Spread Betting on Horse Racing - Racing Post Favourites

What Is A Racing Post Favourites Bet?

A Racing Post Favourites spread bet is a prediction on the performance of the favourites, as forecast in the Racing Post newspaper, in each race at a meeting. The favourite is the first named horse in the forecast. E.g. Heaven Knows was the Racing Post Favourite in the following race:

Points are awarded as follows: 25 points for winning; 10 points for finishing second and 5 points for finishing third. Racing Post Favourite's finishing lower than third receive 0 points.

If you feel the forecast favourites will do well at a particular meeting, you would bet high (Buy) on the Racing Post 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 67 - 71.

By clicking on the icon, for the Racing Post Favourites market, on the Sporting Index site, you will see a list of which horse is forecast favourite in each race. On the right you can see the list for the York Ebor meeting.

If you felt Sporting Index had priced the spread too high for the meeting you would Sell the market at the lower figure of 67 quoted in their spread. If you felt their spread was too low, you would Buy at the higher figure of 71.

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 71 and the total finished at 80 you would win £45, £5 x 9 (80 - 71). However if the total finished at 65 you would lose £30, £5 x 6 (71 - 65).

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.

Race One

The Racing Post favourite in the first race was Heaven Knows, which was not placed within the 1st three and so didn't score any points towards the Racing Post Favourites total. A good start if you chose to sell on the market, with Sporting Index reducing their spread to 61 - 64 after the first race.

Race Two

The Racing Post favourite in the second race (Swiss Franc) was placed 3rd and scored 5 points towards the Racing Post Favourites total. Given Swiss Franc 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 53 - 56.

If you'd initially sold on the market at 67 you could now lock in a profit by buying on the revised spread at 56. A stake of £5 a point would have given a profit of £55, £5 x 11 (67 - 56). However if you'd brought on the original spread at 71, you'd now have to sell at 53 to cancel the bet, which with a stake of £5, would have incurred a loss of £90, £5 x 18 (71 - 53). Of course you don't have to close your bet out and with 5 races still to run there's plenty of time for the Racing Post favourites to perform better.

Race Three

Purple Moon was the Racing Post favourite in the third race and won the race, adding 25 points to the total of 30 points after three races. A much better result if you'd brought on the initial spread. Sporting Index adjusted their range up to 71 - 74. Those who originally sold had missed their chance to lock in a profit, but the buyers were now in a position to sell with no loss on the bet.

Race Four

The fourth race was also won by the Racing Post favourite (Peeping Fawn) adding another 25 points to the total of 55 points after four races. This time the forecast favourite was odds on, so it was pretty much as expected to have added 25 points to the market and had already been factored into the previous spread. Subsequently there was a smaller jump as Sporting Index increased their quote to 78 - 80.

Race Five

The fifth race was again won the Racing Post 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 71 you were now guaranteed a profit. At £5 a point you'd have been set to win at least £45, with 2 more favourites still to run. Sporting Index increased their spread to 90 - 92.

Race Six

In the sixth race Moynanhan became the forth Racing Post favourite in a row to win and added 25 more points to the total of 105 points after six races. Excellent news for those who'd brought on the market, the guaranteed profits really starting to mount now. Those who'd sold would have really been wishing they'd locked in a profit after the first two races. Sporting Index increased their spread to 108 - 109.5 with just one race remaining

Race Seven

In the last race of the meeting the Racing Post favourite (Peak District) finished 3rd, which added 5 more points to the final total of 110. A great meeting for the Racing Post favourites with 4 winners and 2 thirds contributing to the total.

The total of 110 finished much higher than the initial quote of 67 - 71 from Sporting Index. If you'd bet high you would have been a bit worried early on, but 4 winning Racing Post favourites in a row, turned things on their head and a £5 stake would have ended up with a £195 profit, £5 x 39 (110 - 71).

If you'd 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. A £5 stake would have ended up with a loss of £215, £5 x 43 (110 - 67).

The above example shows how fortunes can change very quickly with spread betting, for better or worse. It emphasises you need to understand the risks before getting involved and shows the benefits of managing your bet to take a profit or cut your losses as you go.