Racing betting terms: each way, SP, ante-post and more

Ireland races almost all year round, across two codes. Flat racing runs mainly from spring to autumn, with the Curragh in County Kildare as the home of the Irish Classics. National Hunt racing, over hurdles and fences and in bumpers (National Hunt flat races), runs through the autumn, winter and spring. Dundalk, the all-weather track, races through the winter as well. Almost every term in this guide applies to both codes.

A handful of names come up again and again. Leopardstown in south Dublin hosts big National Hunt meetings over Christmas and at the Dublin Racing Festival in February. Fairyhouse in County Meath is the home of the Irish Grand National, run at Easter. Punchestown in County Kildare stages the festival that closes the Irish jumps season, and the Galway Races at Ballybrit are the great summer festival. Across the water, the Cheltenham Festival in March draws huge Irish interest. Dates change from year to year, so check the official racing calendar rather than relying on memory.

None of this tells you which horse will win. Racing is unpredictable, favourites are beaten every day, and the terms below are about how bets are settled, not about how to pick winners.

An each-way bet is two bets of equal stake: one on the horse to win and one on it to place. “€5 each way” therefore costs €10. If the horse wins, both parts pay. If it finishes in the places without winning, only the place part pays. If it finishes outside the places, both parts lose.

Place terms

The place part is settled at a fraction of the win odds, usually 1/4 or 1/5, for a set number of places. These are the place terms, and they depend on the number of runners and the type of race. The table shows the terms commonly used in Ireland and Britain. Each bookmaker sets its own, and they can differ on the biggest races, so read the terms printed on the racecard or bet slip.

A worked example

You bet €5 each way at 10/1 in a 14-runner handicap, with place terms of 1/4 of the odds for three places. The total stake is €10.

• If the horse wins: the win part returns €55 (€50 winnings plus the €5 stake). The place part is settled at 10/4, a quarter of 10/1, and returns €17.50 (€12.50 plus €5). Total return: €72.50.
• If it finishes second or third: the win part loses and the place part returns €17.50.
• If it finishes fourth or worse: the €10 is lost.

At short prices, a placed each-way bet can return less than the total stake. €5 each way at 2/1 with 1/5 terms: if the horse is placed, the place part is settled at 2/5 and returns €7 from your €10.

Extra places, withdrawals and dead heats

Some bookmakers pay extra places on selected races, which changes only the place part of an each-way bet. If horses are withdrawn and the field shrinks, say from eight runners to seven, the place terms usually follow the number that actually start; check the bookmaker's rules. And if two horses dead-heat for a paid position, the stake on that part is usually split: half is settled at full odds and the other half is lost.

The starting price (SP) is the official price of each horse at the moment the race starts, based on the prices on course. If you bet “at SP”, you don't know your price when you place the bet; you find out after the off.

A board price (also called a fixed, taken or early price) is the price on offer when you place the bet. The name comes from the bookmakers' boards on course. Once the bet is accepted at that price, it stands, subject to a Rule 4 deduction if another horse is withdrawn.

Neither choice is better in itself. With a board price you know your odds in advance; with SP you get whatever the price is at the off, which may be bigger or smaller than what is on offer now. Many bet slips default to the current price, so check which one is selected before you confirm the bet.

When the SP turns out bigger

Some bookmakers offer a concession on selected UK and Irish races: if you take a price and the SP turns out bigger, they settle your bet at the SP. Each bookmaker gives this its own name and its own conditions, such as which races qualify, from what time it applies and up to what amount. Read the bookmaker's racing rules rather than assuming it applies to your bet.

Early prices and the show

Early prices are fixed prices published before racing, often the evening before or on the morning of the race. The first show is the first set of prices on course before a race; prices then move until the off as money comes in and the market settles.

An ante-post bet is placed well before the day of the race, sometimes weeks or months ahead, typically on a big festival race. Prices are often longer than on the day because a lot can happen in between: the horse might be aimed at a different race, suffer an injury or simply not be entered.

Under traditional ante-post rules, if your horse doesn't run, your stake is lost. That is the trade-off for taking a longer price early. Ante-post bets are also generally settled without Rule 4 deductions. Rules vary between bookmakers, so read them before you place an ante-post bet.

Ante-post markets normally give way to “day of the race” betting once the final declarations are made, usually a day or two before the race. From then on, non-runners are generally refunded, and Rule 4 can apply to the remaining bets.

Non-runner no bet

Some bookmakers offer non-runner no bet (often written NRNB) on certain races, usually in the run-up to big festivals. Under these terms, if your selection doesn't run, your stake is returned. Prices offered on NRNB terms can be shorter than traditional ante-post prices. It is a set of settlement terms, nothing more: check which races it covers and from what date.

When a horse is withdrawn after a market has been formed, every remaining runner has a better chance of winning, so the prices already taken are now too generous. Rule 4, part of the betting rules used across Ireland and Britain, corrects this with a deduction from the winnings on bets struck at a fixed price before the withdrawal.

The size of the deduction depends on the withdrawn horse's price at the time: the shorter its price, the bigger the deduction. It is expressed in cent in the euro (pence in the pound in Britain) and comes off your winnings only, never your stake.

