The Global Guide: Horse Racing Betting

The team at RacingOnline.com is dedicated to telling you everything you never knew you needed to know about betting on  horse racing.

We aim to give you an insight into how to bet smart and find the best odds on the biggest events and feature race future, no matter where you are based.

With so many online bookies catering for so much racing from all corners of the globe, the challenge can be in knowing who to trust and where to look when it comes to getting set for a wager.

Our writers all have extensive knowledge of all codes of racing and betting. More importantly, they all have a passion for what they are writing about and a desire to get an edge on the bookmakers. So they will endeavour to steer you in the right direction when it comes to assessing where the value lies in wagering markets.

Our website is always a work in progress as we find new frontiers for online betting. Anywhere a cup or trophy is up for grabs, you can be certain the odds-makers will be keen to frame a market and the punters won’t be far behind.

Global horse racing – From Flemington to Churchill Downs

With wall-to-wall sport on cable TV and online, you will never be short of a race on which to have a wager. Horse racing is beamed live from various tracks around the world almost every day of the year.

From the home of the Kentucky Derby Churchill Downs, to the running of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November, each year the team at RacingOnline.com will be on hand to give you advice and talk you through your punting experience.

With the growing global nature of horse racing Racing Online strives to give an unbiased view and ratings of horses as they cross oceans to tackle some of the biggest races in the world.

For instance as early as the late 1980s horses from afar began journeying to Victoria, Australia regularly to tackle the world famous Melbourne Cup. With it often the case in the modern years that more than half the field will be made up of international raiders.

The growing impact of the Asian horse racing scene has proven to be a hit with many horses from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Europe opting to send talented types here for the big purses.

Great racing from around the globe

• Australia: The racing Down Under has always revolved around Melbourne’s spring carnival, but since 2014 there has been a seismic shift from that line of thinking. Sydney has stepped up to the plate, consolidating many of its autumn carnival highlights into two days of racing known as The Championships. The Queen Elizabeth Stakes, with its enormous prizemoney, is seen as the challenger to the W.S. Cox Plate as the weight-for-age championship of Australasia. Then there are the ARC Derby and Oaks, Sydney Cup, Doncaster Mile, T.J. Smith Stakes and more. That’s eight Group 1 races at Royal Randwick, yet only time will tell if The Championships can challenge the attraction of the Melbourne spring. Highlights such as the Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup and the jewel in the crown, the Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington, make spring racing unmissable for expert and novice gamblers alike.
• United Kingdom: There is nothing like the chaos of the Grand National at Aintree. A huge pack of steeplechasers tackling some 30 fences and four miles of gruelling action. The race generally becomes a survival of the fittest. Far more urbane is Britain’s Royal Ascot Carnival. There is plenty of pomp and pageantry with the Queen in attendance and top hat and tails in abundance, but this week-long festival also features some of the best racing you are likely to see. Elsewhere, the English Derby and Oaks rank among the most coveted races in Europe.
• Dubai: The most powerful racing empire in the world is controlled from Dubai. Godolphin’s tentacles reach into nearly every racing jurisdiction and the quality of its horseflesh is incredible. The Dubai World Cup, run at the stunning Meydan track which opened in 2010, is the richest race in the world with $US10 million in prizemoney. The Dubai World Cup day meeting has total prizemoney of more than $US25 million.
• France: The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamps on the banks of the Seine is arguably the most sought-after race in Europe. The list of recent winners includes superstars such as Montjeu, Sea The Stars and Treve. The 2400m Arc is among the richest turf races in the world and is run over 2400 metres in early October. On the weekend of the race, seven Group 1 races are run at the track.
• Hong Kong: This mecca of horse racing boasts only two tracks, but they have become home to some of the most competitive and strictly controlled racing on the planet. Not to mention the enormous turnover all races in Honkers attract. Happy Valley is a tight circuit set spectacularly amid skyscrapers in the centre of the action. Sha Tin is a more traditional racetrack well away from the city centre which attracts enormous crowds and even bigger plaudits for its International Race Day, featuring Group 1 races the Hong Kong Cup, HK Mile, HK Vase and HK International Sprint. Many of the best jockeys and trainers in the world have set up shop in Hong Kong.
• Japan: An emerging powerhouse in the thoroughbred ranks, with its locally trained horses winning regularly all around the world. The Japan Cup, a 2400-metre weight-for-age test at Tokyo Racecourse on the last Sunday in November, is the jewel in the crown of Japanese racing. It is the second-richest turf event in the world.
• North America: The United States has the fabulous Breeders’ Cup Championships Series, a two-day extravaganza of Grade 1 races boasting extraordinary prizemoney and attracting superstar thoroughbreds, riders and trainers from home and abroad. It is held at a different venue each year. In 2015 it was at Keeneland, in 2016 at Santa Anita, in 2017 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in California while in 2018 it will be held at Churchill Downs. But for its sheer magnetism of the masses, the Kentucky Derby is near-impossible to beat. It has been on our bucket list since reading the memorable essay of Hunter S. Thompson’s trip to the 1970 Derby which appeared in Scanlan’s Monthly. Of course, the Kentucky Derby is just the first leg of the holy grail of American racing, the Triple Crown, which also includes the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes in New York.

