Author: admin

Mathematically, there is no difference, whatsoever, between decimal and fractional odds and the choice between them is purely a matter of personal preference. Odds are expressions of the likelihood, or implied probability, of a particular outcome of a horse race; decimal and fractional odds are simply different ways of expressing the same market prices. Nowadays, most online bookmakers allow customers to switch back and forth between decimal and fractional odds at will.

Decimal odds, a.k.a. European odds, are expressed as decimal values, which represent the total payout, rather than the profit, for each unit stake wagered. In other words, the stake is incorporated into the odds offered; at decimal odds of 3.00, a winning £1 bet returns £3. Decimal odds are arguably the easiest way of comparing odds between bookmakers, but may appear, at least to the uninitiated, more favourable than equivalent fractional odds.

By contrast, fractional odds, a.k.a. British odds, are expressed as proper or improper fractions or, in other words, the ratio of two numbers separated by a slash, or hyphen, in the form 2/1, or 2-1. Unlike decimal odds, they do not incorporate the stake, so represent the profit on a winning bet for each unit stake wagered, rather than the total payout; at fractional odds of 2/1, a winning £1 bet returns £3, including the £1 stake, which is returned.

In the days before betting exchanges, racecourse betting rings, in which on-course bookmakers ply their trade, were the heart and soul of the betting experience. Nowadays, a typical betting ring may be less colourful, noisy and well populated than was once the case, but on-course betting remains part-and-parcel of a day at the races.

On a race-by-race basis, on-course bookmakers advertise the odds available on each horse. The odds available may vary, albeit only slightly, from one bookmaker to another and may change over time, in response to market forces. However, you always receive the odds available at the moment you place your bet, so it pays to shop around for competitive odds. When you find them, simply tell your bookmaker of choice your stake, bet type and the racecard number of your selection and hand over your stake money. In return, you will receive a receipt for your bet, including potential winnings, which you must hand back to the same bookmaker, following the ‘weighed in’ signal, to collect any winnings.

Of course, as an alternative to ‘fixed odds’ betting with an on-course bookmaker, you also have the option of ‘pool’ betting on the Tote. The procedure for placing a Tote bet is similar to placing a bet with a bookmaker, but bear in mind that winning dividends are determined by the amount of money in the pool for each market and the number of winning tickets; the dividend displayed at the moment you place your bet may go down, or up, by the time the race is underway.

Exactly how a racehorse is trained depends on the horse, in terms of its pedigree, level of maturity and temperament, and the individual preferences of the trainer in whose care the horse is placed. Generally speaking, Flat racehorses are trained to be ridden, or ‘broken’, as they approach their second birthday. By this stage, they will already have been ‘lunged’, or worked in a circle at the end of a lunge line, in response to voice commands and body language. Other forms of riderless exercise, such as long reining, improve balance, rhythm, posture and strength before a young horse is asked to accept a rider.

Training typically commences with three-month period of ‘slow’ work or, in other words, high concentration, low movement exercise. Slow work gradually improves cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength, as well as teaching horses to remain focused, yet relaxed, in their work. A horse’s pedigree often gives a trainer a pretty good idea of what to expect, distance-wise, but slow work can help to confirm, or contradict, intial expectations.

Once sufficiently fit, horses progress from hack cantering, at a very steady pace, to ‘fast’ or ‘sharp; work, which involves galloping faster, with or without urging from the rider, over distances of two or three furlongs. Some horses do fast work alone, but others work ‘in company’, alongside another horse. In so doing, they learn to experience pressure and relief from their riders, via leg and reins, and to respond accordingly, rather than simply galloping uncontrolled.

A young, fit and healthy horse typically gallops at a speed between 25 and 30 miles per hour, on average, but the even the slowest of the world records set by different breeds of horse, over different distances, is significantly faster. The American Quarter Horse, a short, stocky, heavily muscled breed, is reputedly the fastest kind of horse, albeit over short distances.

Indeed, in 2005, A Long Goodbye clocked 20.69 seconds for two furlongs, or a quarter-of-a-mile, at Sunland Park Racetrack in New Mexico, thereby setting a new world record of 43.85 miles per hour. However, the horse currently recognised by Guinness World Records as the fastest horse ever is Winning Brew, not an American Quarter Horse but a Thoroughbred, who clocked 20.57 seconds, or the equivalent of 43.97 miles per hour, over the same distance at Penn National Race Course in Pennsylvania.

Of course, in Britain, the minimum distance for any official horse race is five furlongs, or five-eights of a mile. The world record for this distance is 53.69 seconds, or the equivalent of 41.94 miles per hour, clocked by another Thoroughbred, Stone Of Folca, at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey in 2012. In fact, by shaving just one-hundredth of a second off the previous record, set by Spark Chief over the same course and distance in 1983, Stone Of Folca clocked the fastest time since the introduction of electronic timing; prior to that, another Thoroughbred, Indigenous, clocked 53.60 seconds, albeit hand-timed, over the same course and distance.