Each Way Betting

Horse Racing can be a tricky game, you place a bet on a short favourite and another contender comes from nowhere in the final furlong to snatch the race. The short favourite comes second but was also too hotly tipped to bet each way so what do you do? Well the answer could be backing longer priced horses in each way betting especially in some of the big handicaps on offer in the big festivals of the year.

There are so many popular horse-racing festivals throughout the year and all offer great odds for the big handicap races with many runners. We have the Cheltenham Festival, The Epsom Derby, The Oaks, Royal Ascot, the Grand National week and many others and all of these offer some great long priced horses that wouldn't necessarily catch your eye in a normal meet.

But anyone who knows anything about horse racing knows that these big races can throw up all sorts of surprise winners and that's where each way betting really does come into its own.

Let's take a look at some of the odds available and how you can best decide to use the colour of your money when betting on the big horse races.

Back a favourite at 3/1 and you'll see a return of 3 times your stake if it wins. If it loses that's your money gone.

Back an outsider at 12/1 each way and you'll not only get 12 times your stake back plus the each way bet if it wins but even if it's placed in the first three or four you could still get the same return offered by the 3/1 favourite without it even crossing the line first.

That's because each way bets are made up of two bets, one is the win bet, the second is the place bet. If your horse wins the race then the win part of your bet comes in and you can multiply the odds by your win stake, you also get the place bet which is usually a quarter or a fifth of the original odds. If the horse is placed then although you lose the win bet, you still get a return on the place part of your bet, almost guaranteeing you at least get your money back.

So if you're looking at the big races this summer, look past the favourites and show the bookmaker the colour of your money on a great value each way bet.