Best Horse Racing Betting Sites UK
There is strong competition for your business between the bookies who offer horse racing betting sites uk under a licence from the UK Gambling Commission. Traditional names like William Hill and Ladbrokes are now facing stern digital competition from the likes of Sky Bet, bet365 and Fitzdares. If you are just looking to place a wager on a given race in the UK, you can place more or less the same bet with any bookmaker, however your experience will wildly differ as you will not receive the same odds, you may not always be able to stream the race live and you may not be able to use your preferred payment method to fund your account.
Britain is home to the best horse racing in the world and it’s only right that a country steeped in bookmaking history also has a thriving market of betting operators today that is vying for your business. Race Sharp does its best to share the best promotions, free bets, best odds guaranteed, extra places, enhanced odds and user experiences in the industry via its review pages.
No matter if you agree, disagree or even represent a bookmaker, we would welcome hearing from anyone via our contact form below in order to provide the best possible service to our readers.
Horse Racing Betting Promotions
Horse Racing promotion start from the moment you join a horse racing betting sites uk. Many bookmakers will credit your account with a free bet or several smaller free bets upon you making an initial deposit (minimum usually £10) or your first sports bet settling. Bookmakers do this so you are incentivised to at least have a brief experience of their platform, before you can make your mind up. When consulting various welcome offers, always check the key terms and conditions. Free bets tend to expire after about a week, so it’s best to place them soon after they are credited.
Welcome offers are just about the easiest horse racing betting promotions to understand, but also hunt out the Promotions tab of your new bookmaker. The chances are that you will find extra places, money back concessions and boosted odds. Extra place races tend to be for big fields with 16 or more runners – you might be lucky enough to benefit from 5 places rather than the standard 4 places.
Money back concessions are typically for ‘bad beats’. Some will offer Money Back if 2nd to the SP favourite, but only if there are 5 or more runners. Last year one inventive bookmaker, Fitzdares, took a different approach and offered Money Back if 2nd to a rag – a ‘rag’ being a 20/1+ outsider!
Boosters odds tend to be the favourite with Sky Bet. For example, you might see a horse trading at 7/4 but Sky Bet may offer it at 2-1 for a short period of time. Bet365 tend to do a similar thing but we’ve seen a wider variety of horses boosted with the Stoke firm.
Best Odds Guaranteed
Best Odds Guaranteed bookmakers give customers peace of mind that if the odds of their selection drift to larger odds between the time of bet placement and race time, your bet will be settled at the Starting Price (SP). Otherwise known as ‘BOG’, almost all bookmakers offer the concession in a bit to compete for your business!
The promotion is usually available to all customers but payout limits may apply if you are lucky enough to net a big win! For example, Bet Victor cap their BOG payouts per customer per day at £25,000. If you’ve exceeded that cap, you’re probably having a very good day!
It’s important to read the Terms and Conditions of the BOG promotion at each bookmaker. BOG tends to apply to races in the UK and Ireland only and just for bets placed after 10.00am on the day of the race. It’s increasingly difficult to find BOG applied on bets placed the night before or on International racing. BOG does not apply to antepost bets, which are long-term futures, though bet365 may offer an Antepost BOG concession on the Cheltenham Festival from a couple of weeks out.
SkyBet are one of many Best Odds Guaranteed bookmakers but they are clear that BOG does not apply to any races with extra places.
Customers typically benefit from BOG when opening an account with a leading bookmaker and there is no opt-in.
Racing Money Back Offers
The best horse racing promotions tend to be Money Back Offers. These fall into two categories:either money back as cash, or money back as a free bet.
Sky Bet are well known for Money Back as Cash offers. Often this will be £10 back if your selection finishes 2nd or 3rd in the first race on a big betting day, such as a Saturday or a day of a racing festival such as Royal Ascot. Unfortunately you cannot just bet every horse as the promotion is only applied to your first bet! Bookmakers like Sky Bet are usually fairly quick at processing the cash back but it is best to be patient as settlements might take up to an hour.
