Horse racing bets, along with soccer wagers, remain the mainstay for most bookmakers in the United Kingdom. Indeed, if any one sport has been responsible for the Brits love of a bet, then it is horse racing.
For most punters that use sites such as bet365 Sport, if they place horse racing bets it tends to mean that they will place a bet on the horse to win the race (sometimes called ‘on the nose’) or they may bet on the horse to either win or land a paying place, the famous each-way bet.
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These two massively popular horse racing bets are the most popular type of bet in history chiefly because they are straightforward to understand and because they have become so familiar to people that they tend to stick with the bets they know.
But did you know that there are a myriad of other less well-known but no less exciting horse racing bets you can make on horse racing at bet365?
In this article, we will learn about a number of those horse racing bets, how they work, how your total stake is worked out and what you need to ensure your bet is a winner.
This will sit nicely alongside our article from last year, where we looked at using Futures or Ante Post betting, which are also popular horse racing bets, too.
All to help you enjoy a broader range of bets on horse racing with bet365, or with any other bookmaker that offers these different types of market!
Always remember to gamble responsibly.
Check out bet365’s Safer Gambling page for more details.
Exciting Alternatives to Traditional Horse Racing Bets At Bet365
1. Placepot
If you have ever bet with the Tote, then you will be well aware of Placepot betting, but for those of you that haven’t, a Placepot bet is a bet on the first six races at a horse racing meeting and for each race, you have to pick at least one of the runners that will finish in one of the paying places for each of the six races.
You can select more than one horse in each race to improve your chances of landing a winner, but the more horses you select as part of your placepot, then the greater the value of your total bet will be.
Calculating a Placepot Stake
To calculate the cost of your Placepot bet, multiply the number of selections in each of the six races by what the unit stake.
For example, if you select just one horse in each of the six races and you want your unit stake to be £10, then (1x1x1x1x1x1) x 10 equals £10. This is because you have just one possible ‘line’ to cover with the bet.
However, if you select four single horses in four races but two selections in the other two races, then this considerably alters your bet’s size. (1x1x1x1x2x2) x £10 would equal £40. (£10 to cover 4 lines).
But if you wanted to keep your total stake at £10, then you could reduce the value of your unit stake to £2.50 (4 x £2.50 = £10).
Placepot Winnings
Placepot winnings are decided by the size of the pool. That is the stakes place on the Placepot bet by punters and then that pool of money is divided amongst the winners. Placepot winnings are always quoted as a dividend, that is how much you would get as a return for a £1 stake.
So, for example, if you placed a £2 placepot and the dividend for a placepot winner was £500, then you would win £1000 (as the £500 is calculated for a £1 placepot stake).
Bet365 also offers similar bets to Placepot bets. The Quadpot is a very similar bet but is based on just four races, not six. The Place 6 bet (below) is essentially the same as a Placepot bet but is run in conjunction with Colossus (rather than the Tote for the Placepot).
You can also win more significant amounts using Win 4 and Win 6 bets. These markets see you selecting the winner of four or six races from a meeting, and of course, as you are picking a winner, these bets are much more difficult to hit.
The upside of these horse racing bets is that the payouts can be a lot higher than Placepot or Place 6 bets.
One thing to note is that Place 6, Win 4, and Win 6 bets all offer cashout options at bet365 Sport, which is very good to know. Especially if you have landed several winners on your bet, but your remaining selections could scupper your chances of a win.
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2. Forecast And Tricast Horse Racing Bets
If you are looking for a different type of bet that you can place on just one race, then Forecast and Tricast betting could well be the answer.
With a Forecast bet, you must make two selections from your chosen race, one to finish first and one to finish second.
With a Tricast bet, you must pick three horses for your bet, one each to finish first, second and third in the race.
With straight Forecast and Tricast bets, your selections must finish in the order you state in order for the bet to win.
However, you can elect to place Combination Forecast and Tricast bets, which offer you more flexibility for your selections but require you to cover more lines for each bet.
With a Combination Forecast, you pick two horses, and either of them can finish first or second, and your bet will be a winner (the horses must finish 1-2 for you to win).
With a Combination Tricast, you pick three horses to finish in the top three in any order and if they achieve that your bet is a winner.
However, for a Combination Forecast there are two lines to cover and for a Combination Tricast there are six lines to cover.
This means that for a Unit Stake of £1, a Forecast or Tricast bet would cost you £1, but a Combination Forecast would cost £2, and a Combination Tricast £6.
There are plenty of other horse racing bets to consider, and we will look at these in more detail in a future article, but for now, give these types of bets a try to see just how much you can vary the way you wager with bet365!
Always remember to gamble responsibly.
Check out bet365’s Safer Gambling page for more details.
Updated on 19th February 2025
