Horse Racing Betting Strategies | Beginner’s Guide

Watching a horse race is one of the most visceral, tense, and exciting experiences you’re likely to have – nothing quite comes close to the thrill of seeing your horse charging ahead of the pack on the final furlong, you screaming, willing it to reach the finish line. It’s even more exciting if you have money riding on the race.

Most people might pick their horse based on the name, or take a quick glance at the odds and choose something that seems like a surefire bet, while those in the know will implement tried and tested horse racing betting systems to give themselves a better chance of winning some money. But how do you know which horse to bet on? Well, in this in-depth guide we’re going to explore the different types of horse racing systems that work, so the next time you find yourself betting on a horse online, you’ll know exactly what to do. Whether you’re new to the game or an experienced bettor looking to try something different, we’ve got everything you need – from the laying horse strategy to the dutching system. While none of these systems are guaranteed to produce a win, they can be an interesting way to bet as well as a good way of watching your bankroll. Just don’t go thinking they’re a shortcut to making you a millionaire!

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Recent Winners Horse Racing Betting Strategy

This strategy is rather self-explanatory. Essentially, you’ll need to check the recent race form of any horses in a race that you want to bet on and check if they’ve won recently. The likelihood is that, if they’ve been victorious prior to this race, they’ll be a strong contender going forward. A lot of this information will be freely available, either online or from a bookmaker, which means that this is a fairly easy horse racing betting strategy to implement. However, it’s important to remember that the bookies will put lower odds on a recent winner, making this a relatively safe bet overall. If you really want to pit your passion against the odds, you’ll probably want to try something a little different.

Horse and Jockey Partnership Strategy

For this horse racing betting system to work, you’ll need to find a horse that finished second in its previous race, but has the same jockey in the race you want to bet on as it had in that previous race. The caveat being that in the previous race, the jockey had to be riding the horse for the first time. The theory behind this strategy is that now the jockey will be more used to riding a potentially winning horse – they’ll know the horse’s strengths and weakness and will be able to adapt faster, hopefully leading to a win. In order to know which horse to bet on, you’ll have to do a bit of research, but as a lot of this information is available online or in racing magazines, you shouldn’t have too much trouble.

The Statistical Lay

Otherwise known as the laying horse strategy, the main principle of this complex horse racing betting system is to bet against a runner. In betting, a lay bet is when you act as the bookmaker, betting against an outcome rather than betting on one. For example, instead of betting on a favoured horse to win the Grand National, you could bet that any other horse will win the race, essentially betting against the favourite.

Firstly, you need to find a race with more than 10 horses in it, identify the three favourites, and check out their individual odds of winning. Out of the top three favourites, you need to pick out the horses that have odds between 2/1 and 4.8/1 and lay against (bet against) the one with the lowest odds. According to the stats, if you bet in this way, you should find a winner around 80% of the time – nothing to scoff at! The reason this works is because statistical analysis shows that the top three favourites, with odds within the specified range, only win around 17% of the time. So, a lay bet on these horses means you’ll win 83% of the time, on average.

The Beaten Favourite Strategy

When choosing which horse to bet on, check to see if a horse in any given race has lost its last race, but previously won races – you can easily find these rankings online. The chances are that the horse will still be considered a strong contender despite the previous loss. The logic behind this betting strategy is that, because the horse has lost before, it may be overlooked by bookies and therefore receive higher odds in a lower-level race, which it will still have a good chance of winning. So, if you decide to place money on this horse, your chances of winning are still unknowable, but should you be successful, you’ll receive a higher payout than you otherwise would betting on an all-out favourite.

The Dutching System

Possibly one of the more tried and tested horse racing betting systems, the dutching system is perfect for those who don’t mind doing a bit of maths. With this strategy, you place a bet on a selection of horses, with the aim of winning back the same amount of money each time, regardless of which horse actually wins the race. While the premise is relatively simple, the actual route to making this horse racing betting strategy work requires the use of a betting calculator, which is easily accessible pretty much anywhere online.

To see it in action, the first thing you need to do is find a race with a decent amount of horses in it – usually 10 or more. Next, you need to pick out two of the top three favourites, ensuring that the odds on offer are generous enough to be worth the wager, and then work out the implied probability of them winning the race. For example, a horse with 2/1 odds would have a 50% chance of winning. All you need to do after that is figure out the stake necessary for each bet in order to guarantee yourself a set profit, regardless of the outcome.

Let’s look at an example of this in action:

Implied probability from the odds:

Implied probability of a 11/1 horse = (1 / (11/1 + 1)) * 100 = 8.33%
Implied probability of a 3/1 horse = (3/ (3/1 + 1)) * 100 = 25%

Required stake:

On the 11/1 horse = (8.33 / (25 + 8.33)) * £10 = £2.50
On the 3/1 horse = (25 / (25 + 8.33)) * £10 = £7.50

Using this formula, you should receive £30 back on your bet, regardless of which horse ends up winning the race.

It’s important to reiterate that no horse racing betting system is fool proof, and they certainly won’t be successful 100% of the time. However, by implementing some of these strategies into your game, you will discover new, enjoyable ways of betting, and maybe even see an upturn in your fortunes. Now that you know some of the best horse racing strategies out there, why not try them for yourself at Betsafe’s live horse racing lobby.