Best Horse Racing Betting Sites in the UK, with Best Odds Guaranteed

We list fourteen horse racing betting sites UK customers can use above in alphabetical order, because racing terms have not been compared closely enough to put them in a racing order; our general ranking is on the homepage. Every feature below is something to look for, written in general wording, because terms change and a promotion that exists today can be withdrawn next month. Where a rule is described here, it is the general rule of UK racing betting, not a statement about any one bookmaker.

Start with the licence. Every bookmaker taking bets from people in Great Britain must hold a Gambling Commission remote betting licence, and the Gambling Commission keeps a public register you can search by name. Among the horse racing betting sites UK searches turn up, only those on the register are licensed. A site that does not appear there is not licensed to offer racing bets to UK customers, whatever its home page says.

A short checklist before you open an account

Find the terms page for racing promotions, read the best odds guaranteed wording, open one racecard to see the each-way terms printed beside the runners, and check the settings for the stake limits and deposit limits. If any of those is hard to find, that tells you something about the site.

Add the cost of being wrong to the checklist. Horse racing betting sites make it quick to place a bet, so set a deposit limit before the first one, not after the third.

The starting price is the price on a horse at the moment the race starts. A horse that is backed on the day usually shortens, so its SP is smaller than an early price. A horse that drifts has an SP bigger than the early price, and that is the situation where best odds guaranteed pays out more. A bet placed an hour before the off, on a horse that then lengthens, is the typical case.

The name is the promotion's, not a promise that you will get the best price available anywhere. Another bookmaker may have offered a bigger price at some point, and BOG does not compare across bookmakers. It compares your price with the SP, nothing else.

How best odds guaranteed settles, step by step

At settlement the bookmaker looks at the horse's SP and your taken price, converts both to the same format and pays the larger one on the winning part of the bet. Staking is unchanged. Only the odds applied to a win change. The worked example in the next section shows the exact figures.

Reverse the case. If the SP had been 4/1, the starting price would be lower than the 5/1 you took, so the bet is settled at 5/1 and returns £60. You never lose the price you took. If the horse loses, the £10 stake is lost under either price and best odds guaranteed pays nothing.

Conditions to check in the terms

The headline is the same on most horse racing betting sites, but the conditions are where promotions differ, so look for the following in the terms rather than assuming them:

The difference changes returns. Take £10 each-way on an 8/1 horse with a quarter of the odds and three places. If it wins, both parts pay and £120 comes back: £90 from the win part and £30 from the place part. If it finishes second or third, only the place part pays, at 2/1, and £30 comes back from the £20 staked. We checked both figures with the engine. Run your own numbers in the each way calculator, which handles dead heats as well.

Compare the same race on two sites before you bet. A fifth of the odds paying four places is a different bet from a quarter of the odds paying three, and neither is better in every case. Which suits you depends on the price of the horse you want to back. Golf outrights are sold each-way too, with their own place terms and frequent dead heats for places; the golf betting sites page covers how those work.

Because extra places are offered on chosen races, read three things in the terms: which races qualify, whether the place fraction stays the same, and whether the extra place applies to bets already placed or only to new ones. These offers change often, which is why we do not list any here. Check the bookmaker's promotions page on the day.

For a quick check of what an extra place is worth, enter the price and the new place terms in the calculator and compare the place return with the standard terms. The difference is often small in pounds, so weigh it against the price you are taking, not as a reason to place the bet.

Here is one example, checked with the engine. A £10 win single at 4/1 normally returns £50. With a 20p Rule 4 deduction, the £40 profit is reduced by 20 per cent to £32, so the bet returns £42 including the stake. On an each-way bet the same deduction applies to the win part and the place part, so the effect on a two-part bet is doubled in pounds. Enter the deduction in the each way calculator to see it for your bet.

Check whether the terms say when Rule 4 applies and whether a new market is formed after the withdrawal. A deduction can also be applied more than once if several horses are withdrawn.

So read the wording. Check whether non-runner no bet applies to ante-post races or only to certain big meetings, from what time it applies, and whether it applies to the win part, the place part or both. A promotion can state a start date, for example once the final declarations are made. Compare that with the date you want to bet.

That is why best odds guaranteed matters as a criterion. It removes the downside of betting early, which is that the price may lengthen, though it does not make an early bet a good one. If you usually bet close to the off, the promotion matters less, and the price on the slip at that moment matters most. Convert any price you are unsure about in the odds converter or read how fractions work in betting odds explained.

A good habit is to open two bookmakers' racecards for the same race and compare the price on the same horse. Odds comparison pages exist for that, and the difference of a point or two on a favourite can be worth more than a promotion.

If you bet in play, check that the stream and the odds are not behind one another, as a delay between the picture and the price can matter. If you do not bet in play, a stream is a convenience. It is no reason to open an account on its own.

Check the market depth too. Ask whether the site offers win and each-way markets on every race on the card, forecast and tricast bets, and early prices on big festivals. A site that lists only the biggest races will not suit regular bettors. Types of bets explains the forecast, tricast and multiple bets you may want to see on the slip.

If gambling stops being fun, help is free and confidential. The National Gambling Helpline is 0808 8020 133 (run by GamCare), GambleAware offers advice and support, and GamStop lets you exclude yourself from every UK-licensed site in one step. Read our page on responsible gambling for the tools in more detail.

Never chase losses and never bet money you need for bills. A bet is a stake you can afford to lose, not an income.