Horse Racing

What Are the Best Betting Sites for Horse Racing?

It’s possible to bet on horse racing with each bookmaker, so which one should you pick? Different bookmakers have different strengths, so picking one ultimately comes down to determining what is important to you. 

This article provides a comprehensive guide to choosing, but if you don’t have time to go through the full article, here is a summary:

Our Overall Winner – We recommend Paddy Power. They have a great range of money back specials and enhancements for horse racing while offering the ability to earn loyalty free bets every week.

If you’ve got a bit more time, here are four points of consideration that can help you pick what is best for you. They include:

  1. Offers for New Customers
  2. Offers for Existing Customers
  3. Betting Odds
  4. Live Streaming Options

Horse Racing Offers for New Customers

Those who don’t already have an account to bet on horse racing will need to open one. Our homepage is the best resource for UK betting sites, but below is a table with links to each one.

Betting Site Promo Code
bet365145-45px bet365 Welcome Offer & Code
10Bet Welcome Offer & Code
Ladbrokes Logo Ladbrokes Welcome Offer & Promo Code
MansionBet MansionBet Welcome Offer & Promo Code
William Hill 145 45 px William Hill Welcome Offer & Promo Code
betfredlogo145-45px Betfred Welcome Offer & Promo Code
Betfair Logo Betfair Welcome Offer &  Promo Code
SportNation145px SportNation Welcome Offer &  Promo Code
paddypower145-45px Paddy Power Welcome Offer & Promo Code

In addition to our homepage, we have a separate page that lists some of the newer betting sites. It is worth taking a look at if you’re looking to open a new account, but already have ones with the established bookmakers.

Horse Racing Offers for Existing Customers

Every day we update the site with the specials offers for horse racing. We know what bookmakers have the best betting offers better than anyone else.

With that in mind, we are uniquely positioned to tell you which bookmakers frequently have the best offers, and therefore where you should be betting on horse racing.

There are five types of offer to look out for; money back and bonuses.

1) Money Back on Losing Bets

Bookmakers will refund losing bets on certain conditions. These conditions vary. It could be for instance, that you receive money back when your horse loses by a length.

In 2019, we’ve seen a convergence towards bookmakers picking money back as their preferred offer format.

  • Paddy Power – Money back if a particular horse wins
  • Boylesports – Money back if your horse finishes 2nd to the SP fav
  • Betfred – Money back if your horse is beaten by a neck or less
  • Betway – Free bet refunds on all losing horses (high profile meets such as Cheltenham only)

The refunded bet is almost always awarded as a free bet, with wagering requirements applying.

2) Get Free Bets When You Win

Maybe one year ago, free bet offers were more common. Nowadays they are rare, and it is only bet365 as the only bookmaker consistently running this. With their ITV racing offer, you will be awarded a free bet when you back a winning horse.

Unibet have their ’15 to go’ similar offer, but only runs at the big horse racing meets such as Glorious Goodwood.

3) Loyalty Free Bets

Different from the above free bets, it is possible also to earn them by regularly betting with the same bookmaker. Paddy Power and Coral both have loyalty schemes which apply to all sports, including horse racing.

Often you have to bet around £50 per week, and for doing so, you’ll receive a £10 free bet.

4) Best odds guaranteed (BOG)

Odds can change every minute. It is possible to back a horse before the start of the race, only for the price to get better. To prevent this frustration, many of the bookmakers offer ‘best odds guaranteed’.

If the starting price (SP) of your horse is better than the odds you backed it at, the bookmaker will payout at the SP price.

Most bookmakers offer BOG, but it should not be assumed. It can also vary according to the market.

Horse Racing Betting Odds

The odds for horse racing fluctuate each minute. This makes studies comparing them difficult, as one minute a bookmaker will be a better price, while a minute late that could reverse.

The easiest way to ensure that you’re getting the best odds for your selection is to use an odds comparison tool. If you hold accounts with multiple bookmakers, you can pick the particular bookmaker with the better odds.

The studies that do exist generally indicate three bookmakers in particular as having the most competitive odds. These include Betfair, bet365 and Bet Victor.

Horse Racing Live Streaming

Place a bet with many of the top bookmakers, and you’ll be able to stream the races live.

In our experience, there is usually a delay of 1-5 seconds. If you’re using the stream to make decisions around betting in-play, you will be at a disadvantage versus those at the race, or against those watching it on television. Because of this delay, we would not recommend using live streaming options for this.

However, if you want to watch how your bet unfolds, then live streaming is a decent option and when picking a bookmaker, then ensure they have it. The majority of bookmakers have it, and their requirements to watch the streams are usually a £1+ bet.

  • bet365
  • William Hill
  • Ladbrokes
  • Coral
  • Bet Victor
  • Unibet
  • Betfair

In Summary

When picking a betting site to bet on horse racing, you should consider the new customer offer, offers you’ll receive as an existing customer, odds and live streaming capabilities.

In our opinion, bet365 is an excellent option for horse racing. It has a generous welcome offer and has promotions for existing customers too.

They consistently come out well in odds comparison studies, and their user interface across both desktop and mobile is easy.