Racing Bet Types

by Doug Robb (doug@ausrace.com)

This article will tell you about the sorts of bets you can make on Australian horse races.

In Australia all legal betting is either done with Bookmakers on course (at the racetrack) or through what is called the Totaliser Agency Boards (TABS). Each state in Australia has their own licenced TABS. I guess these are the equivalent of the Jockey Club's in Hong Kong and other places. Most TABS's offer a wide range of bet types. You mark the tickets with the meeting (where the race is run, Perth, Sydney etc), Race number, horse selection and units. The units in Western Australia are 50 cents (ie each unit bet costs you 50 cents). There are different tickets for each bet type. Most Australian TABS and bookmakers also have phone betting as well.

This is a summary of the bet types that I know about. If I have left out anything then please let me know, tell me about a bet type

WIN and PLACE

The horse can be backed to win the race or for a place. To run a place a horse must run first, second or third. To win the horse must finish first. A popular choice is to back a horse each way. This means to back for win and place. eg 10 units each way means 10 units to win and 10 units for a place making the total cost of the bet 20 units ($10) in WA.

DAILY DOUBLE

This is when you must pick the winner of two races in a row.

ALL UP

This is when you can select your winnings from one bet to be automatically re-invested onto you next selection (either all up win, all up place or both). This gets a bit hard to take when you suddenly have a lot of money riding on your last selection after you have just backed three winners in a row and this last horse gets beaten.

QUINELLA

Select the first two runners to finish. You do not have to nominate the order in which they finish.
You may couple 3 or more selections in one bet to cover all combinations by "BOXING" or "CLOSING THE GATE" your selections. For exampls, a BOX QUINELLA of numbers 3, 4 + 5 would cost you $3 for a $1 bet and you would have the following combinations covered - 3 + 4, 3 + 5 and 4 + 5. If any of those combinations filled the first two placings, you would receive the Quinella dividend on the race.

TRIFECTA

You must select the first three runners to finish in the CORRECT ORDER.
You can couple 3 or more selections in one bet to cover all combinations (again called boxing or closing the gate). eg. , all combinations of numbers 3, 4 + 5 will cost you 6 units for a 1 unit bet and you would have all comibations of these three horses covered.

DOUBLE

Select the winners of two CONSECUTIVE races. eg race 4 and then race 5.

QUADRELLA ( usually only on selected meetings )

In Victoria select the winners of four nominated races. Each race ( or "leg" ) is limited to 9 selections. If there are more than 9 runners in a "leg", runner no.10 is bracketed with no.9, no.11 is bracketed with no.8 and so on.
If no one selects the winning combination, a countback procedure applies, i.e. the pool pays out on three winners and a second then three winners and a third etc.

QUADXTRA ( operates on selected meetings )

This is again Victorian information I'm not sure if it applies to other states. Similar to a Quadrella in that you must select the winners of four nominated races however there are two major differences:
i ) There are no bracketed selections.
ii) If the winning combination is not taken, the pool jackpots to a future meeting.

STRAIGHT 6 ( operates on Melbourne metropolitan thoroughbred racing only )

Select the winners of the last 6 races at a meeting. If the winning combination is not selected, the pool jackpots to the next meeting.
The MINIMUM investment for all bet types is 1 units and in most states a unit is 50 cents. However all dividends are usually displayed showing the dividend that you would get if you invested $1 (2 units). So remember wou will probably only receive half of what the dividend shows in the screen.

Thats all!

See the AusRace Archives for lots more interesting stuff.

Photo By Bronwen Healy

Australian Horse Racing

Racing Bet Types