Horse Betting 101: History, Types of Wagers, How Odds Work, General Horse Betting Process, Common Terms

Wagering on horse racing (commonly known as horse betting) has been an international sporting tradition for centuries.

First popularized during the reign of King James I in the early 1600s, horse betting first made landfall in Canada about a century-and-a-half later. 

Canada’s maiden horse race took place on  July 1, 1767, exactly 100 years before Confederation, on the Plains of Abraham near what is now known as Quebec City. The purse (prize money) for the race was $40.

Of course, plenty has changed since then.

For example, the King’s Plate, one of Canada’s richest horse races, features a purse of $1 million. The Saudi Cup, which stands as the world’s richest Thoroughbred contest, boasts a purse of $20 million.

The ways in which horse bettors, or horseplayers as their known in the industry, can interact with the sport have also grown tremendously over the years.

This page will serve as the horseplayers handbook, in that it will provide an all-encompassing resource on all things horse betting.

Jump ahead to each section here:

• Types of horse bets
• How do horse betting odds work?
• Common horse racing odds and payouts
• General process of horse betting
• Horse racing terms to know

Types of horse bets

For starters, racetracks use a pari-mutuel betting format whereby winners split the total handle (proportion to their bets) after the betting provider takes its cut. For a deep dive on the pari-mutuel system, consult our Pari-Mutuel Wagering 101 guide. 

There is no shortage of bet types under the pari-mutuel model. The most common bets are typically known as a straight wager, which is a horse bet that involves a single horse in a single race.

Should you choose to add additional horses, races or both into a bet, it then becomes an exotic wager.

Below are examples of common straight and exotic bets that you may encounter.

Straight bets

Win – A win bet simply means that your chosen horse must win the race.

Place – Your chosen horse must win the race or finish second.

Show – Your chosen horse must win the race, finish second or finish third.

Combinations – You can combine these three bets and get paid for any result that your horse can secure. This includes win/place, place/show and win/place/show.

Exotic bets

Exacta – You must pick the first and second-place finishers in a race in the correct order for the bet to pay.

Quinella – A quinella is an exacta bet, but without the order requirement. You must pick two horses to win and place, but the order does not matter.

Trifecta – You must select the first, second, and third-place finishers in a race in the correct order.

Superfecta – Choose the first, second, third, and fourth-place finishers in a race in the correct order.

Double/Pick 3/Pick 4/ Pick 6 – With this family of wagers, you must pick the winning horse in multiple races. The only difference between these types of bets is the number of races that you must pick. The Daily Double, for example, requires you to select the winner of two straight races. The Pick 3 is three straight, the Pick 4 is four, and so forth.

Omni - An Omni bet (also known as Swinger) requires you to select at least two of the top three finishers in a single race.

Hi-5 - To win a Hi-5, you must select the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth place finishers in a single race in the correct order.

In addition to those types of wagers, there are also several exotic bet modifiers that you can put into action. Choosing these elements will increase the price you must pay to place a wager, but they can also increase your chances of winning. They are:

Box – A box bet allows you to cover all the combinations of horses with one wager. So, for instance, in a trifecta box, it does not matter which order your three horses finish the race, so long as they are still first, second and third. A quinella, as it is, is an exacta box bet.

Be aware, however, that you will have to pay for each possible combination to make this bet. As an example, a trifecta box bet is six times more expensive than a standard trifecta because there are six possible combinations of horses.

Key – A key bet calls for you to designate one horse as the winner of your exotic bet, then you pick multiple possibilities for the rest of the places. This bet typically comes into play if there is one overwhelming favourite to win the race, but you want to bet multiple horses.

Wheel – A wheel means that you are taking the entire field for one place in your exotic wager. For example, you might choose the win and place horses for a trifecta, but let the show position be a wheel.

Partial – A partial, also known as a partial wheel, is any combination of horses in one of the above categories. The bottom line is that you can bet on any race any way you like, even if it is complex and has many moving parts. You might pick two horses to win, three to place and four to show in a partial trifecta.

How are odds expressed in horse betting and how do they work?

No matter the racetrack or region, horse betting is most often conducted using fractional odds.

The rule of thumb here is that the lower the fraction, the better the chance that the horse will win. For example, a horse running at 2-1 is much more likely to succeed than a horse at 15-1.

Horses can also be listed at fractions less than 1. As you’ll see in the table below, the lowest possible odds a horse can leave the gate at is 1-9. In that case, the horse would be the overwhelming favourite.

As for the odds themselves, you may see them presented in two ways: as a fraction (3/1) or with a colon between the two numbers (3:1).

What these odds are telling you, in essence, is (event won’t happen)/(event will happen). So, in the 3/1 example above, we’d expect that horse to win once and lose three times.

Common odds and payouts (on $2 straight win wagers)

Here’s an idea of the average payout associated with a straight $2 win wager at varying odds. Do understand, however, that odds can rise all the way up into the hundreds, although it is very rare.

Odds	$2 Payout	Odds	$2 Payout	Odds	$2 Payout
1-9	$2.20	7-5	$4.80	7-2	$9.00
1-5	$2.40	3-2	$5.00	4-1	$10.00
2-5	$2.80	8-5	$5.20	9-2	$11.00
1-2	$3.00	9-5	$5.60	5-1	$12.00
3-5	$3.20	2-1	$6.00	6-1	$14.00
Even	$4.00	5-2	$7.00	7-1	$16.00
6-5	$4.40	3-1	$8.00	8-1	$18.00

General process of wagering on a horse race

There is a general procedure when it comes to betting on a horse race, and it looks something like this:

1. Choose the racetrack
2. Find the race number
3. Decide the type of wager
4. Identify the horse
5. Set a dollar amount

This list is merely an example of how horse bets are commonly placed and is meant to provide an idea of how the terminology learned in this guide translates to the wagering process.

Common horse racing terms

Allowance race – A race where the racing secretary assigns each horse a specified weight based on conditions such as age, past performance, and sex.

Also-eligible – Refers to a horse or horses who are officially entered for a race but are not eligible to participate unless the field size is lowered below a defined number by scratches.

Apprentice – A jockey aged 16-25 who has not ridden a certain number of winners within a specified period.

Blinkers – A concave piece of equipment used to narrow a horse’s vision. Horses commonly wear blinkers to improve focus.

Claiming race – A race where each horse entered can be purchased for an allotted price.

Closer – A horse who does their best work later in the race, charging from off the pace.

Connections – The people associated with a particular horse. Connections most often refers to the jockey, trainer, and owner.

Disqualification – A change in the final order of a race based on a review by stewards which reveal an infraction of the rules.

Dam – The mother of a horse.

Front-runner – A horse who prefers to jump out to the front of the pack early in the race and maintain that position throughout (ideally).

Furlong – Measured as one-eighth-of-a-mile.

Graded race – The highest quality Thoroughbred races. Graded races that meet the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee (United States) and Jockey Club of Canada (Canada) are then assigned a specific level (i.e. Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3). Grade 1 is the highest level.

Length – A measurement estimating the length of a horse that is used to define the distance between horses in a race. For example, horse #1 was victorious by 2-lengths over horse #5.

Purse – The prize money available in a particular race. It is divided between owners based on the finishing position of their horse(s).

Scratch – A horse that has been removed from a race before it starts.

Silks – Jacket and cap worn by jockeys.

Sire – Father of a foal (baby horse).

Stakes – A race that usually requires the owner to pay a fee to run their horse. These fees could cover a variety of conditions, including nominating, maintaining eligibility, entering and starting, and are used to add more money to the total purse. 

Read more horse racing news on site.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Woodbine Entertainment Group.