Jargon Buster: Your guide to the key horse racing betting terms
This horse racing betting guide is for the Grand National and beyond. It explains the basics of horse race betting terms from BOG to SP.
This horse racing betting guide will be all you need ahead of the Grand National and beyond. It explains the basics of horse race betting terms from BOG to SP.
Jargon Buster explains the key horse racing betting terms.
When you bet on a horse race you can back Win, Each Way or Place. If you back Each way, half of your stake will be on the horse to win and the other half on placing. A Canadian consists of 26 bets involving 5 selections in different events. The bet includes 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds plus an accumulator.
A straight forecast is the winner and runner-up in the correct order. A reverse forecast means the two selections coming first and second in any order, and a bet consists of 15 bets involving 4 selections in different events.
The current favourite for the Grand National is 9/1. A £5 bet on Delta Work would return £50 if it was victorious. However, if the odds were displayed as SP when the bet was struck, the return can vary.
The SP or Starting Price is the prevailing odds at the time the race starts. For example, a horse may have odds of 10/1 a hour before the races but only 4/ 1 when the racing starts, so the SP would be £5 for a bet of £1.
Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG) applies when the bookmaker agrees to settle your bet at the starting price (SP) if it is greater than the price you took when placing the bet. For example, you may back a horse at 2/1 but by the time the race begins that horse may be now a 5/1000. If it wins, the horse receives £6 instead of £3.
The shortest priced horse in the race is the market leader.
A market mover is a selection that changes in price significantly in either direction. It can be profitable to follow horses that shorten up before the off.
Betting calculator is a useful tool for working out the returns from multiple bets. It's useful when trying to work out returns for Trixies and Yankees bets, for example.
Horse racing betting tips are selections people have made that they feel have a better chance of winning than their odds suggest.
An increasing amount of horse racing betting takes place online. It is a good alternative to visiting the bookmakers or the racecourse.
