Best Horse Racing Betting Sites in Ireland

Let’s do a deep dive into the world of Horse Racing Ireland and find the best Horse Racing sites to bet on. The best sites for Horse Racing betting read our expert guidelines on how to bet on horses online.

When we pick our horse racing betting sites, we want to make sure you get the best offers This will come largely in the form of promotions, bonuses, and competitive odds. Big events like Cheltenham Festival or Grand National will usually provide several bonuses and promotions for us to sink our teeth into at the best horse racing betting sites. The more free bets and promos we can get our hands on ahead of a big racing week like the Punchestown festival, it all adds positive expected value to us as a sports bettor.

Best Betting site Features for Horse Racing 

The best betting sites for horse racing all share common features. The betting operators above are some of our top betting sites for horse racing betting in Ireland. PaddyPower is another strong racing site for their live horse racing betting product. If you’re betting on horse racing you want the best bang for your buck and that means both competitive odds and good each way place terms.

“Best odds guaranteed” is a big feature of horse racing betting and sportsbooks like Skybet - who are one of the best horse racing betting sites Ireland has at its disposal - are also big in the extra place(s) department for bigger field races. The Boylesports horse racing betting product falls under the same category. If we are horse racing betting online, we also need a variety of markets and bet types being offered so we can pick and choose what suits our own style of wagering.

When major horse racing meetings are running - like the Cheltenham Festival, Breeders’ Cup or 2000 Guineas - the best horse racing Ireland sites will mark up horse racing specials like odds boosts and extra places for them.

 In the UK and Ireland horse racing sector we also need to be able to live stream the races, especially on-the-go on mobile, so we need to make sure there is both a live streaming service at our sportsbook and that there is a good mobile betting app available. We also need to fund our online horse racing betting account with ease, and to do this we want a strong assortment of payment methods available. Having PayPal as an option is a big plus.

Best Offers and Promotions for Horse Racing 

Irish horse racing betting sites will promote several offers over the year, especially with big events like Royal Ascot, the Grand National or the 1000 Guineas approaching. The most popular promo is the welcome bonus offer, while other various free bets and offers are available. The welcome bonuses at some horse racing betting sites can be lucrative. We can also see money-back insurance-type promos like a refund when your horse finishes second in a race, for example.

Odds boosts and enhanced odds promotions play a big part in the industry these days and you'll find them at the Ladbrokes' horse racing betting markets, at the William Hill horse racing betting product and elsewhere at most sportsbooks. Bookmakers might boost the odds for selected races or big featured races each day. On these races such as the Grand National, the best horse racing betting sites can pay out on extra places. 

For example: We might see ¼ or 1/5th odds the first 5 or even 6 places in races for fields with over 16 runners, instead of the usual 4 places. I’ve seen as high as 8 places offered with some betting operators and they had decent limits in place.

Betting Strategy: How to bet on Horse Racing 

Horse racing is the number one sport for betting in the UK and Ireland. Let’s give you some horse racing betting tips on how to go about placing your wagers and show you how we make money betting on horse racing. Each way betting in horse racing is the best way to optimise value and returns from our bets. Some might prefer to back shorter prices in lesser-runner fields (maybe a “bad each way” race), but longer odds in bigger runner fields with extra places give us a great chance of improving our return on investment over the long term.

If we stick to ‘place only’ markets, we won’t get the value, so we need to hunt out the value in the place part of the EW bet, while making sure we are also getting at least neutral expected value (or possibly slightly negative) on the ‘win’ part of our bet. Each way place terms and the range of odds we are generally betting allow us to devise a horse racing betting strategy to minimise variance.

We can specialise in certain types or grades of race, and we can make sure to factor in different kinds of variables into our calculations: such as track type, recent horse and jockey form, and the weather. 

“Each way betting is an important concept if you want to maximise your value and mitigate risk and potential losses in your live or online horse racing betting experience” 

It can also pay to specialise in more obscure horse races such as the Irish Derby or the Galway Races. We can use the ‘actual over expected’ (A/E) formula to help us gauge form and value, or we might try to target “bad each way races”.

To sum up: Backing horses at long odds in a deep field can offer several each way horse racing betting opportunities, and it’s also a good horse racing betting strategy to reduce variance and volatility in our winnings and potential returns. We need to open as many betting accounts as we can and shop around for the best prices. We can use a betting exchange as a reference point, or we can look to sharper books for what’s called price discovery.

