Spread Betting on Horse Racing - Favourites

What Is A Favourites Bet?

A Favourites spread bet is a prediction on the performance of the Favourites in each race at a meeting. Points are awarded as follows: 25 points for winning; 10 points for finishing second and 5 points for finishing third. Favourite's finishing lower than third receive 0 points. If there are joint favourites, in a race, the one with the lowest racecard number is taken as the favourite for the purpose of this market.

If you feel the favourites will do well at a particular meeting, you would bet high (Buy) on the Favourites market, where as if you think they will do badly, you would bet low (Sell).

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 Favourites market up with a spread of 70 - 74.

If you felt Sporting Index had priced the spread too high for the meeting you would Sell the market at the lower figure of 70 quoted in their spread. If you felt their spread was too low, you would Buy at the higher figure of 74.

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 the amount per point. E.g. If you were to Buy £5 at 74 and the total finished at 80 you would win £30, £5 x 6 (80 - 74). However if the total finished at 70 you would lose £20, £5 x 4 (74 - 70).

The Favourites market remains active throughout the race meeting. Sporting Index update the spread after each of the races, adjusting it up or down depending upon how well the favourites fair in the earlier races. 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.

If we look at the live shows for the first race on the card, we'll see the horse that went off favourite was Heaven Knows. This horse therefore became the selection in the first race, so it's position counted towards the points scored in this market.

When spread betting on the favourites market, you wont know for sure, which horse will count towards the bet until the start of each race. If you want to know, before you place the bet, which horses will count, you will do better betting on the Racing Post Favourites market.

Race One

The favourite in the first race (Heaven Knows) was not placed within the 1st three and so didn't score any points towards the Favourites total. A good start if you chose to sell on the market, with Sporting Index reducing their spread to 65 - 68 after the first race.

If you'd initially sold on the market at 70 you could now lock in a profit by buying on the revised spread at 68. A stake of £5 a point would have given a profit of £10. However if you'd brought on the original spread at 74, you'd now have to sell at 65 to cancel the bet, which with a stake of £5, would have incurred a loss of £45. 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 favourites to perform better.

Race Two

The favourite in the second race (Swiss Franc) was placed 3rd and scored 5 points towards the Favourites total. Given the favourite was a short price at 5/4, it was expected to finish better than 3rd, so it was another good result if you'd sold on the market and Sporting Index reduced their spread further to 57 - 60. An even better opportunity to take a profit, now £50 to a £5 stake.

Race Three

The third race was won by the favourite Purple Moon, adding 25 points to the total of 30 points after three races. There were 19 runners in the race, so it had been considered one of the less likely favourites to do well. As a consequence it had quite an effect on the Favourites market, Sporting Index adjusted their spread up to 76 - 79 (now higher than their initial quote). Great if you'd brought on the initial spread. Not so good if you'd sold, as you were no longer in a position to close out the bet for a profit.

Race Four

The fourth race was also won by the favourite, adding another 25 points to the total of 55 points after four races. This time the favourite was odds on, so it was pretty much as expected, and had already been factored into the previous spread. Nevertheless, odds on shots don't always win, so it's victory did have some effect on the spread and saw Sporting Index increase their quote to 81 - 83.

Race Five

The fifth race was again won the favourite, Captain Gerrard added another 25 points to the total of 80 points after five races. If you'd brought on the initial spread at 74 you were now guaranteed a profit. At £5 a point you'd have been set to win at least £30, with 2 more favourites still to run. Sporting Index increased their spread to 95 - 97, so you could have locked in an even bigger profit by selling at 95. That would have given a profit of £105, £5 x 21 (95 - 74).

Race Six

The favourite was unplaced in the sixth race. Although a fairly short price at 15/8 it only managed 7th and therefore the Favourites total remained at 80 points after six races. A bit of a relief for those who'd originally sold, Sporting Index reduced their spread to 86 - 87.5 with just one race remaining

Race Seven

In the last race of the meeting the favourite (Peak District) finished 3rd, which added 5 more points to the final total of 85. Overall a good meeting for the favourites with 3 winners and 2 thirds contributing to the total.

The total of 85 finished higher than the initial quote of 70 - 74 from Sporting Index. If you'd bet high you would have been a bit worried early on, but 3 winning favourites in a row, turned things around and a £5 stake would have ended up with a £55 profit, £5 x 11 (85 - 74).

If you had bet low, you'd have had chance to take a profit after the first two races, but from then on you were on to a loser, but a bit of relief in the last two races, managed to keep the shirt on your back. A £5 stake would have ended up with a loss of £75, £5 x 15 (85 - 70).

As you can see from the above example, fortunes can change very quickly with spread betting, but one bet can give you an interest in all the races at a meeting and there's opportunity to take a profit or cut your losses as you go.