The best horse racing betting sites have been ranked by our online horse racing betting experts below. Click 'Visit Site' to claim a bonus from one of the best bookies for horse racing.
Best Horse Racing Betting Sites
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Operator
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Bonus
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Features
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Claim Now
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100% Match
Up to R4000 |
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125% Match
Up to R3750 + 25 Free Spins |
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100% Match
Up to R1000 |
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100% Match
Up to R3500 |
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100% Match
Up to R3900 |
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How we Rank Horse Racing Betting Sites
In the modern world of online horse betting, there is a massive selection of bookies available for bettors. Choosing one of the best horse racing online bookmakers can be daunting.
But you shouldn’t worry because we are constantly scouring the online gambling scene to find the best sports betting sites with top horse race betting features.
Our dedicated racing experts have tried out dozens of horse racing betting sites and presented their findings right here Gambling.com. We do the research, analysis, and testing so you don’t have to.
All that's left for you to do is to pick one of the licensed betting sites we recommend on this page. But first, let’s take a closer look at the essential criteria we consider when reviewing horse racing betting sites.
- Easy Sign-Up Process: We understand that online sportsbooks need to ensure all new customers are legitimate. So, we accept ID and other documentation will be required. Taking this into account, we still look for horse racing bookmakers that make the registration and verification process as smooth as possible.
- Mobile Experience: Since many gamblers now wager on their mobile device, sometimes exclusively, we want sports betting sites to have a robust mobile experience. Whether on iOS, Android, or Windows Phone, we expect a premium experience from the best betting apps and mobile betting websites.
- Excellent Betting Promotions: Betting bonuses are always enticing, but finding the most generous offers is easier said than done. When we review horse racing sites, bonuses are an essential consideration. We want our readers to get the best deals, with reasonable terms and conditions.
- Popular Payment Methods Accepted: Sports gamblers value flexibility across the board and that extends to banking options. The best bookies should offer a wide selection of payment methods, including e-wallets and traditional banking options.
- Fast Payouts: Bettors want to be able to withdraw winnings quickly and efficiently. Our review team tests withdrawal times and recommends horse racing betting sites that process payments quickly.
- Betting Licenses: You will never find an online horse betting site on our page that is not licensed by a recognised regulator. We look for sites regulated by reputable gambling authorities, such as South Africa’s National Gambling Board and relevant provincial gambling boards.
- Privacy and Security: We only recommend horse race betting sites that protect your data using the latest technology and encrypt payments to ensure safe deposits and withdrawals.
- Attentive Customer Support: If you have a problem, you need to know the online bookmaker has your back. Our highlighted betting sites provide robust customer support options, with FAQ sections, 24/7 live chat, and knowledgeable staff.
- Industry Reputation: What do other bettors think of a betting site? Does the site have a good track record of taking care of customers? Part of our job is to consider the reputation of a sports betting website among punters, so we know it caters to its customers.
Horse Racing Betting Sites – Must-Have Features
Every online horse racing betting site is different, with a massive variation of exclusive offers and features on show from one bookie to the next. With this in mind, it’s essential you know which online betting sites offer the best odds and which have the most markets available. We also look for live horse racing betting and streaming, as well as who has the best promotions.
It can be very frustrating when you sign up to a new bookmaker, only to realise it doesn’t offer promotions, cash-outs, or streaming. Having as much knowledge as possible about what you’re looking for in a horse racing bookie is critical. We have listed the essential facets we look out for when analysing horse racing bookmakers.
- Good Odds on Domestic and International Races: Great odds are a must when wagering on horse racing. Our reviewers spend hours each week comparing horse racing odds across online sportsbooks, including new betting sites, to ensure we only recommend the sites with competitive prices.
- Variety of Horse Racing Betting Online Markets: Options are essential to bettors, and we love it when a site has a wide selection of bets available for each market. If there is a race, we want to see as many wagering options as possible.
- Coverage of Major Horse Races: From daily or weekly races to major events, the best online horse betting sites will provide coverage of top meets around South Africa and abroad.
- Horse Racing Live Streaming: Not only should you be able to bet on the action, but you should also be able to watch it live. The top horse race betting apps and websites we recommend have live streaming of dozens of races each week.