Horse Racing Bet Types 

• Single – a single is a straight bet on one selection such as ‘to win a race’ or a horse ‘to place’ in a race.
• Double – Combine two selections from different horse racing betting markets and your odds are multiplied together for a much higher price. Both selections must win for a pay-out.
• Treble or accumulator - the same as above except you are making three or more selections in the hope of an even more lucrative pay-out. More risk for more reward.
• Trixie and Patent – these multiple bets involve making three selections. Irish horse racing fans love them. With a “Trixie” bet you need two or three selections to come in for a payout (3 x doubles and 1x treble). In a “Patent” bet you add in three more single bets. With these bets, you multiply your stakes by 4 and 7 respectively to get your total outlay.
• Yankee and lucky 15 work the same way as the Trixie/patent, only with four selections. The Yankee consists of 11 bets (6 doubles, 4 trebles and a fourfold) and we multiply our stake x 11 for expenditure. The lucky 15 consists of 15 bets where we add in four singles. Most bookies will offer bonuses and insurance on the lucky 15 bet in horse racing betting Ireland so it can be great both for entertainment purposes and enhanced winnings.
• Super Yankee or Canadian is the same as the Yankee except we now have five selections. We multiply our stake x 26 available permutations for a win, and we need at least two selections to come in for a return. Lucky 63s, Super Heinz and Goliath all works the same way except with more selections and combinations and potential returns. They also cost more stake-wise.
• The forecast or tricast is a very popular form of wager in horse racing betting, particularly for Irish and UK horse racing fans. For example: we go to the Cheltenham Festival, and we like both the two favourites at the Gold Cup – one at evens and one at 3 to 1. We can put both in a forecast and if they finish 1 and 2 (in order) we win, at much bigger odds. The tricast is the same except we are making three selections to finish in a particular order.
• We can also do reverse forecasts and combination tricasts in horse racing betting. With a reverse forecast we can have our horses finish first and second in any order to win our bet. Our stake doubles for this bet. In the combo tricast, we 6x our stake and our horses all must finish in the top 3 in any order (6 potential combinations) for it to be a winning wager.
• The placepot is a horse racing betting market where you back a selection of horses to place across a particular day’s card. It’s usually the first six races of a racing meeting, or a fixture such as the Galway Races or Royal Ascot. The Jackpot is a similar bet type where you pick the winner of four consecutive chosen Jackpot races. It’s like an accumulator with bonus pay-outs but we can also make some permutation bets in all the races for extra ways to win.  

Horse Racing Betting In Running 

The best sites for horse racing betting incorporate betting in-running in their racing model. Live betting on the horses can be a good angle to attack in big events and races such as the Aintree Grand National or at the Cheltenham Festival. It’s hard for odds makers and traders to keep up to date in real-time or spot things happening in the races. This is where a punter can pounce. 

In-running betting odds are generally automated from a model which means there is plenty of room for exploitation of the algorithms. We can also “lay” (sell) our horse on the betting exchanges like Betfair if it trades short enough. This means we pick up a nice win whatever happens. Be wary that sometimes the “live” pictures on the TV are lagging a little.

What is best odds guaranteed 

Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG) is a concession that’s brilliant and unique to horse racing betting. You take an early or overnight price on a horse, safe in the knowledge that if it drifts before the start of the race, you'll get paid out at whatever odds are biggest. It’s used by bookmakers to attract punters and keep their players happy. The types of bookmakers that offer the best odds guaranteed promo on racing include:

1. Skybet
2. PaddyPower
3. Boylesports
4. Bet365
5. BetFred
6. Coral
7. Ladbrokes

Best Odds guaranteed (BOG) example: If you take a price of 4/1 and your selection wins with a starting price (SP) of 5/1, you get paid at 5/1.  If you take a price of 3/1 and your selection wins with an SP of 2/1, you still get paid at 3/1. Best Odds Guaranteed applies to singles & multiples on win or each-way markets only. Certain meetings only may qualify for BOG. It’s offered on Ireland and UK horse racing betting odds only and there can be a limit on how much extra you can win per day through the concession (e.g. $1000). Bets must be placed before the start of the race.

Biggest Irish Horse Racing Betting Events

There are a myriad of big racing meetings in Ireland and throughout the UK during the racing calendar Below are some of the standout festivals in terms of entertainment, craic and action. 

