Category: FAQ

‘Rule 4’ is a general, industry-standard rule of betting, which allows bookmakers to legitimately make deductions from winning bets in the event that one or more horses are withdrawn from the race in question. If you place a win or each-way bet and take an early or board price, the odds you receive obviously reflect the chance, in the eyes of the bookmaker, your selection holds against the other horses in the race at the time you place the bet. If one of the other horses is withdrawn, the chances of your selection increase, so to prevent you having an unfair advantage, the bookmaker makes a so-called ‘Rule 4 deduction’ from your winnings, consummate with the price of the withdrawn horse at the time of withdrawal.

If a withdrawn horse was offered at odds longer than 14/1, no Rule 4 deduction is made. Thereafter, deductions are made at all rates from £0.05 in £1.00 for horses offered at odds between 10/1 and 14/1 right up to £0.90 in £1.00 for horses offered at prohibitive odds of 1/9 or shorter. Obviously, horses may be withdrawn at differing times, possibly leading to two, three or more Rule 4 deductions, depending on their respective odds. However, the maximum cumulative deduction on any race is £0.90 in £1.00.

The main reason that bookmakers are keen to promote multiple bets, such as doubles, trebles and accumulators, is that they are inherently more risky and therefore more profitable, for the layer, than single bets. Of course, such bets provide tasty bait for small-stakes punters – even without the added consolation of three, four or even five times the odds for a single winner in some cases – and bookmakers are quite happy to risk the occasional huge payout in return for regular profits.

By contrast, the single bet, specifically, the single win bet, is the least profitable of all horse racing bets for bookmakers. From the punter’s perspective, a single win bet is straightforward, involves no wastage of stakes and affords better bankroll management than any form of multiple bet. Furthermore, attempting to find a single selection to win a race focusses the mind on the strengths and weaknesses of the horse in question; the unit stake could be, say, 10, 50 or 100 times that placed on a typical multiple bet, so the selection process becomes a sharp, decisive – and, hopefully, profitable – exercise.

Handicap racing is based on the tried-and-tested premise that increasing or decreasing the weight that a horse carries will ultimately affect the speed at which it can gallop over a certain distance. Thus, by allotting each horse a weight proportional to its ability, it is possible to frame a race in which each participant has, at least in theory, an equal chance of winning. Handicap races, Flat and National Hunt, account for approximately 60% of all horse races run in Britain.

Handicap racing was ‘invented’ by Admiral Henry John Rous, who was, at the time, senior steward of the Jockey Club, in the mid-nineteenth century. Nowadays, handicapping is the responsibility of a team of professional handicappers employed by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). To qualify for an official handicap rating, a horse must run in two or three non-handicap races, so that its ability can be assessed. Thereafter, each subsequent performance is monitored and the official rating may be increased, decreased or remain unchanged as a result. Handicap races are classified as ‘Class 2’, ‘Class 3’, etc, according to the official handicap ratings of the horses are eligible to compete; thus, an improving horse may need to step up in class as its official rating increases.

Flat racing is the discipline of horse racing that involves no obstacles. In Britain, Flat races are staged over distances between 5 furlongs and 2 miles 5 furlongs and 143 yards and, in most cases, started from starting stalls to ensure that participants break on level terms. Flat racing includes the most valuable and prestigious races on the British racing calendar, not least the five ‘Classic’ races, namely the 1,000 Guineas, 2,000 Guineas, Derby, Oaks and St. Leger. Indeed, Newmarket Racecourse in Suffolk, which plays host to the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, is considered the headquarters of British Flat racing.

Of the 59 racecourses on mainland Britain, 19 cater exclusively for Flat racing, while a further 17 offer Flat racing during the summer months and National Hunt racing during the winter. Traditionally, the British Flat racing season started with the Lincoln Handicap Meeting at Doncaster in late March or early April and ended with the November Handicap Meeting at the same course. However, Flat racing on synthetic, or all-weather, surfaces is staged on all bar three days of the year.