When it comes to placing a bet on a horse race, there are a whole host of factors to consider such as the runner’s age, weight, stamina, and form.

If you are new to horse racing, or just looking for some tips to help find some more winners, here are some tricks and tools which may help your betting.

Check Place Terms

When deciding whether to strike a win or place a bet on a race, it is vital you check the place terms to know how many places you are getting in a race. This is determined by how many runners are in the field. For example, the Grand National, which was won by Tiger Roll in 2019, has 40 runners, so the place terms are four places. In order to give yourself the best chance of picking up a return, look for races where your horse is required to hit the front three or more. If you study the race closely, you should be able to find a selection that has a great chance of hitting those placings.

Combination Bets Give You More Options

If it’s exactas and trifectas you like to place, don’t be afraid to add more selections into a combination bet. When you study a race, you can eliminate a lot of the runners for various reasons. Those which remain at the end of the process, can be combined together for either an exacta or trifecta. The number of bets increase as you add more runners, however, you can reduce your unit stake so you get to a total stake you are comfortable with.

Handicap Debut – Follow The Money

It’s amazing how many horses improve on their handicap debuts, particularly when there is support in the market behind the runner. Often horses are trialled over various distances and ground types in the early stages of their careers. This makes it difficult for the handicapper to assess them on their handicap debuts. If you see strong market support before a race, this can be a sign that connections feel their horse has been given a lenient mark, to begin with.

Morning Prices

As the saying goes, the early bird gets the worm. This can be the case in betting on horse racing. The oddsmakers set their prices in the morning ahead of a race and that can often be the best time to place your bet. If you are unfamiliar with fractional odds, the horse racing guide with World Sports Network gives you more information to best understand what these mean. The key is to find value. For example, if you believe a horse should be as short as 2/1, but is being offered at 4/1, this should interest you.

Online Form Guides

One of the best tools available today to horse racing bettors, are the online form guides. These are much better than newspapers or racecards, as you can find more information about the runners online. These are particularly useful for major international events like the Saudi Cup which was won this year by Mishriff. Some of these sites allow you to add notes to the runners after the race which you can then refer back to when they appear again.

Good luck following the above tricks and tools. Hopefully, you are able to improve your profit return and become much better at beating the bookmakers!