Horse Racing betting strategies
Horse racing betting can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Some punters dig into the fine details in an effort to pick out winning horses every day of the season. Others prefer to trust their instincts and rely a bit more on lady luck to carry them to profit.
If you’re new to horse racing then you could benefit from using a strategy to get you up and running. These don’t have to be complex – the whole point with a strategy is to be consistent and stick with it through thick and thin.
There are scores of horse racing strategies out there and many of them mix with other forms of betting methods. You can, for example, choose to increase and decrease the stake of your next bet depending on the result of your last bet.
In this guide we’re talking about betting strategies for new punters who are getting to grips with horse racing. These tips won’t be for everyone but they aim to show you some simple tactics to keep your bets in check.
Four horse racing betting strategies
No matter what racing betting strategy you use, make sure you bet responsibility and stay within your limits. Paddy offers plenty of resources for helping punters, including deposit and bet limits, and time-outs. Check out our responsible gambling page for more information.
Below are four tips for getting started with a racing bet strategy. Have a look and see if any are right for you!
Lay favourites on debut
Horses move up and down the class system depending on their results, which means they might be promoted into a higher class and compete against better, more consistent runners.
If a horse has gone up a class or, more likely, is racing over fences for the first time then there’s a good chance they could struggle against more experienced opponents.
This is particularly common when a seasoned hurdler takes time out to train for fences and then comes back into the spotlight. The horse might become a fence-jumping sensation in the long run but they’re unlikely to win their first ever fence race.
The strategy, then, is to find these debutants at either new class or new race types, and bet against them winning. You can either lay them or bet on other horses in that race to win.
This takes a good bit of research but you can use the form guides in Paddy’s sportsbook and get notified of debutants. This way you can steer clear of likely losers.
Go each-way
Perhaps the safest, more conservative strategy for any newcomer to horse racing betting is to stick with each-way wagers. When you bet each-way your stake splits in two. The first half backs your horse to win, the second half backs it to place. If it wins, you win your maximum profit. If it places, only the second half of your bet pays out, usually at 1/4 or 1/5 the size of your win bet.
The point of each-way bets is to cover your selection with a little extra insurance, just in case they fail to win.
Many horse racing bettors use EW bets to back mid-priced runners. These horses are usually the third- or fourth-favourite to win and have relatively high odds. It’s therefore worth backing them because you’ll make a profit even if they place.
Track drifters
Drifters are horses whose odds are widening as the race start time draws near. It indicates that bettors are not interested in backing them, which results in sportsbook widening their odds in order to make them a more attractive bet.
There are a lot of reasons why a horse’s odds may be drifting. The big ones are form and a flurry of wagers on another horse. Drifting is not always a bad sign, it just means that there’s a loss of confidence among bettors.
What’s great is you can track the odds in the Paddy Power sportsbook and see where the horse was priced compared to now. In doing so, it’s possible to predict whether the horse’s odds might come back in before the start of the race.
Punters can lock in high odds by tracking and backing drifters at the opportune moment. You can then bet against the horse when its odds have come back in.
If you’re new to racing betting then why not simulate tracking drifters before making your first bet. Record the odds you would have backed a horse at, and take note of their end result. Do this a few times and see if you can spot horses that are drifting but still look good to secure a place finish.
Go two-to-one in trebles
A treble in sports betting is where you make three selections and group them together into one big wager. The idea is to maximise your profit potential because all three picks need to win in order for the bet to pay out.
Now, the usual tactic here is to back three favourites across three races and lump them into a treble bet.
However, one strategy that works for many punters is to back two favourites and one outsider. In doing so, you’re effectively assuming your two favourites will win, and you’re banking on the outsider to push the odds (and your profit potential) much further than usual.
The favourites act as the anchor to your treble, the outsider is your big profit generator.
Of course, there is a lot of risk involved here because the outsider still needs to come good. However, what you can also do is cash out your treble after the two favourites win their races. You’ll have made a solid profit here and avoid the risk of the third pick losing, if you suddenly doubt your choice.