Horse racing tips: what does the Form mean?

racingAny experienced follower of horse racing will know that ‘the form’ is a good guide regarding any horse’s credentials. In-depth horse racing tips may involve a more detailed look at how a horse performs in certain conditions or if they are being primed for certain races, but to the uninitiated, The Form can be the best way to discern if your horse is a good bet.

Form may read as follows: ‘121-5F’.

The numbers indicate the position the horse has finished in the race: in this case first, second, then first again in that order. Place numbers will usually range from 1 through to 9, and if the horse receives a ‘0’, you can presume it finished outside the top 9.
Symbols are often used in the form, and in this case, the hyphen would indicate a years interval between the first placed finish and the fifth placed finish. This can be a good indicator when trying to discover if the horse is in good form.

Letters indicate something other than a place. P, F, R, B and U all feature in form guides.

‘P’ means pulled up. A horse can pull up for a variety of reasons from injury to something far less serious.

‘F’ indicates a fall, so be wary when choosing horses with an ‘F’ in their recent form. ‘R’ is a refusal, ‘B’ means brought down, and ‘U’ means the horse has unseated the rider.

The Form is a handy tool for expert and amateur alike when formulating horse racing tips. An expert can have a good knowledge of a horse, be fully aware of its capabilities, but still need to know how well it’s performing. For anyone who follows football, you will be aware that form is all important in deciding the outcome of a game: this is even more so in horse racing. For all of your Cheltenham Betting and horse racing bets in general be sure to come to betfair!

Object of betting on horses

The main object of betting on horses is to beat the odds makers in order to win some money. In today’s hectic life, traditional forms of betting on horse races will not cut it. People have resorted to betting not only over the phone, but also even over the internet. Online horse race betting has become extremely popular as the years move on, yet the objective has remained the same. Winning money through bets has all types of different bonuses and twists depending on which type of bet that you make. Betting is done through bookies or sports books that accept your bet. Through these bookies, you can bet on the outcome of many races and or many different outcomes of the same race.

Betting depends on many odds that are set by the odds maker. They make the final decision on how mathematically likely or how mathematically unlikely it is for a certain horse to win a race. The odds are what determine how lucrative it could be for you to win the bet. Always remember that a bookie or a sports book is not the same as an odds maker. Sports books take the bets, and odds makers set what odds each type of bet will have. When making a bet, be sure to remember to specifically state what type of bet you are making and exactly how much you are wagering. Always examine the range of different odds available for each and every type of bet that you are considering placing. Some sports books offer large varieties of bets with large combinations whereas other sports books may not have such a selection. There are many types of bets. From the straight bet, which is a single win bet, to the parlay, which is a let-it-ride type of bet, bets can be confusing. There are many bets that you can place that are similar to each other. Placing a wager for place is a bet that says you are paid if the horse you chose finishes either first place or second place. That bet is similar to placing a wager to show. Placing a wager to show means that if the horse you picked comes in first, second, or third places, then, you win the bet still.

Betting on the Horses

So you want to go bet a few pounds on the horses? It can be a great time, and you can win some great money, but if it is your first time at the track you may end up a little daunted by all of the types of bets and what they mean. My goal is to go over some of them, and get you a little more comfortable so that maybe you can win a little and have some fun.

First are the simple ones. If you bet win, you are betting the horse you pick is going to win, if you bet place you are betting the horse you pick will come in first or second, and betting show means the horse will come in first second or third. Depending on which you pick your prize money will go down, obviously picking win over place will give you a better payout, but its riskier. Now this is where it gets a little trickier, and these bets are better left to the more experienced gamblers, but you should still know they are out there. Pick three and pick six are picking the winners for three or six consecutive races, a difficult task but one with a nice payout. Betting exacta you would be picking to horses to finish first and second, and you must pick the order correctly, if you bet exacta box the order no longer matters, you just need the right two horses.

Trifecta is the same as exacta except you pick the top three horses, trifecta box, again, would make the order irrelevant while trifecta key makes it so that your first position horse matters but second and third can come in in either order. The last thing you need to know is how to actually make the bets. When you get to the window and you know your horse(s) you place your bet by saying the amount, the type of bet, and then the horse numbers. So if I were to say “£3 exacta 4 , 7 ” that would mean I am betting that Number 4 will come in first and number seven will come in second . Pretty simple. This should hopefully make you comfortable enough with horse race bets to go out there, have some fun, and come home with a little extra cash.

Welcome to Horse Racing Online

Welcome to the all new Horse Racing Online – the new home of horse racing news and views. We’ll keep you bang up to date with all of the latest tips from upcoming races, as well as reviews of race courses throughout the UK.

We’ll also have a laying tips service starting up very soon, so check back often for the best bets on the races.

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