Racing Free Bets & Top Offers

Horse Racing Free Bets

Some of the most generous free bet offers are found on horse racing, with the Grand National, Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot all famous for the generosity of bookmakers.

Outside the major festivals, there are still plenty of chances to get free bets on horse racing, and you can find them all right here in our Horse Racing Free Betting Hub!

Trusted Betting Sign-up Offers

All the bookmakers shown in our Horase Racing Free Bets page are fully licensed and regulated operators. You can claim any offer and bet with our partner bookmakers knowing that they maintain the highest standards in customer experience and safety.

What are Horse Racing Free Bets?

Free Bets are a form of credit with a specific bookmaker which let you place some risk-free bets where you do not need to stake your own money. Horse racing is a popular sport to use Free Bets on as you can try to find some longer odds in the hope of a bigger win.

Horse racing is one of the most common places to get free bets, with generous betting sign-up offers available throughout the year but you can claim the most free bets during racing’s major festivals.

Types of Horse Racing Betting Sign-Up Offer

Many different types of betting sign-up offers exist in horse racing. You can check out the most common types of horse racing betting offer below

Bet X Get Y Offers

These are usually available all year. However, during major festivals like Cheltenham, the Grand National, and Royal Ascot, you can find the best offers. You’ll create an account using a sign-up code and once your qualifying bet settles you’ll get the free bets.

Free Bet Credit Offers

Bookmakers will sometimes give you free bets for a specific race to get you to engage with racing. Both new and existing customers can access these, but bookmakers usually offer them only during the major racing festivals.

Money Back as Cash Offers

Sky Bet’s Money Back as Cash offer is one of the most generous offers in racing. Most weekends and during major festivals, they will offer money back as cash if your horse doesn’t win but does place in the race.

As it is cash returned, not free bets, you are able to withdraw these funds.

Money Back as Free Bet Offers

Money back as a free bet is more common but follows the same rules as Sky Bet’s Money Back as Cash offer. If your horse finishes in the places but doesn’t win, you receive your stake back as a free bet.

Deposit Match Betting Offers

Deposit match offers are less common these days, but they let you create an account and the first deposit you make is matched in free bets, up to a certain value.

Enhanced Odds Offers

Enhanced odds are a great way to get free bets without a large stake. When you create your account with the code, you will get a generous price boost. For example, you could bet on favourite Galopin Des Champs to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup at 40/1. The catch would be that the maximum stake is £1, and the winnings are often paid in free bets.

How to Maximise Your Horse Racing Free Bets

To get the most out of your free bets you’ll want to consider what horse racing is on when you claim the offer. Free bets usually expire within 7 to 30 days. To make the most of them, look for good quality racing that is coming up soon so you can enjoy your free bets.

Free bets are a great way to go for some bigger prices without risking your own money. It might be tempting to choose shorter odds. However, since the free bet is not included in your winnings, you could end up with returns less than the free bet value!

Horse racing is an exciting sport. Every day, any horse can surprise us and land high profile races at big odds. At Royal Ascot in 2024, Rashabar won the Coventry Stakes at 80/1!

What Does Each-Way Mean?

An each-way bet is a common bet type in horse racing that actually consists of 2 bets, so it will double your stake when trying to place the bet. The first part of the bet is a simple win single at the odds listed for the horse.

The second part of the bet is for the horse to finish within the places. You get paid normally 1/5 or 1/4 of the win odds for that horse depending on the number of runners in the race. The number of places you can get paid out on varies from race-to-race and bookmaker-to-bookmaker.

Let’s go through an example. Lets say you want to put £5 each-way on a horse at 10/1, and the each-way terms are 1/5 for the first 4 runners to cross the line. This means you have essentially put £5 on the horse to win at 10/1 and £5 on the horse to be in the first 4 at 2/1 (1/5 of the 10/1 odds for the horse to win).

If the horse wins, you would win both parts of the bet and get a total return (including your £10 stake) of £70 (£55 from the win part of the bet, £15 from the place part of the bet)

If the horse finishes in the first 4 but doesn’t win, you would get a total return (including your stake) of £15 (£0 from the win bet, £15 from the place part of the bet). This would give you an overall profit of £5 as the bet cost £10 to put on.

Each-way bets are a great way to try and win money on big prices, as you can make money even if the horse doesn’t win the race.

Cheltenham Free Bets

Cheltenham is a great opportunity to get free bets, whether you’re looking for a Cheltenham betting sign-up offer or the best free bets for existing customers. It is the biggest racing festival of the year with 4 days of unmissable racing taking part in March.

Bookmakers use it as an opportunity to try and bring new customers in and will offer exceptionally generous offers to new customers. You can get all the information you need about the festival plus the latest Cheltenham free bets in our Cheltenham Free Bets page closer to the festival!

