, 8%, and even 15% rebates on a day’s losses offered, depending on the online racebook. This is one of the online perks we were talking about and one which you shouldn’t play the ponies without. Not every racebook will offer them so find the ones that do.
Minutes to Post
Whether at the window at the track or in the OTB, you have until post to lay your wagers on each race. This is the universal rule and if your online racebook does not follow it, you need to find a new racebook. As mentioned, the software used for horse racing is so of the best in all of online gambling.
These guys basically invented the technology we use everyday so there is no reason for an online racebook to not allow you to get your wagers in with as much time as possible. Especially in an online scenario where you will have dozens of tracks and races available to lay down your wagers, you need as much time as possible to get all of your winning tickets punched.
Any online racebook that does not have this feature is not taking horse racing seriously and that’s all we ask from our online gambling sites. Just take our action seriously. If they don’t take horse racing seriously, then you aren’t getting all the perks available at other sites. Those rebates, bonuses, and special features that make online gambling a viable option in the first place.
Special Offers
Every online racebook will give you special offers at you from the moment lay eyes on their page. However, buyer beware as some of these offers, bonuses, contests, and/or promotions are not as good as they seem. Some sites saddle you with big rollovers, others have long holds on payouts, and some get you to spend more than you want.
One thing these special offers do that’s good is make it easier to shop around. You know what you want to spent, what you like to wager and how you like to wager. Find an online racebook that has bonuses, contests, and/or promotions for the amounts you like with a focus on the sport you like such as horse racing. Check out as many as you can.
Horse Racing Betting Guide
Horse Racing has been around since the 1800’s and betting on the ponies has been around nearly the same amount of time. There are hundreds of race tracks all over the United States and horse players have been flocking to the tracks to bet on horses for many years.
With modern day broadcasting, horse racing fans can now watch most horse racing tracks from the comfort of their own couches, while betting on their favorite horses at the favorite online sportsbook.
Four Steps to Start Betting on Horse Racing
- The first step in Horse Race betting is finding an online sportsbook that you are comfortable with and one that is reliable. There are hundreds, if not thousands of sportsbooks that can be found online but only a handful have earned a reputation in the industry to be called reliable. When you look for a reliable online sportsbook, be sure to look at all factors such as ease of deposit, speed of withdrawals, how easy is it to maneuver around their website and how is their customer service. All of these factors will play a big part in making sure your horse betting experience is pleasant and fun.
- Once you find a online sportsbook that you feel comfortable with, the next step is signing up for an account. Signing up at most online sportsbooks is very simple. There are usually about 10 pieces of information that is needed to get you started, including name, address, city, state, zip code, phone number and some password questions.
- After you sign up and have your passwords saved, the next thing to do is find out how you are going to make a deposit and fund your account. Funding most accounts nowadays is very easy, safe and secure thanks to Bitcoin. Bitcoin makes the process completely safe and the best part, totally anonymous.
- Once your account is funded, you can now sit back on your couch, turn on your TV, grab your Daily Racing Form from your local convenient store and enjoy horse racing!
Top Offshore Horse Racing Sites
We spoke about it earlier and we can emphasize it enough the importance in finding a reliable online sportsbook. The the recent growth of sports wagering, in addition to the millions of people playing daily fantasy sports, online sportsbooks are popping up nearly daily.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of online sportsbooks that are willing to take your money and hold your bets…but what happens if you win? Are they just as ready, and most of all capable, of paying you your winnings? We have did the research for you and have listed four online sportsbooks that we stand behind, recommend and prefer for betting horses online.
- Bookmaker – Bookmaker is our top preference simply due to the fact that they have been around for many years, have a very nice website that caters to horse racing fans and their customer service is second to none! Most of all, betting with Bookmaker is very safe and if you win, you will get your money! They are very reliable, their deposits and withdraw process is seamless and you get your money fast!
- MyBookie – Out of all the websites out there for wagering on the ponies, MyBookie truly has one of the cleanest and easiest to use websites in online sports wagering. They list the horse with the trainer, jockey, owner combo, along with their morning lines, jockey weights and basic information that you can find in the Daily Racing Form. Many of the other websites are very basic and sort of force you into looking at two websites at one time to gather your info. That is what makes MyBookie such a great website and online sportsbook to wager ponies at.
