Betting fans in the UK are fortunate to have scores of horse racing betting sites to choose from. We highlight the best horse racing bookmakers around according to our assessment of their key features and bonus offers.
Bet £50 & Get £25 in Free Bets + 10 Free Spins
Bet £50 & Get £25 in Free Bets + 10 Free Spins
50% of First Day Losses Back As a Free Bet Up To £25
50% of First Day Losses Back As a Free Bet Up To £25
£50 in Free Bets When You Bet £10
£50 in Free Bets When You Bet £10
Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Football Bet Builders
Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Football Bet Builders
Debit cards
Apple Pay
Instant Banking
Paypal
Skrill
Neteller
Paysafecard
Bank Transfer
Rapidtransfer
MuchBetter
Bet £20 and get it back as cash if it loses
Bet £20 and get it back as cash if it loses
Bet £10 Get £20 in Free Bets
Bet £10 Get £20 in Free Bets
Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets
Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets
Bet £10 Get £60 In Free Bets
Bet £10 Get £60 In Free Bets
Bet £10, Get £40
Bet £10, Get £40
Bet £5, Get £20 in Free Bets
Bet £5, Get £20 in Free Bets
Horse racing bettors in the UK are never short of opportunities to place a bet. For those of you who want to narrow things down, here are a few particularly big races that you might want to consider betting on in the week ahead.
At York on Saturday at 15:10, a maximum of 22 runners will compete for a first prize of £103,080 in the John Smith’s Cup. This is a Class 2 handicap over 1 mile and 2 ½ furlongs, and there are several runners vying for favouritism, including Haunted Dream, Hand of God, Liberty Lane and Torita. There are more than 70 entries for the race, and only 22 can run, so tread carefully if you choose to bet in the ante-post market.
The three-day July Festival meeting at Newmarket starts on Thursday, and we’re particularly looking forward to a couple of races that will be staged there on Saturday. The first is the bet365 Bunbury Cup, which is a Class 2 handicap run over 7 furlongs. A maximum of 20 runners can participate, and the winner will be awarded £51,540 in prize money. The race starts at 16:00.
This is the second race that we’re very keen on at Newmarket on Saturday. The July Cup has been a highlight of the British racing calendar since it was inaugurated in 1876. It’s a Group 1 race over 6 furlongs, and the scheduled off time this year is 16:35. Inisherin is the pretty solid favourite at 2/1 at the time of writing, and the prize for the winner will be £340,260.
The best horse betting sites for UK racing fans right now are:
Not all bettors are looking for the same things from horse racing bookmakers. Some like to bet in ante-post markets, some prefer to bet in-running and others are most concerned with being able to bet on their mobiles. Whatever your main focus, there’s almost certainly a site that will suit your needs perfectly.
Fitzdares was launched as a private club in 2005 to cater for a select group of clients. That was an invitation-only establishment, but the Mayfair-based bookmaker opened its virtual doors to online bettors in 2018.
The private club had a Racing Room just for horse racing aficionados. That dedication to the Sport of Kings is still present in its online offering. Fitzdares offers comprehensive coverage of the UK racing scene. It also offers a plethora of markets for horse racing in France, Japan, Australia, the USA and other countries that love the sport.
Where Fitzdares excels is in its dedication to mobile betting. The Fitzdares mobile app is available for both Android and Apple devices and is the best-rated app of any we’ve seen. You can bet in-running, cash out early, put an accumulator together with a “bet builder” feature, take advantage of current promotions and more.
What We Like:
Room for Improvement:
This horse racing bookie started its life in 1997 in East Sussex as a telephone betting service. It went online in 2022 and brought with it an “old school” approach that is loved by many. There are no pages from the Racing Post on its virtual walls, but this is certainly a traditional venue.
The focus here is exclusively on sports betting, and horse racing is a speciality. One thing that we love here is that upcoming races are clearly displayed in chronological order and cover multiple countries. That means you can bet on the next race in Bordeaux just as easily as you can on the next race at Catterick.
Click the Future Races tab and you’ll see that Betgoodwin has markets for the big events for at least the next six months. This makes it one of the most useful horse racing bookies for anyone who has a passion for ante-post betting. Fancy placing a bet on June’s Epsom Derby before Christmas the preceding year? This is the bookie to choose.