Royal Ascot Free Bets

At the headline meeting of the Flat season, there are heaps of free bet offers and betting sign-up bonuses to be claimed. You can find the best offers in our Royal Ascot Free Bets page, with 5 days of unmissable racing in June you can take advantage of and find some great prices in ultra-competitive races.

What Is an Accumulator?

An accumulator in horse racing is a multiple bet consisting of 3 or more horses. You can create different types of accumulators such as Win Only, Each-Way, or to place. Our daily racing tips includes an exclusive accumulator with Sky Bet.

A £5 stake on an accumulator will cover the whole bet, unless you chose each-way in which case the stake is double as with a normal each-way bet.

What Is a Patent?

A patent is like a Trixie as it is made on 3 selections too, but it includes individual singles on each horse as well, this means you would only need 1 selection to get a return. The bets you are placing are:

• 3 Singles
• 3 Doubles
• 1 Treble

An example of a Patent place on Horse A, Horse B, and Horse C is below:

1. Single on Horse A
2. Single on Horse B
3. Single on Horse C
4. Double on Horse A and Horse B
5. Double on Horse B and Horse C
6. Double on Horse A and Horse C
7. Treble on Horse A, Horse B, and Horse C

A £2.50 Patent would cost £17.50. An each-way Patent would double your total stake.

What Is a Lucky 15?

A Lucky 15 consists of four selections, like a Yankee, and is popular in racing as it only requires 1 winning selection to get a return but still gives a chance at big winnings if multiple selections win. It consists of:

• 4 Singles
• 6 Singles
• 4 Doubles
• 1 Treble

An example Lucky 15 is shown below using 4 horses:

1. Single on Horse A
2. Single on Horse B
3. Single on Horse C
4. Single on Horse D
5. Double on Horse A and Horse B
6. Double on Horse A and Horse C
7. Double on Horse A and Horse D
8. Double on Horse B and Horse C
9. Double on Horse B and Horse D
10. Double on Horse C and Horse D
11. Treble on Horse A, Horse B, and Horse C
12. Treble on Horse A, Horse B, and Horse D
13. Treble on Horse A, Horse C, and Horse D
14. Treble on Horse B, Horse C, and Horse D
15. Four-fold accumulator on Horse A, Horse B, Horse C, and Horse D

A £2.50 Lucky 15 would cost £37.50. An each-way Lucky 15 would double your total stake.

What Is a Lucky 31?

A Lucky 31 is like a Canadian bet and involves 5 selections but includes a single for each selection too, taking it to 31 individual bets. The 31 bets are broken down as:

• 5 Singles
• 10 Doubles
• 10 Trebles
• 5 Four-fold accumulators
• 1 Five-fold accumulator

While you can get a return from a single leg, it is more likely you would need 2 or more winning selections to have a profitable return due to the higher staking cost.

A £2.50 Lucky 31 would cost £77.50. An each-way Lucky 31 would double the stake.

What Is a Super Heinz?

A Super Heinz involves 7 selections and consists of 120 different individual bets. It offers betters coverage of a wide range of selections with the opportunity for big wins if several multiples win. It consists of:

• 21 Doubles
• 35 Trebles
• 35 Four-fold accumulators
• 21 Five-fold accumulator
• 7 Six-fold accumulator
• 1 Seven-fold accumulator

To get a return, 2 or more selections must win. A £2.50 Super Heinz would cost £300. An each-way Super Heinz would double your stake.

What Is a Placepot?

A Placepot is a popular and strategic way of betting that involves selecting horses to place in the first 6 races of the card. It can be found on-course or through some online bookmakers. For each race you will have to select a horse to finish in the top 2, 3, 4, or 5 (depending on the number of runners).

If all your selections place, then you win a share of the total winnings with all other winning tickets, however if a single horse is unplaced then your entire bet is a loser. It is popular as it allows you the opportunity to win big despite very small stakes.

What Is a Reverse Forecast?

A Reverse Forecast is the same as a forecast but the horses can finish in any order. As long as they both finish in the first 2, regardless of which horse comes first, the bet will win.

Why do Horses carry weights in Horse Racing?

Horses carry additional weights due to a thing called handicapping. It is one of the biggest differences between horse racing and other sports that weights are used to level the playing field.

In handicaps, the horse with the highest Official Rating is given the most weight to carry and the horse with the lowest Official Rating the least. The idea is to make the race as competitive as possible as horses are either given an easier or harder task based on the weight they must carry.

In the top-level races (known as Graded races in jumps or Group races on the Flat), horses will usually all carry the same weight.

What Does C, D and CD Mean in Horse Racing?

These are some useful hints included next to the form. They give you information about whether the horse has won at that course, over that distance, or both. This can let you know if the horse has any form specifically related to the current race.

• "C" = Previously won at this course
• "D" = Previously won over this distance
• "CD" = Previously won at this course over this distance