What Are Horse Racing Exotic Wagers?

There are two basic groups of wagers available to you in the world of horse racing. There are single-horse bets, which are sometimes called “straight bets,” that take place in a single race. Of these, the most popular are win, place, and show (picking a horse to finish first, second or third, respectively).

But exotic betting goes beyond that by allowing you to include multiple horses in your bets. Some of these bets (exacta, trifecta, superfecta) take place within the confines of a single race. And others (Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4) will take place over several races, usually on the same program at a single race track.

There’s one other general distinction between straight and exotic wagers in horse racing. Straight bets, which are easier to win, don’t pay as much. Exotic betting often pays off much more than straight wagers, but that’s because they are generally much harder bets to hit.

Exactas

With an exacta wager, you’ll be trying to pick the first two in the official order of finish in a race. As an example, if you wager on a 2-4 exacta, you’ll win with the following result:

#2 finishes first, #4 finishes second

As far as exotic betting goes, the exacta is one of the most popular. It’s one of the easiest to understand for novices, and you’ll have a better chance, percentage-wise, of hitting it than of hitting any of the other real money exotic horse racing wagers. The downside is that it is the most modest-paying of all the exotic bets.

Trifectas

You’ll sometimes see a trifecta referred to as a “triple” or a “big triple,” but the concept of this exotic wager is the same no matter the name. To win, you have to pick the first three in the official order in a single race. As an example, a 3-2-1 would be a winner if

#3 finishes first, #2 finishes second, and #1 finishes third

Trifectas are wagers where you really need to do a good job handicapping to win them. You’ll probably need a little bit of luck as well. But you could be looking at an excellent payback if you get lucky, with many trifecta bets paying hundreds of dollars or more.

Superfectas

You might be able to guess, based on the exacta and trifecta, what the superfecta requires. You have to be able to predict the first four in the official order of finish in a race, which can be quite difficult, but also quite lucrative if you can pull it off. As an example, you would win a 7-2-4-5 superfecta if the following takes place:

#7 finishes first, #2 finishes second, #4 finishes third, #5 finishes fourth

DAILY DOUBLE

You must pick the winners of two consecutive races to collect. Most tracks have this bet on the first two races of the card. Some tracks also have this bet on the last two races of the card. 

Daily Double and Pick 3, Pick 4, and Beyond

The Daily Double is an exotic wager which has become synonymous in the larger culture with any kind of successive accomplishment. In horse racing betting, you win a Daily Double if you can pick the winners of two races in a row. For example, if you bet an 8-3 Daily Double on the first two races of a particular race track program, you’ll win the wager if the following occurs:

#8 wins the first race and #3 wins the second race

The Daily Double is a wager which often pays a little bit more than exotic betting, even though they both require picking two horses. That’s because, with the Daily Double, you have two races full of horses from which to choose, which gives you more possibilities than an exacta. Many tracks feature Daily Doubles at the start (Early Double) and end (Late Double) of their racing programs.

The concepts behind Pick 3s, Pick 4s, and so on is pretty simple. Whatever the number in the bet, that’s how many winners you have to pick in a row.

Imagine that you bet a 5-7-2 Pick 3 on the first three races of a program. You would win if the following occurs:

#5 wins the first race, #7 wins the second race and #2 wins the third race

You can push this concept as far as you want to go. Many tracks have Pick 5s and Pick 6s as well. The more races that are included, the harder it is to hit these exotic wagers, and the more they will pay back on average.

WHEEL

Combines one horse with all the others in a race. Example: If you wager an "Exacta wheel 5-All," you win if the five finishes first no matter whom finishes seconds. This bet can be used with all bets except Win, Place and Show and can be wagered in $1 increments. 

PART-WHEEL

Lets you pick only the combinations you want. This is often used by very experienced bettors. Example: If you bet a "Trifecta part wheel - 3 with 1, 2, and 4, with 1, 2, and 4," you win if the 3 wins and 1, 2 or 4 finish second and third. This bet can be used with all bets except Win, Place and Show, an can be wagered in $1 increments. 

When you “box” an exotic bet your selected finishers can finish in any order. With a typical exotic bet you must identify the exact order the runners will finish in order to win.

Exotic wagers are more difficult but typically pay off better than traditional bets. Examples of exotic wagers are an Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta, Daily Double, Pick 3 and Pick 4.

