Roy Brindley’s Horse Racing Guides (Part 5): Betting Terminology
In the last installment of Roy’s racing guides we look at horse racing betting terminology. If you want to be a seasoned vet, you should be able to master all of the following terms.
What Does SP Mean in Betting?
SP is the shortened term for Starting Price. That is the odds a horse was when the race started – it will be used as the price to settle winning bets unless punters have agreed to take a fixed/agreed price when placing their wager.
What Does Evens Mean in Betting?
Known as ‘levels you devils’ in betting slang, ‘evens’ is a shortened term for even money. Whatever your bet stake …it will be matched and returned if your horse wager is successful.
What Is Ante-Post Betting?
Ante-Post is the term used for long-range betting. Typically, there are ante-post betting markets available on the key races at the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National, and 1000/2000 Guineas – to mention a few.
Backing a horse months before the race can give you far better odds than its eventual SP. It can be an excellent strategy. However, there is a downside. If your selection does not run, in ante-post betting your stakes are lost.
What Is Best Odds Guaranteed?
Best Odds Guaranteed is a concession or promotion offered by the best online bookmakers. It can apply to both horse and greyhound racing. In qualifying races, you are guaranteed the best of two prices. Either the price taken at the time when your bet was struck, or the official SP (Starting Price). You can learn more about best odds guaranteed at our UK horse racing betting sites page.
How to Understand Betting Odds
Odds are like an interest rate. They are the rate of return should your selection be successful. In simplistic terms, if you back a winning selection at even money (1/1), you will receive a 100% return on your investment.
If a winning selection has odds of 1/2 your £100 wager will return £50 in profits – so this is a 50 percent return. Odds can always be translated into percentages but, displayed as fractions (as they have been through much of horseracing’s history), many argue odds are more easily understood. A winning 4/1 shot will return four times your stakes plus your bet stake back.
Odds displayed as percentages are very simple to decipher. Using 7/2 as an example: The first figure, 7, is what you will receive in winnings. The second figure, 2, is how much you will need to stake. In this instance, a £20 bet would yield a £70 profit, and a £10 bet a £35 profit.
What Is Each Way Betting?
An each-way wager sees half of your bet stake go on to your selection as a winning bet. The second half goes on it to be placed. So, an each-way be it is two bets in one. The definition of ‘placed’ depends on the field size. Generally, in a race of five, six, or seven runners, it is the first two positions that are classified as placed.
In races with eight or more runners, it is positions first, second, and third. Handicap races with 16 or more runners pay on four place positions. The place part of a bet is not settled at the price struck or SP, but at a fraction of the win odds.
Depending on the field size and type of race, the calculated fraction of the winning price (SP) can be 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, and 1/5 of the odds. The bet is seen by many as a safety net whereby if the selection they have backed fails to win but does place, there will be a return of some kind.
The UK’s horse racing betting sites regularly offer enhancements to their each-way betting terms particularly for big Saturday races. It is well worth shopping around for the best terms.
What Is Rule 4 in Horse Racing Betting?
Rule 4 comes into play when a horse is withdrawn from a race before the off. An amount of money is taken out of winning bets when a horse has been withdrawn to balance the effect of this non-runner.
If the withdrawn horse was a short price, the deduction will be large. If the withdrawn horse was a big price, it will be negligible, or – should it have been 16/1 or greater at the time of its withdrawal, it will not apply.
