Horse Racing Betting Guide: Bet Types, SP, Tote and Rule 4

Horse racing has more bet types and more settlement rules than almost any other sport. A race can have twenty runners, prices move right up to the off, horses get withdrawn at the start, and two of them can cross the line together. None of that is complicated once you have seen the arithmetic, but it explains why a winning bet sometimes pays less than the price you took.

This guide works through the main bets, the difference between fixed odds, starting price and pool betting, and the rules on non-runners, Rule 4 deductions and dead heats. The examples use UK and Irish conventions with fractional odds, with decimal equivalents alongside. Pool betting in the US and Australia follows the same principles under different names.

Reading a racecard

Every race comes with a racecard listing the runners, their jockeys and trainers, the weight each horse carries, its official rating where it has one, and a string of form figures. On the flat you will also see the draw, the stall each horse starts from, which matters on some tracks more than others. The going describes the ground, from firm through good and soft to heavy on turf, and many horses run noticeably better on one type of ground than another.

Form figures read left to right, oldest to most recent:

• 1 to 9 show the finishing position
• 0 means the horse finished outside the first nine
• F fell, U unseated rider, P pulled up
• A dash or slash separates seasons, so a slash often marks a long break

A price of 5/2 means you win £5 for every £2 staked. £10 at 5/2 returns £35, your £25 profit plus the £10 stake. In decimal that is 3.50, which implies a 28.6% chance. If you need a refresher on converting prices, see how betting odds work.

Win, place and each-way bets

A win bet pays only if your horse finishes first. A place bet pays if it finishes in one of the paid places, at lower odds. An each-way bet combines the two: half your stake goes on the win and half on the place, so a £5 each-way bet costs £10.

The place part is paid at a fraction of the win odds, called the place terms. Bookmakers set their own, and many offer extra places on big races, but the typical UK and Irish terms look like this:

• 2 to 4 runners: win only, no each-way
• 5 to 7 runners: 1/4 the odds, first 2 places
• 8 or more runners: 1/5 the odds, first 3 places
• Handicaps with 12 to 15 runners: 1/4 the odds, first 3 places
• Handicaps with 16 or more runners: 1/4 the odds, first 4 places

Worked example: £5 each-way at 10/1 in an eight-runner race, 1/5 odds for three places. The place part is paid at 10/1 divided by 5, which is 2/1. If your horse finishes second, the win half loses and the place half returns £15 (£10 profit plus £5 stake). You staked £10 and got £15 back. If it wins, both halves pay: £55 from the win part and £15 from the place part, £70 in total, a £60 profit. Our guide to each-way bets covers place terms and golf examples in more depth.

Forecasts, tricasts and other multi-runner bets

A straight forecast asks you to name the first and second in the correct order. A reverse forecast covers both orders, so it is two bets and costs double. A tricast names the first three in order. In US racing and in UK Tote pools, the equivalents are called the exacta and the trifecta, and the superfecta extends the idea to the first four.

Combination bets cover every order of a group of horses, and the number of bets grows quickly. A combination forecast on three horses is 6 bets, because there are 3 choices for the winner and 2 for second. On four horses it is 12 bets. A combination tricast on three horses is 6 bets (3 x 2 x 1), and on four horses it is 24 bets (4 x 3 x 2). At £1 a line, a four-horse combination tricast costs £24 before a single horse has run.

At fixed-odds bookmakers, forecasts and tricasts are usually paid at a dividend calculated after the race, often called the computer straight forecast (CSF) and computer tricast, not at a price you can see in advance. Pool versions pay whatever the pool produces, which is explained below.

Fixed odds, starting price and the Tote

When you take a fixed price, say 6/1 in the morning, you are paid at 6/1 if the horse wins, whatever its price at the off. The alternative is the starting price, or SP, which is the official price at the moment the race starts, based on the on-course market. Taking SP means you accept whatever that final price turns out to be. Fixed prices can beat SP when a horse drifts and lose to it when a horse shortens, and nobody knows which way it will go.

