What are different types of bets?

The simplest type of bet is a single win bet, in which you wager a certain amount, known as your ‘stake’, on a single selection, which must win for you to make a profit. If horse wins, you receive winnings equal to your stake multiplied by the winning odds, plus your stake back. If the horse does not win, you lose your stake in its entirety.

Alternatively, an each-way bet is, in effect, two bets, one on a selection to win and another on the same selection to finish placed or, in other words, second, third or fourth, depending on the ‘place terms’ offered on the race in question. Standard place terms are, for handicaps with 16 or more runners, one-quarter the odds for the first four places, for handicaps with 12-15 runners, one-quarter the odds for the first three places, for all other races with 8 or more runners, one-fifth the odds for the first three places and, for all races with 5-7 runners, one-quarter the odds for the first two places. If your horse wins, both your ‘win’ and ‘place’ bets are winners, if the horse does not win, but is placed, your ‘place’ bet is a winner and if the horse is unplaced, both bets are losers.

If you want to bet on more than one horse in more than one race, you can combine your selections in win, or each-way, doubles, trebles and accumulators. In the case of a double, both selections must win, or be placed, to guarantee a return, in the case of a treble, all three selections must win, or be placed, and so on. Combination, or multiple, bets of this type are inherently more risky than win or each-way single bets, but do offer the potential of a huge return for a small initial outlay.

Aside from these basic types of bet, bookmakers also offer a whole host of ‘exotic’ bets, such as forecast and tricast bets, which invite you to attempt to predict the first two, or the first three, horses home in certain races. Once again, these bets offer the potential for a huge return, but involve betting at multiple odds, so the bookmakers are giving nothing away.

What is the difference between flat and jump racing?

The most obvious difference between Flat and Jump, or National Hunt, racing is that Flat racing does not require participants to negotiate obstacles, but National Hunt racing, at least for the most part, does. The one exception is the confusingly-named National Hunt Flat Race, colloquially known as a ‘bumper’, which is run under National Hunt Rules, but involves no obstacles at all.

Flat racing is also staged, on the whole, over shorter distances than National Hunt racing. In Britain, the official minimum distance for a Flat race is 5 furlongs, but the official minimum distance for hurdle races and steeplechases is 2 miles. At the other end of the scale, the longest Flat race staged in Britain is the Queen Alexandra Stakes, run over 2 miles, 5 furlongs and 143 yards, while the longest National Hunt race is the Grand National, run over 4 miles, 2 furlongs and 7 yards.

Nowadays, Flat and National Hunt races take place throughout the year, but the Flat season ‘proper’ traditionally starts with the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster in late March or early April and ends with the November Handicap at the same course in early November. By contrast, the National Hunt season ‘proper’ traditionally starts in mid-October and ends with the Bet365 Gold Cup, originally known as the Whitbread Gold Cup, at Sandown Park in late April. National Hunt racing is typically less financially rewarding than Flat racing and, with the most important part of the season extending through the winter, is generally considered less fashionable and less glamorous.

What is jump racing?

Jump racing, also known as National Hunt racing, is the code, or discipline, of horse racing that involves negotiating obstacles, usually in the form of hurdles or fences. Some jump racing does, however, take place on specialist ‘cross country’ or ‘bank’ courses, on which some of the obstacles are more akin to those typically found in open countryside. In Britain, with the exception of some National Hunt Flat races, all jump races are run over an ‘official’ minimum distance of at least 2 miles, although on certain racecourses the advertised distance may be slightly shorter. However, the longest jump race staged in Britain is, unequivocally, the Grand National, nowadays run over 4 miles 2 furlongs and 7 yards, at Aintree Racecourse in April each year. Since the advent of so-called ‘summer jumping’, which began in 1995, jump racing is staged throughout the year, although the National Hunt season ‘proper’ lasts from mid-October to late April or early May.

What is Flat racing?

Flat racing – often, but not always, capitalised – is the code, or discipline, of horse racing that involves no obstacles. Flat racing is sometimes referred to as racing ‘on the level’, but some racecourses on which Flat racing is staged are anything but level, with pronounced undulations or severe uphill or downhill gradients. In Britain, Flat races are staged over distances between 5 furlongs and 2 miles 5 furlongs and 143 yards and take place, on turf, during a season that traditionally lasts from late March or early April to early November. However, Flat racing also takes place on the all-weather tracks at Chelmsford, Kempton, Lingfield, Newcastle, Southwell and Wolverhampton all year round.

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