Spread Betting on Horse Racing - Double Card

What Is A Double Card Bet?

A Double Card spread bet is a prediction on the total of the racecard numbers of all the winners, at a particular meeting, multiplied by 2. It's a nice bet, as it gives you an interest in all races at a particular meeting and gives you more than one horse to shout for in each race.

If you feel low number horses will do well at a particular meeting, you would bet low (Sell) on the Double Card market, where as if you think the higher numbers will prevail, you would bet high (Buy).

Example Of How It Works

To illustrate this bet we'll take a look at the racecard at the York Ebor meeting:

There were 7 races on the card, ranging from 7 to 20 runners. Before the start of racing Sporting Index priced the market up with a spread of 107 - 111.

If we look at the first race on the card we'll see the forecast favourite (Heaven Knows), is number 8 on the racecard. This means if it wins the race it would score 16 points on the Double Card market (racecard number x 2). The 2nd favourite is number 1 on the card, so if that horse was to win, it would only score 2 points (1 x 2).

If you felt Sporting Index had priced the spread too high for the meeting you would Sell the market at the lower figure of 107 quoted in their spread. If you felt their spread was too low, you would Buy at the higher figure of 111.

Your stake will depend upon your personal circumstances and how much you like to risk. The important thing to remember is the amount you stake is not the amount you stand to win or lose on the race. The stake entered is amount per point. E.g. If you were to Buy £5 at 111 and the total finished at 120 you would win £45, £5 x 9 (120 - 111). However if the total finished at 100 you would lose £55, £5 x 11 (111 - 100).

The Double Card market remains active throughout the race meeting. Sporting Index update the spread after each of the races, adjusting it up or down depending upon the earlier results. This is a great aspect of spread betting in that it enables you to take a profit, if the spread moves in your favour, or cut your loses, if the spread moves against you.

Race One

The first race was won by Greek Well, which was number 15 on the race card. This meant that it scored 30 points towards the Double Card total. A good result if you'd decided to buy on the market. Sporting Index obviously felt the result favoured those who had bet high as they adjusted their spread to 117 - 120.

If you'd previously brought on the market at 111 you could now lock in a profit by selling on the revised spread at 117. A stake of £5 a point would have given a profit of £30. However if you'd sold on the original spread at 107, you'd now have to buy at 120 to cancel the bet, which with a stake of £5, would have incurred a loss of £65. Of course you don't have to close your bet out and with 6 races still to run there's plenty of time for the situation to change.

Race Two

The second race was won by Sir Gerry, number 7 on the card in an 8 runner race, added an extra 14 points to the total of 44 points after two races. Another good result if you'd decided to buy on the market. After this race Sporting Index adjusted their spread to 120 - 123.

Race Three

The third race was won by the favourite Purple Moon, again number 7 on the card, adding another 14 points to the total of 58 points after three races. Not such a good result this time if you'd decided to buy on the market, but much better if you'd sold. After this race Sporting Index adjusted their spread down to 114 - 117.

Race Four

The fourth race was won by the odds on favourite, Peeping Fawn, again number 7 on the card and again adding another 14 points to the total of 72 points after four races. With such a short price favourite winning, the result was pretty much as expected and therefore didn't effect the market much. You'll notice that with just 3 races to go Sporting Index reduced the spread gap to two points at 116 - 118.

Race Five

The fifth race was won by another favourite, Captain Gerrard, number 2 on the race card added only 4 points to the total of 76 points after five races. With a low card number winning the race is now looking much better if you sold at the originally spread of 107. Not so good if you brought originally, unless you took the profits after the first couple of races. The Sporting Index spread of 109 - 111 is now very close to their original quote for the market.

Race Six

The sixth race was won by Moynahan, the 4th win for number 7 on the card and another 14 points to the total of 90 points after six races. The result didn't have much effect on the spread, Sporting Index increased it slightly to 111 - 112. With just one race remaining they reduced the spread gap to just one point.

Race Seven

The seventh race was won at a big price by Northern Fling, number 9 on the race card, adding 18 points to the final total of 108 points. The initial spread set by Sporting Index was spot on, with the total of 108 falling in the middle of their range of 107 - 111.

Given the total was in the middle of their range, there was no winnings to be had from buying or selling on their initial spread, but by the same token, losses were kept to a minimum.

If you'd bet high you could have taken a profit early on, but to a £5 stake would have ended up with a £15 loss, £5 x 3 (111 - 108).

If you had bet low, you would have been a little worried early on, when the spread increased, but if you'd held your nerve you'd have ended up with a loss of just £5, £5 x 1 (108 - 107).