What We Like:
Room for Improvement:
Having launched as a single betting shop in Salford in 1967, Betfred is now a multinational giant in the industry. Betfred gave racing bettors the Lucky 15 bet in the 1980s, earning co-founder Fred Done his nickname as the Bonus King.
Betfred has been operating online since 2004. And its commitment to giving its customers some of the best bonuses and promotions around hasn’t waned one bit. Now viewed as one of the best bookies for horse racing, it offers Extra Places and Super Extra Places on specified races. It also offers consolation deals and cash bonuses on Lucky 15, 31, or 63 bets.
We’re featuring Betfred here because we’ve rated it as the best site for Best Odds Guaranteed. Simply bet on a horse after 8 am on the day of the race (UK or Irish). If the Starting Price of your selection is bigger than the odds taken, you’ll be given the larger SP.
What We Like:
Room for Improvement:
Betfair was founded in 2000 and quickly achieved widespread popularity as one of the first betting exchanges in the UK. It now offers both an exchange and a sportsbook, and you can take advantage of either one – or both – using the same account.
There are betting markets available here for almost anything you can think of. That means not only all sports but also a range of political and entertainment events. The horse racing section is truly international. This makes it just as easy to bet on races in other countries as on those in the UK and Ireland.
Because Betfair started as a betting exchange, it has always been perfectly set up for betting in-running. Live betting is available on the majority of races, so you can make bets and cash out as you wish. You can also watch live streams of most races or listen to radio commentary at the touch of a button. If you like betting in-running, Betfair is the place to be.
What We Like:
Room for Improvement:
Paddy Power is probably the most famous Irish bookmaker in the world. Established in 1988, its quirky, innovative and often mischievous promotions earned it millions of fans. It has become known as “the home of the Money Back Special” as well as a horse racing specialist.
There are plenty of other specials available here. Pay a visit on any day of the week and there’ll be a whole range of Racing Specials and Jockey Specials for that day. You can also make use of Extra Places, seasonal specials, and place futures bets via an extensive Ante Post calendar.
Paddy Power makes it easy for you to bet on all UK and Irish races. It also offers a wide range of markets for international events. And, yes, it has a mobile app that allows you to bet when you’re out and about. That makes it our pick as one of the best all-round horse betting sites.
What We Like:
Room for Improvement:
We’ve now reached the point where we can compare all of the bookmakers that we’ve mentioned. The following table provides a visual summary of their features so that you can see which is best for you.
Money Back Offers |
Live Streaming | Bet Without Favourite | Forecast & Tricast | Winning Distance | Extra Places | Live Commentary | BOG From: | |
Fitzdares |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
|
Betgoodwin |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
10:00 |
Betfred |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
✅ |
✅ |
08:00 |
Betfair |
❌ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
|
Paddy Power |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
08:00 |
Virgin |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
08:00 |
BetUK |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
|
BetMGM |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
|
Spreadex |
❌ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
|
Tote |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
Identifying which horse racing bookies to feature as the best wasn’t easy. We don’t pick winners by sticking pins into a racecard and we don’t pick bookies in a similarly random way. What we do is conduct a comprehensive assessment of each contender. We then rate their performance in several key areas and rank them accordingly. The main areas we consider for horse racing betting sites are as follows:
Next, we look at the race coverage that a bookie provides. We obviously want to see full coverage of all horse racing in the UK and Ireland. But that’s just for starters. Ideally, we’d also like to be able to bet on races staged in Australia, France, Italy and elsewhere. The more race coverage a betting site provides, the higher its rating will be.
Having a wide variety of betting markets to explore is another important quality that we look for. The types of bets that we like to be able to make include:
The more options a bookmaker gives us, the better.
Betting on horse racing can be challenging, so we like bookies who help customers out with bonuses and promotions. Whether it’s free bets, money-back offers, odds boosts or consolation prizes, every little helps.
This area is strongly related to the previous one. The best horse racing websites in the UK will not only allow live betting but will also let us watch races via live video streams. We don’t expect every single race to be streamed live, but we’d certainly like to see the main ones.
There are plenty of horse racing betting sites around, so we don’t need to settle for paltry odds. A top-rated bookie needs to offer genuinely competitive odds when compared with all the others we can choose from. Ideally, it should also offer Best Odds Guaranteed so that we get the best return even if we take lower odds earlier in the day.
