Betting on horse racing is fairly simple when things go your way. You back a horse, it wins, you walk away with profit. Easy, right?
Of course, nothing in life is quite that simple and there are some important rules in horse racing betting that all punters should be aware of.
These rules range from T&Cs when placing bets, to what happens if there is a dispute over the result. You can read our full rules to betting here, which also covers racing.
Horse Racing Betting Rules
Below are the most pertinent rules you need to know when betting on the horses. We’ve split them into rules around placing bets, and rules around horse racing results. Remember, you must be aged 18 or over in the UK and Ireland to gamble.
Rules around placing bets
Payouts – You will receive your payout as soon as possible from Paddy Power once winning bets have been confirmed. You can see all your open and settled bets in your Paddy Power profile. If you have any issues, please contact customer service.
Start price – The start price (SP) are the odds given to a horse when the race begins. Bettors sometimes choose to bet on the SP instead of the current odds, as they expect the odds to widen before the race starts.
Best odds guaranteed – Best Odds Guaranteed is a regular horse racing promotion at Paddy Power. Players opt in to the promo and effectively get the best price for their chosen horse, even if the odds are worse at the time they place the bet. If you place a bet and the Starting Price odds are bigger, we’ll pay you at the SP odds. Be aware, though, that Best Odds Guaranteed doesn’t apply to ante-post odds, in-running bets, combined horse bets, and international races.
Non runners – A non-runner is any horse that makes the official race card but then doesn’t compete in the race. All bets on non-runners are refunded.
Rule 4 – The Rule 4 is a way of recalculating your potential profit if a non-runner is called in your race. Say you bet on the third favourite at Cheltenham at odds of 10/1, only for the 2/1 favourite to withdraw. Suddenly your horse is the second favourite and their odds would have dropped to 5/1. Rule 4 is applied in this instance, where your payout is recalculated based on the price of the withdrawn horse.
Read our Rule 4 in horse racing betting guide here!
Each Way terms – An each way bet splits your stake into two, with the first half backing a win and the second half backing a place. Each way terms focus on the number of places. There is no EW option for races of fewer than five horses. Below are the EW odds for the following races:
- Handicaps of 16 runners or more – 1/4 odds on the first four places
- Handicaps of 12-15 runners – 1/4 odds on the first three places
- All other races of eight runners or more – 1/5 odds on the first three places
- All races of five, six or seven runners – 1/4 odds for the first two places
If you’re struggling to understand your EW payout check how many places are covered in the race card of your chosen race.
Future/Ante Post bets – Paddy opens the markets for some races months before they take place. You can bet on these Futures / Ante Post markets but be aware that if a horse doesn’t run then your stake won’t be refunded. Futures bets carry a max. payout of £50,000 and are void if the race itself doesn’t take place, if the venue is altered, or a horse is eliminated via Jockey Club rules.
Rules around horse race results
Here are some rules specific to the results in horse racing, rather than pre-race rules as outlined above:
Winning Distance – The winning distance is that which is officially announced between the winning horse and second place. Where there is only one finisher in the race, bets that back over a certain distance (for example, +3.5 lengths) will be settled as a winner but all other bets as losers.
Live streaming – You can live stream horse racing at Paddy Power and bet alongside all the action. You must log in to your Paddy Power account and place a bet on said race in order to watch live.
Dead heat – A dead heat is declared when two or more horses cross the line at exactly the same time and a single winner cannot be determined. In a dead heat, the stake on your horse is divided by the number of tied horses. Full odds are then paid on that divided stake. So, a 10/1 bet would become 5/1 if two horses were in a dead heat. The same goes for each way dead heats, where the odds are split depending on the number of tied horses.
Settlement rules – Paddy Power, like all bookmakers, pay out on the first result after the race is over. Settlements therefore do not take into account amendments following weigh-ins, or stewards enquiries. In these instances, you might be able to be paid via a Double Result.
Double result – There are instances where you can be paid for altercations to the final result after the race has ended. This is a Double Result, which applies if your horse is awarded the race or promoted to a place, as a result of a stewards enquiry or an objection which is announced before the ‘weigh in’ or ‘winner alright’. In this instance we will pay you. Double results don’t apply to Futures bets. We only apply Double Result to UK and Irish races.
Abandonment – All bets are void and returned to bettors if a race is abandoned.