- GTBets – Betting on the horses can be costly if you have a few back to back loses so getting some bonus money is always a plus in our eyes. When it comes to giving back money and bonuses on horse racing, GTBets take the cake! They offer a standard 15% return on all monthly net losses on the horses, which is a very nice aspect of the site.
- Bovada – Bovada not only offers horse racing from a respected website, they also have sections where you can find entries, results and basic news. They allow you to bet futures, which most others do not, and they have a very wide list of tracks that you can play from, both in the United States and in Europe.
Types of Horse Racing Bets
There are tons of ways to wager on horses and each one has it’s benefits and disadvantages compared to the next one. We will list each of the betting term with a small description next to it to help explain what each one is.
- Win Bet – A win bet is a wager that you place for a specific horse to win the race. Your horse must win the race in order for you to collect money.
- Place Bet – A place bet is wagered for a horse to finish first or second in a race. Your horse must come 1st or 2nd to collect money.
- Show Bet – A show bet is wagered for a horse to finish first, second or third in a race. Your horse must come 1st, 2nd or 3rd to collect money.
- Quinella – A quinella is a grouping of 2 horses to finish first and second. Both of the horses you select must come 1st and 2nd, in any order, to collect money.
- Exacta – A exacta is very similar to a quinella bet but the horses must come in the specific order that you place it. These usually pay a little more than a quinella depending on the odds. In order for you to collect winnings, your horses must come in 1st and 2nd, in the order it was placed.
- Trifecta (aka Triple) – These are much like the exacta bet but now you combine a third horse. The horses must place in the order you select, 1st, 2nd and 3rd, in order for you to collect money.
- Superfecta – Superfecta is very similar to the exacta and trifecta but now you have four horses. All four horses must come in the exact order you place the wager, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place in order to collect winnings.
- Daily Double – A daily double wager is one of the harder plays to cash as you must win back to back races with a single ticket. That means that you must hit the winner of Race 1 and Race 2 to collect money.
- Pick 3 – Pick 3 is similar to the Daily Double but instead of winning two races, back to back, you must now hit 3 races consecutively.
- Pick 4 – Pick 4 is similar to the Pick 3 but instead of winning three races, back to back to back, you must now hit 4 races consecutively.
- Pick 6 – Pick 6 is similar to the Pick 3 and Pick 4 but instead of winning 3 or 4 races, you must win 6 straight races that the track predetermines. These are the hardest wager to cash in horse racing but by far the most profitable single wager in betting with a entry costing you $2 for a single horse entry in each race, with a return on investment sometimes reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars!
Horse Racing Odds
Horse Racing odds are released, normally, the night before the race is expected to take place. With most tracks, a morning-line odds maker will make an estimated guess at what he thinks the odds should be and once the money starts coming in on the various horses, the odds will play themselves out compared against the payout pot for the total amount wagered on the race.
One thing to keep in mind when betting on the ponies is that the odds that you see when you place your wager, may not be the actual odds that the horse goes off at. The odds for horse racing will change all the way up until post time. It is always recommended that you check the odds prior to the race going off to know what your actual odds are.
Live Betting on Horse Racing
There really isn’t a Live Betting option for Horse Racing because once the race starts, it only lasts about a minute and a half to 2 minutes. What they do have is the ability to bet all the way up until the horses go into the starting gate.
Horse Racing Betting Strategy
Anyone that has spent time out at the racetrack on a daily racing day will hear horse gamblers talking various strategies to be successful betting the ponies. The fact is there are hundreds of theories to pick winners but some are much more successful than others.
The following are 3 basic Horse Racing Betting Strategies that we have found are successful, each year on the horse racing circuit.
- Winners Win, Losers Lose – Pick up a daily racing form and you will see the horses that are the favorites are the ones that are close to winning, or that have won in recent races. If you want to increase your winning percentage, look for horses that have won or that have come close to winning races in the past 3-5 races.
- Look For Jockey/Trainer Tandems – Many times, trainers will hire on a jockey to ride their horse for a single race but many times in horse racing, trainers and jockeys build relationships together and become very successful working with each other. Many times, you can find the information in a basic daily racing form for jockey/trainer combo’s and their statistics while working together. Play the percentages of jockeys riding for their normal trainer.
