Best Betting Strategies For Horse Racing : How To Bet on Horses

There are many different betting strategies for horse racing that bettors can use to improve their chances of winning. After quickly going over the basics of how to bet on horse racing, below are some popular horse racing betting strategies and examples of how they can be used.

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Horse Racing Betting Strategy #1 : Use A Key

A “key” refers to selecting one horse to win a race and using that horse as the foundation for multiple bets. This is a strategy to be used when one is confident in the winner of a specific race to help potential payouts in the horses that finish behind the key, or horses in other races later in the day.

If a customer thinks the No. 1 horse is the strongest contender to win a particular race, they can select that No. 1 horse as a “key”. A common way to use a key is to make an exacta or trifecta bet. The customer would select the No. 1 Horse to win the race and then choose two or three other horses to finish in second and third place, in any order.

This can also be used for double wagers, pick 3 wagers, and pick 4 wagers. Doubles, pick 3 and pick 4 wagers are selecting the winning horses for two, three and four races in a row, respectively. The key horse a customer chooses for these is important because it greatly decreases the selections and overall price of the ticket if only one horse is used for one of the races in a double, pick 3 or pick 4 tickets.

Horse Betting Strategy #2 : Dutch or Dutching

Dutching is a betting strategy in horse racing where a customer selects multiple horses in a race to increase your chances of winning.

The objective of dutching is to spread your stake across several horses in such a way that the return is the same no matter which horse wins the race.

Betting Strategies for Horse Racing: Dutching Example in Horse Racing –

A customer wants to place an overall of $100 on a horse race. Determined by the odds board, the No. 1 horse has a 30% chance of winning, the No. 2 horse has a 25% chance, and the No. 7 horse has a 20% chance. A customer would divide their $100 overall stake across the three horses in such a way that the return is the same regardless of which horse wins.

Although possibly confusing to new customers in horse racing, there are Dutch calculators available as a tool. In this example, a customer can wager $43.48 on the No. 1 horse, $36.96 on the No. 2 horse, and $19.57 on the No. 7 horse. If any of the three horses win the race, the customer would make a profit of $91.30. Of course, there is a risk of all three horses not winning and an upset happening, in which the customer would lose their entire $100 wager.

Horse Betting Strategy #3: The Yankee Strategy

In a Yankee bet, the customer selects four horses and places bets on all possible combinations of doubles, trebles, and an accumulator.

This means that if at least two of the four horses win or place in their respective races, the customer will receive a return on their bet. If three or all four horses win or place, the payout can be substantial.

Yankee Example in Horse Racing:

A customer chooses four horses to wager on in four separate races: No. 1 horse, No. 3 horse, No. 9 horse, and the No. 12 horse. To place a Yankee bet, a customer is placing 11 separate bets, as follows:

6 double bets: No. 1 horse and No. 3 horse, No. 1 horse and No 9. horse, No. 1 horse and No. 12 horse, No. 3 horse and No. 9 horse, No. 3 horse and No. 12 horse, No. 9 horse and No. 12 horse.

4 treble bets: No. 1 horse, No. 3 horse, and No 9. horse; No. 1 horse, No. 3 horse, No. 12 Horse; No. 1 horse, No. 9 horse, and No. 12 horse; No. 3 horse, No. 9 horse, and No. 12 horse.

1 four-fold accumulator: No. 1 horse, No. 3 horse, No. 9 horse, and the No. 12 horse

If two of the horses win or place, the customer will receive a return on their bet. If three or all four horses win or place, the payout can be substantial, as the winnings from each individual bet are combined to create a larger payout.

Overall, the Yankee bet is a popular and potentially profitable betting strategy in horse racing, but it requires careful consideration and analysis of the horses and the races.

Horse Racing Betting Strategy: Exacta/Trifecta/Superfecta Betting

What Is Exacta Betting in Horse Racing?

An exacta in horse race betting is a type of wager in which customers must select the first and second place finishers in a race in the correct order.

Exacta wagers are more challenging than simple win bets or place bets because they require the customer to accurately predict the finishing order of two horses rather than one. Of course, with the increased difficulty comes higher payouts than win or place wagers.

What Is Trifecta Betting in Horse Racing?

A trifecta in horse race betting is like an exacta, but the customer must correctly predict the first, second, and third place finishers in a race in the exact order.

What Is Superfecta Betting in Horse Racing?

Going one step further, a superfecta in horse race betting is a type of wager in which a customer must correctly predict the first, second, third, and fourth place finishers in a race in the exact order. The minimum stake when it comes to a superfecta bet is usually around $1.

However, due to the difficulty behind this bet type, some places can go as low as $0.50 or even $0.10.

Horse Racing Bet : Horse Betting Box

Boxing in horse race betting is a type of wager in which a customer selects multiple horses to finish in a certain position, such as first, second, or third, but in any order. For example, in an exacta box, a customer selects two horses to finish first and second, but they can finish in either order.

In a trifecta box, a customer selects three horses to finish first, second, and third, but they can finish in any order. In a superfecta box, a customer selects four horses to finish first, second, third, and fourth, but they can finish in any order.

Boxing bets can increase a customer's chances of winning by covering multiple combinations of outcomes, however, they also increase the cost of the bet since the customer is effectively placing multiple wagers at once.

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