All horse betting sites in the UK strive to make themselves as attractive as possible to both new and existing customers. One of the main ways in which they do that is by offering bonuses and promotions. There are various types available, so here’s a quick rundown of the most common ones you’re likely to encounter.
This is a bonus offered to new customers to help make them feel welcome. It often takes the form of free bets, a risk-free first bet or a percentage of early losses refunded. You will usually need to make a deposit of your own cash and make a bet to qualify for a welcome bonus. However, that’s standard practice, and if it were any other way the bookies would quickly get fleeced!
A Best Odds Guaranteed (or BOG) offer means that you can bet with confidence whenever you want. If the odds you take about a winner are lower than the Starting Price, your bet will be settled at the higher SP. Bookmakers that offer BOG will usually state the time from which it applies. For example, you might read “Best Odds Guaranteed from 9 am”. This would mean that the guarantee will automatically apply to any qualifying bet made after that time.
This type of promotion is very common at horse racing betting sites. It will give you a full or partial refund of your stake if you make a particular bet that fails for a specified reason. For example, you might get your money back if you bet on a National Hunt feature race runner and it falls at the last obstacle. Or if your Flat race selection loses by a head or less.
One of the downsides of betting in big fields is that each-way bets normally only pay for the first three places (four in larger handicaps). Some bookmakers run Extra Places promotions that make such races more appealing by paying for an extra place. This gives each-way bettors a greater chance of getting a return.
Another promotion that’s very common at betting sites for horse racing is the “odds boost”. This will boost the odds at which your bet will be settled if it’s successful. Generally speaking, odds boosts are offered for specific bets only, such as accumulators of four legs or more. Sometimes, however, they are used as part of a Welcome Bonus to make your first bet even more attractive.
There are plenty of promotions and offers available to horse betting fans in the UK right now. Here are a few of the ones that we think are particularly attractive:
Whether you want to bet on the Grand National or the 5:30 at Wolverhampton, you’ll want to get the best odds. Here are three horse racing betting sites that will serve you nicely:
Horse racing is one of those sports that we are fortunate to be able to bet on all year round. Even so, some events on the UK horse racing calendar attract more attention than others. Here are just a few of the key events to look out for. Bookmakers will often run special promotions for each of them, so be sure to keep an eye open for those.
This four-day festival takes place in March each year, and each day has a feature race. These are the Unibet Champion Hurdle, the Betway Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase, the Ryanair Steeple Chase and the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase. There’s a myriad of Cheltenham betting offers each year for punters to choose from.
In April, the Randox Festival offers another three days of prime racing action. Expect plenty of Grade 1 races, all of which are televised live in the UK. The highlight and main event of this festival is the world-famous Randox Grand National, which runs on the third day. The choice of dedicated Grand National betting offers is always impressive.
May is the month of the QIPCO Festival, which provides three days of best Flat racing at Newmarket Racecourses. Feature races that attract plenty of ante-post attention include the Rowley Mile, the 2000 Guineas and the 1000 Guineas.
Running for five days every June, the Royal Ascot event is almost as famous for its Ladies Day (with the outrageously fashionable hats) as it is for its racing. This festival is almost always attended at some point by various members of the British royal family, and it features multiple big races. Just a few of the most notable ones are the Queen Anne Stakes, the Gold Cup and The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.
This is a two-day event that is held at Epsom Downs Racecourse at the end of June. The first day is Ladies Day, and the big races to look out for are The Betfred Oaks and The Group One Coronation Cup. The second day is Derby Day, featuring The Betfred Derby, which is known as “the world’s greatest Flat race.” Each year, there’s a huge selection of Epsom Derby betting offers from many bookies.
Glorious Goodwood is a standout event in the British flat racing season, showcasing elite racing over five days. This popular meeting also prompts UK bookmakers to offer special betting promotions and free bets for Glorious Goodwood.
This Ladbrokes horse racing festival takes place over two days in November at the Down Royal Racecourse in Northern Ireland. One of the highlights to look out for on the first day is the Bottlegreen Hurdle, which is a Grade 3 race. The big event on the second day is the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Champion Chase.
