Horse racing betting is as old as the sport of horse racing itself, having horse racing fans and players bet on their favorite horses as early as the 12th century. Nowadays, after going through periods of banning and  de-legitimization and experiencing numerous ups and downs in terms of popularity and public support, horse racing betting is one the most popular recreational activities and the most popular betting field in sports betting.

Horse Racing Betting
At first, horse racing betting was administered by private bookies, who took advantage of the public’s naivete and the fact that they, the bookies, had all the access they needed to the back scene of horse racing in order to mislead the public of bettors and cause them to lose their bets, thus earning more money on the expanse of the bettors. Eventually, frustration grew among the crowds of horse racing bettors, especially when they found out about the close links between organized crime and bookies operations, and the traditional bookie was eliminated, with Parimutuel betting taking its place. Parimutuel betting is a French developed betting system which is based on the concept of “Betting Amongst Ourselves“. Unlike casino betting where the house is always on the winning side due to probabilities, in Parimutuel betting the bettors bet against one another, having the pool of money divided among the winners rather than being collected solely by the bookmaker. This gives a fair chance for every bettor to win bets and eliminates corruption among the bookmakers. In Parimutuel betting, odds are assigned to each horse setting the bookmakers view and opinion over the horse’s chances of winning the race plus the amount of support a particular horse gets from the public. This gives some clarity over which horses bear more chances than others, which horses are overpriced, meaning they bear more chances of winning a race however the bookmakers and betting public think otherwise.

Different Types of Bets in Horse Racing
From the days when horse racing players bet on horse to win only, horse racing betting had evolved greatly to introduce a wide variety of betting options. Apart from straight betting on horses to win, place (finishing either 1st or 2nd) or show (finishing either 1st, 2nd or 3rd), horse racing betting gives bettors the chance to bet on horses in all sorts of ways, some of them capable of raising a handsome profit if conducted properly. This type of betting is refereed to as exotic betting. Exotic betting stretches the boundries of horse racing betting, allowing bettors to bet on more than race in one bet, predict the order of finishers or choose a trio of horses from different races  and fields to win all in one bet.

The most common types of exotic betting are:

• Exacta – picking the first two finishers of a race in exact order.
• Trifecta – picking the first three finishers of a race in exact order.
• Perfecta -  picking the first four finishers of race in exact order.
• Double – picking one horse out of two different races.
• Treble – picking one horse out of three different races.

Other types of exotic betting include an extension of the former listed types of bets, having a larger number of horses to pick. For instance,  picking 6 winners in 6 different races, or predicting the exact order of hitting the finish line however using a larger number of runners, such as 5 runners and up to the 8 runners. Other types of betting can be placepot, where bettors pick 5 horses to place in one meeting and if they win they share the prize with all the other bettors who went the same way. These types of bets are very rare and approached only by highly experienced horse racing players and handicappers.

Picking Out A Winner
Picking out a winner in a race can be difficult for new bettors as well as for experienced ones. The main factors which join together to form horse racing results are the following:

• Horses’ form – The horses’ latest performance.
• Weights – The weights allocated on each horse for the purpose of handicapping.
• The going – The level of dampness in the track’s surface and the horses’ ability to handle different types of going (firm, good, soft, heavy).
• On board Jockey – The Jockey riding the horse and its performance stats.
• Trainer’s reputation – The overall success of trainer in a certain field of racing.
• Age and sex – Younger horses are considered less competent than older horse, Fillies (female horses) are less able than male horses.

Much more is be written on horse racing betting, however most of it to be learned and comprehended only through constant engaging of horse betting. Learning the disicipline of horse racing betting and maybe following horse racing tips at first and practicing betting for fun is the only proven way to enter the world of horse racing betting safely. Moreover, many betting sites today offer free horse racing betting bonuses for new bettors which is a great way to go about horse racing betting for the first time. In addition, as technology advanced, virtual horse racing was introduced to allow bettors to bet on virtual racing horses.