A worked example

You take 5/1 for €10 to win. Later, the 2/1 favourite is withdrawn, which falls in the 25 cent band. Your horse wins. Without the deduction you would receive €50 winnings plus €10 stake. With it, the winnings are cut by 25%, to €37.50, and you receive €47.50 in total.

If more than one horse is withdrawn, the deductions are combined, up to a cap set in the rules. Bets at SP are usually not affected, because the starting price is formed after the withdrawal. The exception is a horse withdrawn so late, for example at the start, that a new market cannot be formed; SP bets may then face a deduction too.

A forecast asks you to name the first two finishers.

• Straight forecast: first and second in the correct order. One bet.
• Reverse forecast: first and second in either order. Two bets, so a €1 reverse forecast costs €2.
• Combination forecast: three or more horses to fill the first two places in any order. Three horses make 6 bets; four horses make 12.

A tricast asks for the first three in the correct order. A combination tricast covers any order: three horses make 6 bets, four horses 24 and five horses 60.

Forecasts and tricasts are not settled at a price you can see in advance. Returns are usually based on a dividend worked out after the race from the starting prices of the horses involved, and many bookmakers only offer tricasts in races with enough runners. Naming the first two or three in order is difficult, which is why the dividends can look large. Most forecasts and tricasts lose.

A multiple links selections in different races into one bet. In a double, the return from the first selection becomes the stake on the second; a treble adds a third, a fourfold a fourth, and so on. Every selection must win (or place, for the place part of an each-way multiple) for the bet to pay.

With decimal odds the sum is a multiplication. A €10 double at 2/1 (3.00) and 6/4 (2.50) returns €10 × 3.00 × 2.50 = €75 if both win. If either loses, the €10 is lost.

Full-cover bets

Full-cover bets combine every double, treble and bigger multiple from a set of selections, sometimes with singles added. The stake is per bet, so the cost multiplies: a “€2 Lucky 15” is fifteen €2 bets, €30 in all, and each way it would cost €60.

Full-cover bets spread the stake so that some return is possible with fewer winners, but that return can be well below the total staked. They are ways of combining selections. None of them changes the odds against each selection, and the more selections you add, the less likely it becomes that all of them win.

A racecard lists every runner with its saddlecloth number, the jockey's silks, the horse's name and recent form, its age and the weight it carries, the jockey and trainer and, in flat races, the stall it starts from (the draw). Many racecards also show the official rating, the number of days since the horse last ran and any headgear it wears.

Form figures

The string of numbers and letters next to a horse's name is its form, read from left to right with the most recent run on the right. “3-121” means a third place last season, then a first, a second and, most recently, another first.

Headgear and other notes

Small letters after a name show headgear: b for blinkers, v for a visor, p for cheekpieces, h for a hood and t for a tongue tie. A figure in brackets after an apprentice or conditional jockey's name is their weight allowance, in pounds. A note such as “1st time” next to headgear means the horse is wearing it for the first time.

Form shows what has happened, not what will happen. It is useful for understanding a race; it is not a forecast.

The going

The going describes the state of the ground. Irish descriptions, from softest to firmest, are: Heavy, Soft to Heavy, Soft, Yielding to Soft, Yielding, Good to Yielding, Good, Good to Firm and Firm. “Yielding” is an Irish term; in Britain the nearest equivalent is Good to Soft. All-weather surfaces such as Dundalk use their own descriptions, such as Standard.

Some horses run well on soft ground and others need it good or firmer, so a horse's past form may have come on very different going. The going can change during a day after rain, which is one of the reasons prices move and horses are withdrawn.

Handicaps

In a handicap, horses carry different weights based on their official ratings, set by the official handicapper. The idea is that every runner has, in theory, an equal chance. Weights in Ireland and Britain are given in stones and pounds, so 9-7 means 9 stone 7 pounds. A horse that wins usually goes up in the ratings and carries more weight next time. Big-field handicaps are where each-way terms stretch to more places, and where results are hardest to call.

Other race types

A maiden is for horses that have not yet won. Novice hurdles and chases are for horses early in their jumping careers. The top level is Group 1 on the flat and Grade 1 over jumps, followed by Group or Grade 2 and 3 and Listed races. A bumper is a National Hunt flat race, run without obstacles, for horses being prepared for hurdling.

Knowing the terms helps you understand exactly what you are agreeing to: the place terms, whether you have taken a price or SP, and what happens if a horse is withdrawn. It doesn't make any horse more likely to win. Racing is a sport with many runners and a lot of chance, and most bets on it lose.

A few habits help keep it enjoyable. Read the place terms and rules on the bet slip before you confirm. Decide your stake for the day before the first race, not between races. Be wary of full-cover bets that look small per bet but add up to a large total. And never chase a loss with a bigger bet on the next race. Betting is entertainment, not a way to earn an income.

If betting stops feeling like entertainment, free and confidential help is available in Ireland. The GamblingCare National Helpline is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on 1800 936 725 (gamblingcare.ie). The HSE Drugs and Alcohol Helpline is on 1800 459 459 (Monday to Friday, 9:30 to 17:30). Extern Problem Gambling offers free counselling on 089 241 5401, and Gamblers Anonymous Ireland can be reached on 01 872 1133. Our safer betting page explains limits, time-outs and self-exclusion.

For more terms, see our betting glossary, and for how prices are written, our odds guide.