There’s more than enough racing action taking place in the UK to keep even the most ardent bettor entertained. Even so, many of us also like to bet on races that are staged in other countries. That’s particularly the case with big races.
Fortunately, the best horse racing online betting sites cover the international scene almost as well as the domestic one. That means you can look forward to betting on the Kentucky Derby, the Dubai World Cup, the Melbourne Cup, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and more.
We mentioned earlier that we like to see bookies offer a varied range of betting markets. That’s because different bettors like to make different kinds of predictions. Here are just a few of the betting markets you can expect to see offered by the best bookies for horse racing.
Betting Market | Objective |
Race Winner | Bet on a horse to win the race, or make an each-way bet for it to either win or place. |
Place Only | Bet on a horse to get a place. |
Straight Forecast | Pick two horses to finish in first and second place in a specific order. |
Reverse Forecast | Pick two horses to finish in first and second place in either order. |
Tricast | Pick three horses to finish in first, second and third place in a specific order. |
Without Favourite | Bet on a horse to win or each-way but without the favourite being included. |
Winning Distance | Bet on the distance by which the race winner will beat the second-placed horse. |
Match Bet | The bookie asks you to predict which of two horses will get the best finishing position. |
Check out our horse racing glossary to learn more about all bet types and other horse betting terms.
Shopping around for the best bonuses available to new customers can be a time-consuming activity. That’s why we’ve compiled the table below, which tells you exactly what’s on offer from each of our recommended horse racing betting sites. Simply glance through the offers, find one or two that you like and help yourself.
Bookmaker | New Customer Offer |
Fitzdares | 50% back on any first-day losses, up to £50, as a free bet. Plus 10 free spins at Fitzdares Casino. |
Betgoodwin | 50% back on any first-day losses, up to £25, as a free bet. |
Spreadex | £50 in bet bonuses when you bet £25. |
BetMGM | £40 in free bets when you bet £10. |
Betfred | £30 in free bets when you bet £10. |
BetUK | £30 in free bets when you bet £10. |
Tote | £30 in free bets when you bet £10. |
Betfair | £20 in free bets when you bet £5. |
Paddy Power | £20 in free bets when you bet £5. |
Virgin Bet | £20 in free bet when you bet £10. |
For many of us, placing bets on a smartphone or tablet is more convenient than using a computer. And it’s certainly easier than having to take a trip to the nearest betting shop. For that reason, it makes sense for us to highlight the options available at our featured bookies. Here’s a brief overview of the mobile features they currently offer.
Bookmaker | Apple | Android | Cash Out | Live Streams | Bet Builder |
Fitzdares | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Spreadex | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Betfred | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
BetUK | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Betfair | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Paddy Power | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
BetMGM | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Virgin | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Tote | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
Betgoodwin | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
Betting on horse racing is just as much about having fun as it is about winning. Even so, there’s no denying that picking winners can enhance the fun quotient by quite a bit. No bettor can win with every bet they place, of course. But what you can do is learn to bet in a way that improves your chances. Here are some horse racing betting tips to help get you on the right track.
It sounds obvious, but the more competitive a race is, the harder it will be to pick the winner. That’s why the odds are generally higher in handicap events and races with big fields. A quick way to maximise your chances of winning is to select your races with this in mind.
We won’t provide any hard-and-fast rules, because how you bet is entirely up to you. What we will say is that you’re likely to have more success in non-handicap races of 12 or fewer runners. Also, make sure that at least 80% (and preferably all) of the horses have had at least two previous runs. That will give you something to base your decisions on when you come to make a selection.
The most successful punters at horse racing betting sites in the UK are those who select horses based on past performance. Of course, we’ve all heard that past performance is no guarantee of what will happen in the future. That’s quite true, but it’s still the best guide that we have available.
Horses with a history of winning are more likely to win in the future than those with a history of losing. They aren’t certain to win, and there’s no such thing as a “dead cert”. But if you assess the form (past performance) of the runners to see which have fared best, you’ll have a shortlist to consider for betting purposes.
Horses aren’t machines, and they can feel under the weather just as any human athlete can. When considering horses for betting, it pays to assess their fitness. We can’t ask how they’re feeling, so we need to see if they’ve raced in the past few weeks. If they have, we can look at how well they ran to get a feel for how fit they are. If a horse hasn’t raced for more than a couple of months, exercise caution and keep any bets to modest stakes.
