Horse Racing betting: Betfair SP

Trading exchange Betfair launched its own SP product this month and the returned books were stunning after trialling the service during an afternoon's card at Southwell, with the worst percentage book returned in any of the races just 102 per cent. Click here for a free £25 to bet on horse racing with Betfair In the first race using the new service, it was a staggering 95.7 per cent, where the Betfair SP was better on all 10 runners, even after the maximum commission rate of five per cent was factored in. Four of the seven races returned less than 100 per cent books. A £10 bet on the seven winners at the traditional SP would have returned £471.20. But at the Betfair SP, with the maximum commission rate factored in, backers would have netted £596.22 - a difference of some £125.02. The last winner on the card, Dado Mush, was returned at 28/1 on course, but at 40.18 at Betfair SP. Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin commented: "We are thrilled with the way the product has performed, and been received and used by our customers. The worst percentage book we have returned is just 102 per cent, and the best 95.7, so the value to be had at Betfair SP is there for all to see. "In fact, it is the openness and transparency of the product and returns that we are particularly keen to promote. All the information is made available to our customers." Betfair's Director of Horseracing Stephen Burn added: "We are delighted with the way our customers have taken up the opportunity to back and lay the Betfair SP. It's early days but already the prices look very competitive compared to the traditional bookies. "Any punter backing every winner at Southwell for £10 with Betfair would have collected £125 more than if placing the same bets with the industry SP - that's nearly 27 per cent better odds even after deducting our maximum commission. The biggest over-round returned on any market was 102 per cent so if day one is an accurate indicator the markets look robust and punter friendly. "We're rolling out the SP option on a few more meetings tomorrow and expect to be covering all UK racing from Friday onwards. Within weeks we'll be offering a Betfair SP on Irish racing, then UK place markets and shortly after that we'll return an SP for other sports." Click here for a free £25 to bet on horse racing with Betfair