Handicapping

The popularity of horse betting has grown tenfold since the Triple Crown ended in June. For the new online horse betting enthusiast, here are a few handicapping basics to help you get your feet wet.

1. Read Daily Race Forum – When you want to improve at something it is important to become completely knowledgeable. In Horse racing the way to do this is by reading the daily race forum. In essence the forum tells you all you need to know about conditions for various tracks, horse’s race history, owners and a variety of other important factors. Just being able to understand the DRF is half the battle to becoming a successful horse handicapper.

2. Types Of Races – There are five types of races you will witness any given day at the track. Firstly the stake race is for the best horses to compete in. Handicap races are races in which the participants are assigned weights in order to make the race a level playing field. Allowance races are for horses that are better than handicappers but are aspiring to enter into a stakes race. Fourthly, claiming races are for new potential owners to buy the winning horse in. Finally, maiden races are for horses that have yet to win a race.

3. Betting Options – Horse race betting has become so popular in recent memory mainly because of the plethora of wagering options. Fans can wager on straight bets, which include picking the horse to win out right, picking the horse to place, picking the horse to show and picking the horse to go across the board. Essentially the latter three straight bets allow you to make a profit when the horse finishes in the top three.

Some of the other wagers are known as exotic bets. Here fans can bet the exacta, trifecta, and Superfecta. Each of these exotic wagers requires you to bet upon more than one horse, similar to a parlay bet in football.