• Cheltenham Festival - The biggest and best racing meeting on the calendar. The Cheltenham Festival features prize money that is second only to the Aintree Grand National. The 4-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Racecourse, usually in the week of Paddy’s Day and the Irish punters flock over for the beer and a few bets! The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the showpiece event. 
• Breeder’s Cup - An end of the year championship for North American Thoroughbred Racing, attracting the best horses from other parts of the world, mainly in Europe. The idea for the Breeders' Cup was born through the Kentucky Derby Festival. It’s a series of grade 1 races and from 2007 it became a two-day event. 
• Galway Races - Ireland's biggest and most famous racing festival is held in Galway during the last week of July every year and it involves seven days of non-stop action. Ladies’ day is a huge event of the summer festival at the Galway Racecourse. It’s held on the Thursday and combines the very best in horse racing betting and fashion with a big cash prize for the winner. 
• Aintree Grand National - is the biggest race in the UK in terms of audience, strength and depth of field, and prize money available. It is a National Hunt race held in Aintree in Liverpool in April. The race is a handicap steeplechase with over 30 fences for the deep fields to jump and navigate. It can be a decent horse race to back some outsiders as it’s a war of attrition over 4 miles and any horse can possibly win due to fallers. Just ask Mon Mome! 
• Dublin Racing Festival - the ultimate social and horse racing betting experience live from Leopardstown racecourse. The showpiece races include the Irish Gold Cup and Irish Champion Hurdle. “Craic” includes live performances and street performers, music, and dance, as well as live concerts after the racing. Delicious food, beer and hospitality is available throughout the venue.
• Kentucky Derby - The Kentucky Derby is a Grade 1 race for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses. Being the “most exciting two minutes in sports”, the race distances are ten furlongs long, and pictures are coming at you from the dirt racetrack at the famous Churchill Downs venue in Louisville, Kentucky. Twinspires bookmakers may accommodate your bets over in the US! 
• Punchestown Festival – A racing meeting very similar to the Dublin Racing Festival where the food grows and the alcohol flows, especially in the VIP enclosure! Keep an eye out for Ladie’s Day which is arguably the best day of the festival from the Punchestown Racecourse, close to the vibrant Irish town of Naas, co. Kildare. Plenty of races daily to get stuck into here. The Punchestown Champion Chase is the big one. Punchestown festival is a five-day festival usually held at the end of April and it is many people’s highlight of the calendar for horse racing in Ireland.

Best horse racing apps and live streaming sites

The biggest brand bookmakers in Ireland are the horse racing betting sites you should sign up to for the best horse racing apps on iOS and android. The likes of PaddyPower and Betfair offer the best pocket-sized user experience.

We can download mobile betting apps such as the Skybet app from the Google Play store or the Apple store. There will usually be download links and buttons available on the betting site itself. Some apps come with exclusive features and bonus offers that are not available on desktop. Betting with an app gives you the freedom to bet on-the-go on Irish horse racing and bet live wherever and whenever the action is taking place.

Cheltenham Festival Betting Offers

Cheltenham Festival offers will be rife on Paddy’s week as the meeting gears up. Bookmakers will be competing for business, and we can shop around to take advantage of promotions for Cheltenham. 

1. PaddyPower – completely free bet of €5 per customer for any race on Tuesday. T&Cs apply. 
2. Skybet - Paying 8 places instead of 4 in the Ultima Handicap Chase (2.50) at the Cheltenham festival. Extra place offers on selected races throughout the festival. 
3. 888sport - Money back as a free bet if your horse finishes 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. Back a horse to win the 13:30 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle to be in with a chance of a refund. Available on selected races – maximum free bet return restrictions apply. 
4. Boylesports – daily odds boosts on trebles and multiples (featured races) and money back as a free bet if your horse finishes 2nd to the favourite at SP (selected races). Free bet maximum returns apply. 
5. Bet365 - 4 days of Cheltenham Festival super boosts. The biggest prices on the Championship race each day of the festival. Singles only, maximum stakes apply. Regular odds boosts available throughout. 

How to place a bet on a mobile app: 

1. Download the app from the Google Play or Apple stores or download via the button on the betting sites.
2. Register for an account.
3. Follow the instructions and supply all relevant information.
4. Fund your account.
5. Load up your bet slip with selections and voila, bob’s your uncle!