- In-Play Betting: Picking a winner before the race starts is the core of the horse betting experience, but modern sports betting sites also provide in-running betting markets. We look for bookmakers with the most robust live horse racing betting options.
Horse Racing Betting Odds Explained
If you are heading to a horse race betting site for the first time, it is good to start with a solid knowledge of how betting odds work. For bettors in South Africa, odds are generally shown in decimal form, although some popular sites may also express odds in fractional form and there is often an option to choose your preferred style.
When you see a horse with odds of 2/1 to win, this means any bet stake will be doubled if you win. So, a R100 wager and a winning bet will result in you getting R200 in winnings - R300 overall, with your original stake also returned. The decimal system shows odds as how much you will get back in total from a winning bet. So, the 2/1 odds would be shown as 3.00.
Yet, odds can often become confusing as not all are shown as 'something to one'. Instead, you may see a 5/2, which means you get a profit of R500 on a winning bet of R200. However, you do not need to bet R200 to claim the odds.
The wagering amount on the odds, the number on the right, is the denominator, while the profit number, the one on the left, is the numerator.
Horse Racing Betting Offers
Everybody loves something for free in life, and it’s no different when it comes to betting online. Thankfully with the surge in the number of online bookmakers, there's never been a better time to open up a new horse racing betting account and claim a betting offer or promotion.
While betting offers can vary from site to site, certain standard offers are frequently available at betting sites. Below are some of the most common bonuses at horse racing sites.
- Free Bets: Free bets are the most common type of welcome bonus at sports betting sites. As the name suggests, sportsbooks will reward you with a free bet when registering with the site. Bookmakers usually limit the odds on this bet, so you would need to combine a number of selections to win big.
- Daily Racing Specials: Because horse racing is one of the most popular betting sports, you can often grab specials at top betting sites. You can claim boosted odds and other price deals for select races each day.
- Money-Back Offers: A rare treat at an online sportsbook is a money-back guarantee on some races and horses. For example, the site may pay back your wager if the favourite beats your chosen runner, or vice-versa.
- Price Boost Offers: When looking for the best horse racing odds, price boosts are always worth keeping an eye out for. The sports betting operator will increase a specific market price, giving you the chance to win more if you wager a particular amount.
- Matched Deposit Offers: A classic of the online gambling realm, the matched deposit bonus is when the site matches a deposit by a percentage amount. For example, a 100% match bonus on a R100 deposit would provide you with an additional R100 in bonus funds.
Bonuses are plenty of fun and can add excitement to horse racing betting, but remember that they are never free as nothing ever is in the gambling world.
Each offer will come with limitations and wagering requirements you must meet to claim the deal. There may be restrictions on which sports you can redeem your free bet on or the payment methods you can use for deposits.
Why Horse Racing is so Popular in South Africa
There is no doubt that punters in South Africa love to have a flutter on horse racing. That’s why online horse betting is so popular at sports betting sites. But what is it that makes horse racing such a popular sport to bet on?
- Year-Round Races: Unlike some other sports, there is no downtime in horse racing. Meets are held year-round and in different weather conditions. If the worst happens and a race does not go ahead in one location, there will still be many other meets across South Africa or internationally.
- In-Play Betting and Live Streaming Options: As well as wagering on the winning horse or jockey, there are many live betting opportunities with horse racing. These markets allow you to bet on a race in real-time.
- Multiple Betting Markets: You can find hundreds of lines on horse racing each day at the best horse racing betting sites. With numerous betting markets available, you’ll never be bored when wagering on horse racing online.
- Race Speed: You do not need to wait around for an event to finish before seeing if you win. Races take minutes in most cases, making horse racing perfect for fast-paced wagering.
Most Popular Horse Racing Bet Types
When you check out the best horse racing websites recommended on this page and hunt for the top horse racing odds, you will see that some bets are more common than others. These are the most popular types of bets you can make at horse betting sites:
- Win/Each-Way: The most straightforward horse racing bets are win and each-way wagers. These are essentially bets where you predict the horse that comes first (win) or in the top two, three or four runners (depending on the field size).
