Horse Racing Betting Tips

Betting on Horse racing
British horseracing exists in two forms - Flat racing and Jump racing (also called National Hunt). Both types of racing take place all year round, although each have a season during which the championship races take place; in flat racing this is the summer and in jumping it is mostly the winter.

What is Flat Racing?
Flat racing, as the name suggests, involves horses racing on flat turf or all-weather surfaces, over a distance of five furlongs to two and a half miles. Turf racing takes place from the Ballyham Brockesby Stakes meeting in late March and finishes at the Tote November Handicap meeting, both at Doncaster. The Flat season continues all year round by racing on artificial or 'all-weather' surfaces.

The highest quality flat races take place during the summer months, with the best horses competing in Group 1, 2 or 3 races. The calendar is structured around these races, and the Group 1 races usually form the centrepiece of big weekend meetings, such as the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown Park, or can come in clusters over the festival meetings that take place over several days, such as Royal Ascot or Glorious Goodwood.

The Classics

The most prestigious flat races held over varying distances for three-year-old horses. The following races are the five British Classics:
1. Stan James 1,000 Guineas – for fillies only, over one mile at Newmarket in May
2. Stan James 2,000 Guineas for colts and fillies, over one mile at Newmarket in May
3. Vodafone Oaks Stakes – for fillies only, over one and a half miles at Epsom Downs on the first Friday in June
4. Vodafone Derby Stakes – for colts and fillies, over one and a half miles at Epsom Downs on the first Saturday in June
5. Ladbrokes St Leger – for colts and fillies, over one mile and six furlongs at Doncaster in September.

What is Jumps Racing?
Jumps racing only takes place on turf and continues throughout the year, ending at Sandown Park's Gold Cup meeting in April and beginning again just two days later.
In the same way that the big races dominate the Flat calendar, so they do in the Jump season, with the big races beginning in the autumn.

However, Jump racing is very much weighted towards the Cheltenham Festival, with everything counting on Cheltenham Festival results. This is three days of championship races held in March. Every jockey, trainer or owner of a jumping horse dreams of winning a race at the Festival, but in particular the totesport Gold Cup for chasers and the Smurfit Champion Hurdle for hurdlers.

The John Smith's Grand National meeting is another very important meeting, and probably the best-known out of racing circles. The Grand National is a gruelling four and a half mile slog with over thirty imposing fences, and a real test of courage and stamina. It is the most valuable Jump race, worth over £500,000.

Boxing Day is a great day in the Jump racing calendar. The biggest race is the Stan James King George VI Chase at Kempton Park, which has a roll of honour that includes four wins for Desert Orchid.

Horse racing vocabulary

Horse racing has its own vocabulary. To help you decipher the it we have pulled together a quick summary of common horse racing terms.

Colt - young male horse, aged 4 years and under

Gelding - male horse that has been castrated

Stallion - male horse that has retired from racing and is mating mares

Filly - young female horse, aged 4 years and under

Mare - female horse aged 5 years and over

Juvenile - in flat racing these are two-year-old horses, in jump racing these are three or four year olds

Maiden - A horse that has not yet won a race

Novice - a jumping term: a novice hurdler is a horse that has not won a hurdle race before the current jump season, a novice chaser is a horse that has not won a steeplechase before the current jump season

Hands - unit of measurement for horse's height, which is measured from the withers (top of the shoulder blades). One hand is equivalent to 4 inches, and most racehorses stand at around 16 hands high

'On the bridle' or 'on the steel' - a horse which is running well, with plenty of energy and the jockey has not asked it for maximum effort. When a horse is 'off the bridle' it usually means he or she is being ridden vigorously or pushed along by the jockey

Plate - racehorses wear special shoes for racing called racing plates. Losing a shoe is known as 'spreading a plate'

Plater - a horse that usually runs in selling races (low grade)

Running free - describes a horse going too fast to allow it to settle, usually in the early stages of a race

Sire - father of a horse

Dam - mother of a horse

Racing Terms
Flat Racing - the flat season on turf officially begins at the Lincoln meeting at Doncaster in March and ends at the same course in November.

National Hunt - the generic term for jump racing. The season officially runs throughout the year, ending with the Betfred Gold Cup Celebration Meeting at Sandown Park. The most prestigious races take place during the winter, between October and April with the Cheltenham Festival in March staging a number of championship races

All Weather Racing - racing on the Flat on an artificial, sand-based, surface that takes place all year round

Furlong - unit of distance used in horseracing. It is an eighth of a mile, which is approximately 220yds or 200m

Trip - the distance of the race. Flat races are run over distances of five furlongs to two miles six furlongs. National Hunt races are generally run over distances of two miles to three and a half miles, with the longest race being the John Smith's Grand National - a marathon four and a half miles

Handicap - Each horse is rated according to its form in previous races and assigned a weight compared to other horses in the race. The idea is to give better horses greater weight so that each horse has an equal chance of winning - ideally all horses would finish in a straight line. The BHB official handicappers are responsible for rating the horses, and the trick is to see where they may have underrated a horse, which would then be carrying a lower weight than it ought to and so have more chance of winning the race

Group 1, 2 and 3 and Listed races - these races are for the better class of Flat racehorses. Group 1 races are the most prestigious

Grade 1, 2 and 3 and Listed races - these are the National Hunt equivalent to Group races, with Grade 1 races being the most prestigious in jump racing

Bumper - a flat race over two miles for horses bred for National Hunt racing, to get them used to the pressures of racing but without obstacles

Classic - the five most prestigious races for three-year-old flat racehorses only, are called the Classics. These are Stan James 1,000 Guineas, Stan James 2,000 Guineas, both at Newmarket, Vodafone Oaks and Vodafone Derby at Epsom Downs and the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster.

Winning margin - the distance by which a race is won is usually measured in 'lengths' (rough equivalent to a horse's length). Any margin larger than 30 lengths is called a 'distance' and distances shorter than a length can be 'half a length', a 'neck', a 'head', a 'short head' and a 'nose'

Walkover - a 'race' with only one runner

Betting Terms
The Tote - the only company in Britain that is licensed to offer pool betting on racecourses. Bets on one race are placed into a pool and the fund is shared out among the winners, so you don't know how much you will win until after the race. The Tote is present at every racecourse, and is one of the easiest ways to make a bet. The Tote also offers a range of bets such as Exacta, Scoop6, Jackpot and Placepot

Win bet - when you back a horse to win the race

Place bet - this is where you back a horse for a place. The number of places that bookmakers will pay out on depends on the number of runners in the race: where there are under five runners only win bets can be placed; between five and seven runners bookmakers will pay out on just first and second places; between eight and sixteen runners they will pay up to third place and up to fourth place in handicaps of over sixteen runners. Place bets are usually settled at 1/5 or 1/4 of the advertised price. The Tote offer place only bets, but ordinary bookmakers offer it as part of an each-way bet

Each-way bet - when you back a horse to win, or be placed in a race. Essentially, this consists of two bets, one to win and one to be placed, e.g. a bet placed at £2 each-way will actually cost £4

Jackpot - a Tote bet, where you have to select the winner of each of six pre-selected races. The Scoop6 is the biggest jackpot pool and takes place every Saturday

Placepot - similar to the Jackpot, but each of the selections only have to be placed in the race

Favourite or jolly - the horse in the race with the shortest odds, i.e. smallest return on investment

Starting Price (SP) - the odds at which most bets off the racecourse are settled, and represents the general price being offered in the betting ring on the racecourse at the start of a race