Spread Betting on Horse Racing - Stop At A Winner

What Is A Stop At A Winner Bet?

A Stop At A Winner spread bet is a prediction on the number of races on a racecard to lapse before a favourite wins. The number of that particular race is then multiplied by ten. In the event of there being no winning favourite, the number of races on the card, plus one, is multiplied by ten.

If you feel the favourites will do well in the early races at a particular meeting, you would bet low (Sell) on the Stop At A Winner market, or if you think they will do badly, 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 Stop At A Winner market up with a spread of 29 - 32. That is to say they think the favourites in the first two races will be beat and in the third race the favourite will win.

If you felt one of the favourites in the first two races would win you would Sell the market at the lower figure of 29 quoted in the Sporting Index spread. If you felt none of the first 3 favourites would win, you would Buy at the higher figure of 32.

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 Sell £5 at 29 and the total finished at 20 you would win £45, £5 x 9 (29 - 20). However if the total finished at 40 you would lose £55, £5 x 11 (40 - 29).

The Stop At A Winner market remains active through the race meeting until there's a winning favourite. Sporting Index update the spread after each of the races, adjusting it up or down depending upon how well they feel the remaining favourites have of winning.

Race One

The favourite in the first race (Heaven Knows) did not win, so 10 points were added to the Stop At A Winner market. Sporting Index increased their spread to 34 - 37 after the first race.

Race Two

The favourite in the second race (Swiss Franc) did not win either, so another 10 points were added to the total of 20 points after two races. Given the favourite was a short price at 5/4, it was one you'd have thought had a good chance of winning. The fact it didn't win had quite an effect on the market, with Sporting Index increasing the spread by 10 points.

If you'd initially brought on the market at 32 you could now lock in a profit by selling on the revised spread at 44. A stake of £5 a point would have given a profit of £60, £5 x 12 (44 - 32). If you'd sold on the original spread at 29, you'd now be in a guaranteed losing position. You would either be hoping the favourite wins the third race to limit your loses or you could take it on the chin and buy at 47 for a loss of £90, £5 x 18 (47-29).

Race Three

The third race was won by the favourite Purple Moon, which completed the market, with a total of 30 points. Great relief for those who'd sold on the initial spread, limiting their losses to a single point.

The total finished in the middle of the initial Sporting Index range, which resulted in no winnings from either side of the bet, but by the same token, losses were kept to a minimum.

If you'd bet high you could have taken a profit early after the first two races, but to a £5 stake would have ended up with a £10 loss, £5 x 2 (32 - 30).

If you'd bet low, you would have been a little worried after the second race, but ended up with a loss of just £5, £5 x 1 (30 - 29).