- Be Selective With Races – A normal race day at the track will consist of anywhere from 8 to 14 races on a card. Just because there are 14 races on the card, does not mean you need to bet all 14 races. Be selective and pick the races that you feel the strongest about. Avoid those races where you just aren’t sure who you really like.
3 Advanced Horse Racing Betting Tips
Now that we have given you 3 of the basic principles and strategies of horse racing, let’s dig a little deeper into some advanced strategies that we find to be the most successful in horse race betting.
- Bet The Beaten Favorite – Many times in horse racing, when a horse loses as a favorite, his odds will plummet the next time he hits the track. This is because horsemen have long term memories and hate betting a horse that lost in their last race. The fact remains that the horse was the favorite for a reason. Someone believed that the horse was the best horse in the race and the most money was wagered on that horse, to make it the favorite. With the horse losing, the odds on the horse, naturally will be longer (In your favor) the next time he/she races because the oddsmaker will need to put lower odds on the more popular horses with more money wagered. This is when you can clean up and capitalize on misguided information. Maybe the horse simply had an off day? Maybe the horse broke bad from the starting gate? Maybe the horse had a different jockey on him? There are numerous reasons why this could of happened but betting that horse in its first race back off being beaten as a favorite is a very successful strategy that we recommend.
- Only Play Value Pricing Horses – Far too often in horse racing, you will like a horse that is the favorite in the race and in some races, it truly doesn’t benefit you to wager on that horse because the risk outweighs the reward. When you start your day of betting on some horses, tell yourself that you are not going to go below a horse that is XXX amount. For me, I always look for horses that have a value of 4/1. I won’t play a horse any lower in odds than 4/1. With this strategy, it prevents you from playing those 9/5 or 2/1 favorites where you are barely doubling your money.
- Avoid Horses That Are Hard To Control Before The Race – There is an old adage on the race track that you never play a horse that can’t be controlled in the paddock or on the walkover before the race. Many times, horses will tire themselves out by trying to get away from the hot walker and groom that will walk the horse over to the paddock area. This is even more emphatic when the jockey is on the horse and the horse is hard to control. This burns a lot of energy from the horse and in most instances, causes them to run bad in that race.
Horse Racing Betting Picks
Horse Racing is a very tough sport to wager on but once you get the hang of it, it is one of the most profitable and funnest sports to wager on. Whether you are attending a horse racing track live or you are wagering on it from the comforts of your own home, there are options to find plays from handicapping experts from around the world.
Most handicapping experts make a living by simply giving out picks to horse races. But in order for them to sell those picks to the public, they have to show some success because otherwise, no one will want to purchase their picks. Searching the internet for horse racing handicappers will result in thousands of options but as with any service, you want to look for long term reliability.
Mobile Betting
Mobile Betting is a great option for betting with most sports but with Horse Racing, it is probably the best asset to have since odds can change all the way up until post time. For this reason, it is imperative to make sure that whatever sportsbook you decide to go with has a mobile horse racing option.
It is a great benefit to be able to handicap a horse race and wait until the last minute to play it, so that you can make sure the odds are in your favor in the race. The two top online sportsbooks that we recommend for horse racing are Bookmaker and MyBookie. Both of these websites offer mobile betting and have great horse racing platforms that can be played on your mobile device.
The Season
Horse Racing is not a seasonal event. The horses run year around and you can find horse betting at nearly every state around the country all year long. Each track has their own season that they go by but each one is spaced out among the others within that area so that horses that are 2 years old can run with other 2 year olds and 3 year olds can run against the same 3 year old.
Horse Racing Leagues to Bet On
With horse racing, there are various tracks to wager on rather than leagues. There are not really any leagues to list other than various horse tracks.
Biggest Events to Bet On
There are big races to play, each and every day, but the biggest events to bet on are the annual Triple Crown races and the Breeders Cup. The Triple Crown races consist of the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Saturday in May, the Preakness, which is held on the third Saturday in May and the Belmont Stakes, which is held in the month of June, usually 3 weeks after the Preakness.
The Breeders Cup is an annual series of Grade 1 thoroughbred races. Some people call the Breeders Cup the championship series of thoroughbred horse industry. Both the Breeders Cup and the Triple Crown races have become world wide events that attract fans and gamblers from local and nationally.