Ante post betting is one of those phrases you may have heard but know nothing about. It’s the sort of jargon that horse racing betting aficionados don’t give a second thought about. However, if you’re new to racing betting then ‘ante post’ needs a little explaining.
In this Paddy Power guide, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of ante post betting. Learn the origins or the term, how it works, and get some ante post tips for next time you’re betting on the horses!
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Ante post betting explained
Ante post bets are any bets placed before the day of a race. You may also see it described as “future” or “futures” betting. For example, if you bet on Big Thunder to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup four months before the race, then you’d be betting on the ante post markets.
Ante post derives from the 19th century practice of staking a betting post at a racecourse to officially open the betting that day. “Ante” means “before” in Latin, so “ante post” means before the post, and thus before the betting.
Ante post / futures markets are most commonly found in horse racing, although a similar thing exists in other sports like football, tennis and NFL. Here, the bets are “outrights” and relate to who might win the Super Bowl or the World Cup. The difference between ante post and outrights is there’s no guarantee the horses in the ante post markets will even run.
Ante post horse racing bet example
Here’s an example of ante post horse racing betting in action.
The King George VI Chase takes place on Boxing Day every year. You can, though, bet on which horse will win months in advance. As you can see, there are plenty of horses listed for the race. None are guaranteed to even run. If you bet on them now, and they don’t run, then you don’t get your money back.
This might sound unfair but that’s what makes ante post betting what it is. The payoff is you get much bigger odds for your selection, because odds setters factor in the risk that the horse might not even race.
In our example, Fact To File is the 6.00 favourite ahead of Il Est Francais (6.50). You can see that Fact To File’s odds have already come in from 13.00 in the futures markets, while Il Est Francais has been pushed from 3.25 out to 11.00, and now back in again.
Why ante post betting exists
Ante post betting exists because punters want to bet on races way ahead of the race card being published. There is no knowing, for example, who will line up to race in the Grand National next year. However, punters can track the most successful stayers and see if they are being lined up for Aintree. It might make sense to place an early futures bet at high odds on a horse now, rather than wait until their price comes in.
Ante post bets take up a small percentage of the overall wagers placed on horses each year. However, they are useful for bettors and also for bookmakers.
If a flurry of punters throw cash at a horse in the ante post markets then it’s more likely the horse will have low odds on the day of the race.
Ante post horse racing betting tips
If you’re new to horse racing betting and are looking at trying the ante post markets then it’s worth taking a look at the following advice from our experts:
1. Start small and stick to budget
Ante post betting naturally comes with more risk because you can’t guarantee a horse will start your chosen race, and you have no idea what their form might be. So, stick to small bets to begin with and never spend more than you can comfortably afford. Staying small reduces your risk and means you can place more ante post bets, and improve your ability to spot winners.
2. Track horses
If you spot a horse in the ante post markets and are thinking of backing it then take a moment to check its results. Is it running well and when is it next scheduled to race? If you can, watch the race your horse is in and then decide whether they’re worth backing.
3. Track the odds
You can see the odds changes within the horse racing ante-post betting markets, below the current odds for each horse. So, you can see if a horse is a market mover. If its odds are drifting then look for the reason. Likewise, why is a horse’s odds coming in? You might want to move fast and lock in a good price or wait for the odds to change again.
4. Look at trainers
Big trainers like to target big races. If there’s a horse towards the top of the futures list for a major race like the Cheltenham Gold Cup ante post, then it’s likely they have a big trainer backing them. When this happens it’s worth reading the latest horse racing news to see if said training is pushing said horse for that race. If they are, the horse’s odds could soon fall.
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