Picking out the winning horse in horse racing betting can be a very elusive task especially in races with more than 10 runners or maiden races where not all factors are known to the bettor.

Single Winner Bet

Picking out the winner in horse racing betting is done by examining all factors of the race and those related to a horse or several horses in order to get a clue over which of them has the best chances or at least fair chances of winning a race. Such factors can be finishing positions in previous races, performance in particular courses, going , weights allocated or racing under a certain jockey. It can be concluded that if a horse has succeeded in certain conditions it has fair chances of doing it again in future races. However, if a horse has failed under these terms, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will fail once more as horses sometimes suffer setbacks, have their trainers go about a different training regime or have a new jockey mount their backs. Each of these can influence the horses performance for the better.

There are many cases in horse racing in which some horses in the racecard show the same form, same weights and top speed figures and in general very equal to one another in chances of nailing  the race. Such races are bets to be left alone as they are highly competitive which means odds on the possible winners will be as low as 1/1 or 1/2 and the outcome will be highly unpredictable. This is where spread betting or Dutching comes in to solve the conflict of too many horses having equal chances, or not enough data on the horses as in maiden races.

Spread Betting

Spread betting or Dutching as most bettors refer to it, is spreading one’s stakes over several bets, placing a portion of the stakes on separate horses in accordance with their odds. High odds horses get a smaller portion of the stakes while low odds horses get a bigger one. This is done in order to balance the payout in case each of these horses win. Another aspect of spread betting is the each way betting. In e/w, a bettor places two different bets, one for win and one for place in one bet. In case the horse wins the bettor receives payout for both bets, but in case the horse places the bettor only gets the payout for the place bet. The place payout is determined by multiplying the odds by 1/4 or 1/5 depending on the type race, and than multiplying again by the stakes. profit in place win is guaranteed only if the odds exceed 5/1 odds. A lot of bettors like to use free horse racing betting bonuses to conduct this kind of betting.

By betting e/w in spread betting a bettor can pick three horses, bet e/w on each of them and in case one of them wins and the other two place 2nd and 3rd, no matter in which order, the bettor enjoys a handsome profit. In case only one or two of them land win or place the bettor can easily return the stakes to be used in other bets. With a bit of patient, a bit of practice and a bit of intuition, most bettors can profit from this type of betting. It is also highly recommended to use a horse betting calculator when approaching such betting.