HOW TO BET AN EXOTIC:

Exacta: The Meadowlands race one, $2 exacta on the #3, #5-The #3 and #5 must finish in the exact order for you to win.

BOXING

Many people will box Exactas, Trifectas and Superfectas in order to make it easier to hit a winning ticket. Boxing the bet simply means you are playing all combination of the horses you selected, so that you win when they come in any order. In the example given above you only win if the #3 wins and #5 finishes second. If you box the exacta, you win if they finish #3, #5 or #5, #3. In the boxes below are examples of what boxing an exotic wager will cost depending on the number of horses you use in your box.

KEYING

A key bet can be applied if you have a strong preference for one horse. You can key a horse in a Trifecta or Superfecta wager instead of boxing to save money. Typically a key designates one horse as the winner and boxes the other horses.

Example: A Trifecta key using the #1 with the #2, #3, #4 means that the #1 horse must win and the #2, #3, #4 can finish second and third in any order. You do not have to just key the winner, you may also key a horse to finish second, third, or fourth.

PART WHEELS

Part Wheels can be applied to all exotic wagers and are a method of selecting more than one numbered horse to finish first, second, third or fourth. It can also be used to select more than one horse to win each leg of the pick 3, pick 4, pick 5 and pick 6.

An example of a Part Wheel used in a Trifecta wager is: 1 & 2 to win, with 1, 2, 3 & 4 to place, with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 to show ( 1,2 with 1,2,3,4 with 1,2,3,4,5,6,7) To cash a ticket the 1 or 2 must win, the 1,2,3 or 4 must place and the 1,2,3,4,5,6 or 7 must finish third.

A Part Wheel wager in a Pick – 3 might look like the following: Use #1 & #2 to win the first leg of the Pick- three, #4 & #5 to win the second leg and #2,#4 & #6 to win the third leg ( 1,2 with 4,5 with 2,4,6). To cash a ticket the one or two must win the first race of the wager, the four or five must win the second leg and either two, four or six must win the third.

When you bet on horse racing, you should always keep the following statistics in mind.

Favorites “WIN” only 32% of the time.

Favorites “PLACE” (come in first or second) only 53% of the time.

Favorites “SHOW” (come in first, second, or third) only 67% of the time.

Smart bettors, beginners and experts alike, always read the fine print. Our lawyers wanted us to remind you that these tips are intended as a guide only. These tips are based on historical results and do not represent actual or implied future performance.

Plus, you must be at least 18-years-of-age to bet.

HarnessRacing.com offers...... as two safest and securest platforms as betting options for new and experienced bettors. Whether you are an experienced horseplayer or have never bet before, you can use one of the two platforms to securely bet online.

WHAT DO HORSE RACING ODDS MEAN?

On the infield tote board, you will see the “win” odds for each horse in the race. These are updated frequently—every 45 seconds—to reflect the amount of money wagered on each horse in relation to all money wagered in the entire win pool.

If you see a single number next to your horse on the odds board, for example,”5,” then the horse is 5 to 1. This means that, for every dollar wagered on that horse to win, the winning ticket holder would win about $5 and receive about $6 back. (Don’t forget, you always get the amount of your bet back!)

So, for a $2 winning ticket on a 5 to 1 horse, you would receive about $12. ($5 + $5 + your $2 bet = $12.)

Sometimes, when a horse is below the odds of 5 to 1, you might see two numbers with a “-” between them. The odds of 9-2 or 8-5 are typical examples. In the case of 9-2 odds, this means that, for every $2 bet, you would win about $9 and get $11 back (maybe some change, too).

To figure out your approximate payoff when the odds are 9-2, 7-2, 5-2,3-2 or 1- 2, simply add the two numbers and you’ll know your $2 payoff.

When a horse is under 2-1, you will most likely see a further refinement in odds-examples are 9-5 and 8-5, among others. Using 8-5 as an example, this means that, for every $5 bet, one would win about $8 and get $13 back. For a $2 bet on a horse that is 8-5, the winner would receive about $5.20.

Once in a great while, you will see odds of 1-9 on the odds board. That is the lowest price a horse can appear on the tote board, although in actuality his price may be even lower., Similarly, when you see a horse at odds of “99,” it means that the odds are 99 to 1 OR HIGHER. There aren’t enough spaces on the tote board to go higher than “99.”