Horse racing is a popular sport world-over, especially in Ireland where it's taken the shape of a peculiar type of national religion, and, while it might not rightfully be called the "king of sports" it certainly earned the name "the sport of kings".

Over time it has inevitably grown to be associated with gambling.

The sport's greatest events are – to the present day – a great opportunity for bettors all over the world to put their handicapping skills to the test in an atmosphere close to that of a carnival. A good example in this sense would be the Cheltenham festival, annually flooded by throngs of Irishmen thirsty for gambling and Guinness.

Lately these renowned events became so popular, that – using the internet and online betting – everyone interested can bet, no matter where and on which continent they live.


But let us take a closer look at what the lads at Cheltenham like so much about this sport ( besides the Guinness of course, I reckon it's clear to everyone what they like about that)

The betting is done in three different ways: betting to win, to show and to place. Betting to win is the best-known type of race-betting but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the most common as well. Bettors place their wagers on a certain horse and if the chosen horse wins the race, they win and cash in according to the pre-race odds that were given by the bookie they used for placing the bet.

One is "betting to place" when he bets on a horse to come out first or second. In this case the chances of the given horse coming out either first or second are significanlty increased thus the bookie adjusts the odds accordingly. In case of a win the bettor will receive a lot less than he would have, had he bet to win.

The third type of bet used for horseraces is the bet to show. If the horse, the bettor put his money on, comes out first second or third ( that is shows up in the "top three") then it's a win for the bettor. However, odds on this type of bet are the the lousiest of the three, as the chances of getting it right are implicitly the best.

In horse race betting – as in most sports – handicapping is everything. No matter what different online sportsbooks and gambling sites will tell you, thee is no foolproof strategy other than thorough and painstaking handicapping. Handicapping should stand at the base of everything a good bettor does: from choosing the type of bet to knowing which horse is the actual favourite of a race.


There are many subtleties to this trade and the wealth of information available on the different horses, jockeys, stables and owners, sometimes does little more than to further complicate the already puzzled bettor's mind. It is a common thing for the media to create "false favs", horses that are overhyped because of all the media surrounding them or their owners. To make things more complicated, managing to single out the winner is by far not enough in race betting. Experts say that the bettors who truly want to go home with some money in their pocket have to bet the value. While finding the winner can prove to be quite easy sometimes, managing to find the value is all the more difficult. The value is in the horses that are definitely not overhyped, and that offer good odds because of this fact, yet they're obviously capable of going the length the bettor counts on. I suppose you see it now, why finding this horse is so difficult.

The amount of variables involved in good horse handicapping is truly overwhelming. From the bloodline of the horse to the way it handles diferent types of ground and the way it behaves in the boxes before the start, there are a myriad of factors that all need to be taken into account by the sharp bettor aiming for value.

Finding the winner is sometimes easy, making a living off race-betting though, is a different matter altogether.



Written by James West