Many horses fare best when racing over certain distances and/or ground conditions. Some excel at sprints on all-weather surfaces. Some prefer a long slog of three miles or more when the going is soft or heavy. Examine the form of horses to check the distance and going conditions when they achieved their best results. Also, be sure to note when they didn’t race so well. You can then compare the distance and ground conditions for the upcoming race and bet – or not – accordingly.
Picking winners isn’t particularly difficult. It happens every day. But picking winners consistently without also picking a losing horse or two on the way is pretty much impossible. It’s therefore essential that you manage your money wisely and expect to have losing bets from time to time.
The easiest way to do this is to set aside a sum of money just for betting. Then, instead of betting random amounts, consider betting no more than a certain percentage of the available total. For example, you might set aside £100 to start with and bet no more than 5% per race. That would allow you to have a few losing bets without them wiping you out completely. Use our free horse betting calculator to work out the winnings.
Our final tip is to consider developing your own horse racing betting strategy. If you have a strategic approach then you will avoid the mistake of betting according to hunch or whim. This is something that you will have to develop by trial and error, of course. So, for now, here are a couple of betting strategies that you might want to consider as a starting point.
This strategy will help you to assign a numerical rating to every runner in a horse race. The horse with the highest rating would then be your selection. Take a look at the last two races that each horse has run and proceed as follows:
The maximum rating that a horse can get using this system is 30 points. If the top-rated horse is 10 points clear of the next best, it might be worth considering a bet.
This strategy is for those of you who enjoy betting with bookmakers that allow you to cash out early. The basic idea is to bet before the race has started and then to cash out when you’ve made a useful profit.
You can use your own method or the Form Calculator Strategy to pick your selection. When you’ve done that, place a bet on the horse to win at the best odds you can find. Be sure that the bookie you bet with will allow you to cash out.
That done, wait for the race to start and keep your eye on the cash-out figure. If it reaches a point where you will make a useful profit, simply cash out to lock it in.
The term “useful profit” is open to interpretation. The lower you set the cash-out level, the more often this strategy will be successful. Of course, if you set it too low then a single loser could wipe out profits from several previous races. We suggest cashing out when your profit is worth 25% or more of your stake to begin with. You can then adjust from there according to your experience and your attitude to risk.
YouGov says that horse racing is the second most popular sport to bet on in the UK, and we don’t doubt it. Betting on horse races makes them even more exciting to watch and it could also help you to become a winner yourself. There are plenty of established and new horse racing betting sites to explore, but if you're spoilt for choice you won't go wrong with Fitzdares. Whatever bookie you choose to bet with, have fun and we’ll see you in the Winner’s Circle!
Bet £50 & Get £25 in Free Bets + 10 Free Spins
Bet £50 & Get £25 in Free Bets + 10 Free Spins
Online bookmakers for horse racing are perfectly legal in the UK for those aged 18 or older. Both online and land-based bookies are licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.
There is no single betting site that is best for all horse racing fans. All of the sites mentioned on this page will let you bet on horses to win or each-way. If you’re looking for particular features, take a look at our comparison table of the 10 Best Horse Racing sites to find one that suits you.
Yes. Horse racing betting apps are available from all of the bookies we recommend. As well as being able to place bets, the best apps will also let you build bets, cash out in-running and even watch races unfold via live video streaming.
That’s the million-dollar question that everyone wants the answer to. There’s no guaranteed way to pick winners. However, several guiding principles can improve your chances of success. Some of the main ones are to select your races carefully, base your decisions on past form and manage your money wisely.
Ian Bruce joined Safest Betting Sites in 2024 as Senior Sports Editor to oversee the quality and usefulness of its gambling content. He originally developed an interest in betting after landing a winning Yankee on his first attempt. He then spent years figuring out how to replicate that success. Along the way, he became one of the UK’s leading writers on the topic of betting and gaming. Ian’s career has now spanned more than three decades, and his enthusiasm for systematic and responsible betting hasn’t waned one bit. However, his preferred approach to winning these days is Dutching, for the simple reason that “It’s a lot easier than landing Yankees.”
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