24 February 2026
By Roger Kennedy
roger@TheCork.ie

Entertainment

Horse racing predates a lot of today’s popular sports. Compared to traditional team sports betting markets, the way odds are priced differs greatly. Fixed odds betting, as you may see with football or basketball, is not common in horse racing. Instead, most races are wagered on through pari-mutuel pools, where your payout is determined by how much money is wagered on each outcome. In this guide, we’ll cover how horse race betting works, the structure of different bet types, and how major racing events impact market movements at international sportsbooks.

The Classic Win Bet

A win bet is where you bet that the horse you select will win the race. The Win Bet is like the moneyline bet for traditional betting markets like football matches and rugby. You can check the sportsbook for the latest odds for each participating horse on the browser or mobile app. Horse racing review sites like BettingTop10 Ireland help beginners understand how to read the odds and the top horse racing events.

Place Bet

The Place Bet in many ways is like the Win Bet except that instead of having to finish first, your horse just needs to finish first or second. In effect, you get a two-for-one bet to get a winning horse bet. Place odds are pooled separately from win odds and change depending on the size of the pool for that bet type. As long as your horse finishes in the top two, you win, no matter if your horse places or wins.

Show Bet

The show offers the best odds of winning a payout, but it also offers the lowest payout. To win a show bet, your horse just needs to finish in the top three. It does not matter where in the top three. Show bets have the highest probability of winning, making them popular bets for risk-averse players or newbies to the game. It can be played by beginners to build confidence or as part of a betting strategy.

Across the Board

An across-the-board bet is essentially three bets all rolled into one. You’re betting win, place, and show on the same horse. You’re saying that your horse will perform, and you’ll be paid depending on where it finishes. If it is a winner, you head to the cashier for all three bets.

Since you’re making three bets, your wager will cost more. You pay more up front, but you give yourself three ways to win some money. It’s ideal for those times when you aren’t sure how your horse will finish. If it is a mid-tier horse that won’t finish near the top, the across-the-board makes sense for your budget.

Exotic Bets

For bigger thrills and payouts, exotic bets answer the call. Instead of wagering on a single horse to win the race, you’re going to make some predictions. For example, an exacta bet is where you predict which horse will come in first place and which horse will come in second place, in that order.

A quinella bet is when you choose two horses that you think will come in first and second place, regardless of order. As long as both horses you picked finish in the top two spots, you win. With a trifecta, you pick the first, second, and third place winners in exact order.