Horse Betting Glossary – Horse Racing Terms

If you’re looking for horse race betting information and how to bet on horses you’ve come to the right place! To start off you must first understand the lingo and horse betting terms so you are able to understand. Below is a list of race book and horse betting terms for you to familiarize yourself with.


Horse Betting Terms

Straight Bets:
Probably the most famous terms when is comes to betting horse: Win, Place, and Show

Win
A Win bet is just what it sounds like: betting that the horse you pick will win the race. You win if the horse wins.

Place
A Place bet is wagering on the horse to either first or second place.

Show
A Show bet is when you wager on the horse to finish first, second or third.

Across The Board
This is a quick way to say that I want to bet a horse to finish in any of the first three positions. If the horse wins you collect all three bets. If the horse finishes 2nd then you collect the place and show bets. If the horse finishes 3rd then you will only collect the show bet.


Quinella
In the Quinella, you must pick the horses that finish first and second. Either one can be first and the other one second. This bet functions exactly the same as the “Exacta Box”. Although the Quinella has the same function as the “ExactaBox” the payoff can vary substantially. You must remember that there is no such wager of an exacta box, it is really two separate bets on one ticket. Trifecta
With Trifectas you must pick the first three finishing horses in the order of their finish.

Superfecta
With Superfectas you must pick the first four finishing horses in the order of their finish.

Exacta
With this bet you must pick the first two finishing horses in the order of their finish. You must pick the horse that wins and the horse that finishes second.

Daily Double
The Daily Double is like a parlay bet involving two consecutive races, usually the first two races on a card and the last two races on a card. You must pick the winner of the first race and the winner of the next race.

Pick 3
Pick 3: This wager includes picking the first place finishers of three consecutive races. If one leg of the pick 3 is a loss the entire wager will be deemed a loss.


These other types of wagering on horses are classifiedas Exotic Wagers

Exacta: This is a bet involving two horses. To win the two horses you pick in the order picked would have to win and the other horse would have to run in second place.

Exacta Box: This wager is actually two exacta bets on one ticket using the same 2 horses. Your horses can run first and second in either order for your bet to be a winner.

Exacta Wheel: If you are sure of the first or second place finisher but unsure of the other spot you can “key” one horse, for example the 4 and bet “with all” to finish in the other position.


Exacta Partial Wheel: Like above only instead of “with all” you can key your horse and bet with a selection of others to finish in the other position.

Daily Double Wheel: Like the exacta wheel, if you are sure of the winner of one of the two races, you can key that horse and bet ‘with all’ on the other race of the bet.

Daily Double Partial Wheel: Same as above but rather than betting ‘with all’ you can select various others of your choice.

Trifecta Box: Like the exacta box, this would actually be 6 bets on one ticket. You are betting all possible combinations of a three-horse wager. For example, 3,4,5 – 3,5,4 – 4,3,5 – 4,5,3 – 5,3,4 – 5,4,3.

Trifecta Wheel: Same as the exacta wheel where one horse is keyed in one of the positions (first, second or third) and all other horses are placed in the other two positions.

Trifecta Partial Wheel: Same as the trifecta wheel but instead of betting with all, selected combinations are placed in the other two positions.

Pick 4: The first place finishers of four consecutive races must be picked in order to win this wager. The wager must be placed before post time of the first race. If one leg of the pick 4 is a loss the entire wager will be deemed a loss.