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The Sport of Kings holds a special place in our hearts. There’s nothing like the grand spectacle of the biggest races played out in front of enormous crowds on the greatest racecourses on the planet. Flemington, Sha Tin, Meydan, Churchill Downs, the pomp and pageantry of Royal Ascot and so on.

At RacingOnline.com we will do the legwork and chase up the background information on the biggest and best races and race-days around, and how to bet on them with the best chances of getting a good return.

With advancements in technology, there are no impediments to sitting back on your lounge in Bristol and backing one of the string of European stayers tackling Australia’s Cox Plate or Melbourne Cup. Or sitting in a pub in Brisbane and having a trifecta on the Hong Kong Cup from Sha Tin.

The gambling world has become ever more connected and with so many options it can seem a minefield. We will attempt to take the mystery out of it. The bookmakers we recommend are all among the best and most reliable. When you win, you want to get paid, and our favoured operators have passed the test of time.

Mobile sports betting apps

The statistic prove betting on racing is happening more and more on smartphones and tablets. All of the bookmakers and racebooks we promote have mobile apps and websites available for punters, with the bet options available equal to those you would find on the bookmakers desktop versions.

One area you may find slightly different to the desktop bookmakers websites is the deposits or banking, where you might find there are less payment methods. Despite this you will still find plenty of options, depending on where you are betting from.

Most countries like Australia and England have regulated sports betting industries, meaning we can download apps from electronic shops like the Apple App Store and the Android powered Google Play store. If you are in the USA, China or another country with strict gambling laws you may not be able to download a ‘market app’, rather you will have to use the bookies’ mobile sites.

Generally a bookmakers mobile site will look and function exactly the same as the app – but may be missing features like live streaming or some odds feed features. Overall though mobile betting is becoming more and more popular meaning the services are improving quickly. Racing Online will review the best apps

Freebets and bonuses at online betting sites

There is great value to be found in signing up at multiple online bookmakers, or if you are a once in a blue moon punter you can increase your outlay by signing up at a new bookmaker. Wherever you are in the world, there is a very strong chance there is betting sites offering “welcome packages” or “sign-up bonuses” to people in your jurisdiction.

While the traditional freebets offer where the bookie just gives cash to do as you wish with is pretty much dead, when you sign-up at a betting site and make your first deposit often the bookie will match this outlay. Giving you twice the money to bet with. For instance you might deposit USD $1000 and the the bookie has promised to match your first deposit 100% up to $750. This means you would have $1750 ($1000 initial outlay + 750 bonus) to bet with.

With the bonus amount you are gifted there is usually restrictions placed on it, meaning you have to wager the amount before you can withdraw it.

How to find the best sites to bet on horse racing

There are some key criteria RacongOnline.com uses to judge a racing betting site. Here are some of the things we deem to be of the utmost importance.

• Sign-up bonuses: If you are ready to test your judgment with cash bets, be alert for the best deals available. Many of our recommended betting operators offer to match your initial deposits up to substantial amounts with bonus bets. Some of these deals are not available to all customers, as they are not allowed in certain states and territories.
• Superior licensing: All our preferred wagering groups must meet stringent criteria and be registered in a trustworthy jurisdiction. They must also meet tough banking standards, with many offering the same sort of online security for your details that you would expect from a major bank. We always endorse betting at a site registered in your jurisdiction.
• Competitive odds: It often pays to have accounts with several different bookies. This will allow you to shop around for the best prices and also to take advantage of any special offers. A few cents difference in price here and there may not seem much, but it can make all the difference when you tally it up at the end of the week/month/year. It could mean the difference between winning and losing over the long haul.
• Mobile adaptability: With the fast-paced nature of life we believe it’s important a betting company has good mobile products. The sites we endorse at the very least have a fully functioning mobile website, while most have shiny state of the art apps.