- Betting Without the Favourite: Sometimes you want to back a horse, but you think that the favourite will not be beaten. In this circumstance you can place a bet on the race - with the favourite discounted from the result - at revised odds
- Single: This stake is the most common bet available, simply a wager placed on one horse to win a particular race.
- Double: This is a bet where you stake a single bet on two horses to win two different races. You will need both of these horses to win, or in the case of an each-way double, to place.
- Treble: A treble is a single bet on three horses to win their respective races. To guarantee a return, all three of these horses must win, or if it’s an each-way treble, all three must place.
- Accumulator: This is the same betting mechanic as a double or a treble with four or more legs. You stake a single bet on four or more horses to win with an accumulator bet. You will need all of these horses to win, or if it is an each-way accumulator, to place.
- Trixie: A Trixie is a bet that has three horses spread across four bets. These four bets are three doubles and one treble.
- Yankee: A Yankee is similar to a Trixie but with four horses. Here you are placing a bet with four horses spread across 11 bets. These 11 bets are six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold accumulator. A customer will only need 2 of these horses to win, or with an each-way Yankee to place, to collect some winnings.
- Forecast: A forecast bet requires the punter to pick out the two horses that will finish first and second in a race.
- Tricast: With tricast bets, punters wager on the horses they reckon will finish first, second and third in a race.
- Ante-Post Bets: If you wish to wager on a race a long time before it runs, the ante-post bet is perfect. It is often referred to as a 'futures' bet, particularly in North America.
How to Make an Online Horse Racing Bet
Thanks to our expert reviews and recommendations, it has never been easier to discover top horse racing betting sites. We want to go the extra step and make joining the leading sports betting sites easy. So, our team has put together the following step-by-step guide to help you when placing horse racing bets.
- Select one of our recommended online horse racing betting sites.
- Register for the site, entering all the essential information the sportsbook will require from you, such as your name, email, phone number, account verification etc.
- Navigate to the 'cashier' or 'account' page and select the 'deposit' option to fund your online betting account.
- Select your preferred payment method and the amount you wish to deposit. Then click 'deposit'.
- Head to the horse racing section and find an event/market you are interested in wagering on.
- Add the stake to your bet slip, enter your stake, and place your bet!
- If your bet is a success, your winnings will show up in your account balance.
Horse Racing Betting Strategy
Any sporting event is open to a random outcome. However, if you are a student of horse racing, you can give yourself a better chance of success. Data and statistics can help you understand the likelihood of specific outcomes, even if you cannot control them.
Using knowledge and data-driven strategy will allow you to make informed betting decisions, increasing your chances to win. Horse racing is a sport that does lean heavily into form, so it is worth understanding the following aspects when betting.
- Jockey: While the horse does all the running, the jockey also plays an important role. If the jockey has a good record in a particular course, it may be worth betting.
- Trainer: Trainers with strong local and international records often have a better track record than their rivals. The stable a horse comes from could give you hints about its potential.
- Going: Similarly, the state of the ground, known as the 'going', (firm, good, soft, heavy etc.) and how a horse has previously performed on it can help you choose a winning bet.
- Horse Age: Is the horse at the end of its career, at the beginning, or at its peak? Knowing this can help to inform your wagers.
- Course Record: How has the horse or jockey performed at the racecourse before? Knowing this can help you decide if a bet is worth making.
- Form: What about overall form? Is the horse on a winning streak or even a losing streak? While form is not always permanent, it can point to a trend and help you make a betting choice.
- Post Position: Which stall the horse runs from could be significant. Some bettors are superstitious, while others use historic post position results to pick a bet.
- Distance: Assessing the length of the race helps you compare historical results for the horse and how they fare over that distance.
Best Online Horse Racing Betting Sites – Key Takeaway
If you’re looking for the sites with the best horse racing odds, the most lucrative bonuses, the most extensive selection of betting markets, and a safe gambling environment, you’re certainly on the right page. Our review team has done the hard work, so you don’t have to.
Simply select one of our licensed horse racing betting sites to get direct access to an exciting betting experience. While at it, don’t forget to claim a welcome bonus to get you started at the races with a free bet!
