Spread Betting on Horse Racing - Race Index

What Is A Race Index Bet?

A Race Index (Indicies) bet, is about how well an individual horse will perform in a race. Points are awarded according to where they finish. The points structure varies according to how many runners there are in a race. For races with up to 12 runners the points is as follows:

1st = 50 points
2nd = 25 points
3rd = 10 points
Any other place = 0 points

Races with more than 12 runners are:

1st = 50 points
2nd = 30 points
3rd = 20 points
4th = 10 points
Any other place = 0 points

This market gives one an opportunity to back or oppose an individual horse.

Spread Betting firms specify a price range for the main horses in a race. If you feel a particular horse will do better than their assessment, you would bet high (buy) on it's spread. If you feel it will not perform so well, you would bet low (Sell) on the spread.

Example Of How It Works

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

You'll see there was more than 12 horses in the race, so points were awarded as 50 points for 1st, 30 for 2nd, 20 for 3rd and 10 for 4th.

Sporting Index priced up 14 of the 20 runners in the race. You'll see they allocated a spread to each of the horses, based upon their assessment of how well they were likely to finish.

If we look at the favourite, we'll see Sporting Index priced Purple Moon up at 15 - 18 points. If you felt it would finish in the top 3 (score 50, 30 or 20 points) you would Buy the market at the higher figure of 18. If you felt it would finish out of the first 3 (score 10 or 0 points) you would Sell at the lower figure of 15.

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 18 and Purple Moon came 2nd you would win £60, £5 x 12 (30 - 18). However if Purple Moon finished 4th you would lose £40, £5 x 8 (18 - 10).

In the actual race you'll see Purple Moon won. Peppertree Lane was a non runner, so Sporting Index adjusted the index slightly. 1st scored 48.64 points, 2nd 29.18, 3rd 19.45 and 4th 9.73 points (This is the spread betting equivalent of the rule 4 deduction you see on fixed odds betting).

If you'd brought Purple Moon on the spread at 18 for £5 a point, you'd have made a profit of £153.20, £5 x 30.64 (48.64 - 18). If you'd sold at 15, you'd have made a loss of £168.20, £5 x 33.64 (48.64 - 15).

Honolulu finished 2nd in the race and scored 29.18 points. It's spread before the race was 8 - 11. If you'd brought at 11 for £5 a point, you'd have made a profit of £90.90, £5 x 18.18 (29.18 - 11). If you'd sold at 8, you'd have made a loss of £105.90, £5 x 21.18 (29.18 - 8).

The 3rd favourite in the forecast betting, Tranquil Tiger, finished outside of the first 4 and scored 0 points. It's spread before the race was 9 - 12. If you'd brought at 12 for £5 a point, you'd have made a loss of £60, £5 x 12 (12 - 0). If you'd sold at 9, you'd have made a profit of £45, £5 x 9 (9 - 0).