The Tote is pool betting, known elsewhere as pari-mutuel. Every stake on a given bet type goes into one pool, the operator takes a deduction, and the rest is shared among the winning tickets. Suppose the win pool is £20,000 and the operator deducts 20% (an illustrative figure; real deductions vary by operator and pool). That leaves £16,000. If £4,000 was staked on the winner, the dividend is £16,000 divided by £4,000, which is £4.00 per £1 including the stake, the same as 3/1. You do not know the dividend until betting closes, and a big late bet on your horse can shrink it.

In the US, track betting is pari-mutuel, and the main pools are win, place (first or second) and show (first, second or third). Australian punters can choose between tote and fixed odds on most races.

Non-runners and Rule 4 deductions

If your own horse is withdrawn on the day, a fixed-odds single is normally void and your stake comes back. In a multiple, that leg is treated as a non-runner and the rest of the bet stands. Ante-post bets, placed before the final declarations, are different: if the horse does not run, the stake is usually lost, unless the bookmaker offers a non-runner no bet concession on that race.

The harder case is when another horse is withdrawn after you took a price. Your horse now faces a smaller field, so the price you took is bigger than it should be. Rule 4 of the Tattersalls rules on betting, which UK and Irish bookmakers apply or mirror in their own terms, deals with this by deducting an amount from your winnings. The size of the deduction depends on the withdrawn horse's price at the time it was withdrawn: the shorter its price, the bigger the deduction. The deduction is expressed in pence in the pound and applies to winnings only, never to your stake.

Worked example: you have £10 on a horse at 4/1. Before the race, a well-fancied rival is withdrawn and the published table gives a deduction of 25p in the pound for that rival's price. Your horse wins. Without a deduction, the winnings would be £40. The deduction is 25% of £40, which is £10, so your winnings become £30. Add the £10 stake and you receive £40 instead of £50. Put another way, 4/1 has effectively become 3/1.

A few more points on how the rule works in practice. If more than one horse is withdrawn, the deductions are combined, but the total is capped at 75p in the pound. Withdrawn horses at long prices usually produce a small deduction or none at all. Bets at SP are not normally affected when the market has time to re-form, because the starting prices already reflect the smaller field. If the withdrawal comes too late for that, for example at the start, SP bets can be reduced as well. Each-way bets have the deduction applied to both the win and place parts. Pool bets are settled from the pool, so Rule 4 does not apply to them in the same way.

Dead heats

When two horses finish level for a position that pays, the stake is divided by the number of horses in the dead heat and each part is settled separately. Say you have £10 at 6/1 and your horse dead-heats for first with one other runner. Half your stake, £5, is paid at 6/1 and returns £35. The other £5 is lost. Your total return is £35 on a £10 bet, a £25 profit instead of the £60 profit an outright win would have produced.

The same rule applies to each-way place parts when horses dead-heat for the last paying place. In a three-place race, if your horse ties for third with another runner, the place part is settled on half the place stake. Golf uses the same dead heat principle, which is why tied finishes in top 5 or top 10 markets can pay less than expected.

Before you place a racing bet

Beginners lose most avoidable money on racing by misreading the bet slip rather than the race. A short routine fixes most of it:

• Check the number of runners and whether the race is a handicap, because that sets the each-way terms.
• Read the place terms on the bet slip, especially on big races where extra places may be offered.
• Decide between a fixed price and SP before you click, and know which one the slip has selected.
• Count the lines on any combination forecast or tricast and check the total stake.
• Remember that a late withdrawal can trigger a Rule 4 deduction on a fixed price.

Horse racing betting is legal in some countries and states and restricted in others. In India, rules differ by state and some states ban online betting. Check the law where you live and use licensed operators only. Racing is fast and runs all day on many days of the week, which makes it easy to bet more often than planned, so set a budget before the first race and stick to it. Our responsible gambling page lists limit tools and support services.