It is commonplace to see Money Back as a Free Bet promotions, which are used as incentives to keep customers betting through the afternoon or week. These offers are typically:
- Money Back as a Free Bet if 2nd
- Money Back as a Free Bet if 2nd to the SP Favourite
- Money Back as a Free Bet if 2nd, 3rd or 4th
As with all UK Horse Racing promotions, it is best to always read at least the key terms to understand how the offer is structured. Free Bets do not last forever and tend to expire in seven days. When we are awarded Free Bets, we will tend to spend them on the same day as the award, as you might forget you have them, especially if you have multiple betting accounts.
Racing Live Streaming Betting Sites
All leading bookmakers offer live streaming of races in the UK and Ireland. Whether you have a bet at Ascot or Punchestown, of course you want to see how your horse runs!
Live Streaming tends to either be free for all customers with an active balance, or you might need to qualify with a nominal stake such as £0.50 win or £0.50 each-way. Depending on your browser or mobile app, the streaming link is located towards the top of your race view and has a play symbol.
It might not be possible to watch the horse racing stream on a full screen. If you are looking for a larger view, a smart idea is to load the stream on a laptop using the Google Chrome browser and then zooming in via your browser controls.
A live stream can only be accessed two minutes before the scheduled race time and therefore does not provide an equivalent service to an all-day streaming of either Racing TV or At The Races. If you’re serious about racing, it’s definitely best that you look at upgrading your TV media deal to obtain one or both of these channels. All Irish racing is now on Racing TV, whilst At The Races has recently obtained the rights to French racing.
Range of Horse Racing Betting Markets
The vast majority of horse racing bets are placing on the conventional market for both win bets and each-way bets.
A win bet is a straight single on your horse to win. There are no returns for 2nd place or worse!
Each-way is a split bet to win and to place, therefore your unit stake is doubled. Usually we’d advise readers to only bet each-way in races with eight or more runners, as the odds are really stacked against you when just the first two places are paid in races with seven or fewer runners. For big races like the Grand National at Aintree or the Stewards Cup at Glorious Goodwood, it pays to shop around to find up to eight places paid.
‘Without the favourite’ is similar to a win market but the morning favourite is considered as a non-runner. If the favourite wins and your ‘without the favourite’ selection finishes second to it, it is considered a winner. This market is attractive if you are looking for an interest but think the favourite is almost impossible to beat.
Insurebet markets have become more popular since 2020. These tend to be either ‘Insurebet 2 places’ or ‘Insurebet 3 places’. These markets are similar to win markets but in exchange for taking less generous odds, you have a refund safety net if your selection finishes in the places but fails to win. For example, a 10-1 ‘Insurebet 3 places’ wager is refunded if your horse finishes 2nd or 3rd, but if a winner if the horse wins. Insurebet is attractive for cautious punters but winners will pay a couple of points shorter than the regular win market.
Trusted UK Horse Racing Betting Sites
Race Sharp promotes only Trusted UK Horse Racing Betting Sites. Banners on this page and tipping posts on Race Sharp provide links to Trusted UK Horse Racing Betting Sites and the best promotions available in the marketplace.
Race Sharp considers Trusted UK Horse Racing Betting Sites to be all those licenced by the UK Gambling Commission, known for the fair treatment of customers and run by teams who are passionate and supportive of the horse racing industry.
Quick and Efficient Withdrawals and Deposits
Many customers want to access their winnings as soon as possible but withdrawal times vary a fair amount between horse racing betting sites UK.
Deposit and Withdrawal options are safe if the betting operator is licenced by the UK Gambling Commission. Bookmakers will insist on a ‘closed loop’ to combat potential money laundering, so it is completely fair if you deposit say with a Mastercard Debit and they require you to withdraw to the same card – providing it hasn’t expired of course.
Payment methods must always be in the name of the betting account holder and you should be aware that transactions may not necessarily display on your banking statement or mobile app in the same name.
The fastest withdrawals are always those which are processed to ePayment methods such as PayPal, Skrill or Neteller. Paddy Power even allows you to withdraw to their own card, called a CashCard+, which is a prepaid Mastercard which you can take to an ATM or use to spend in a store. The maximum daily reload amount is £5,000.
VISA withdrawals are processed by companies like Sky Bet, Bet Victor and Fitzdares in a matter of hours. On working days, you can expect to receive a withdrawal to a VISA Debit in about five hours. Mastercard withdrawals tend to take between 24 and 48 hours.
The UK Gambling Commission has banned Credit Cards for betting.
