In this article…
🏇 What is Ante-Post Betting?
Ante-post betting allows punters to place bets on horse races in the future – often on big events in the horse racing calendar.
Top online bookmakers offer odds on major races, such as the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Derby. One of the most exciting ways to engage with the sport of horse racing is through ante-post betting.
This guide will explore the advantages and disadvantages of ante-post wagering, the essential information to consider, the optimum timing for placing these bets and the key factors that may influence your decisions.
Our horse racing experts will also be on hand to guide you through these big events with a variety of horse racing tips.
Andy’s Bet Club has daily algorithm-based tips such as our free horse racing each-way tips and free horse racing tips articles, which offer extra racing insight generated from our Hit Rates and Racing Ratings tools respectively.
In addition, you can check out our Tuesday Trixie tips, meanwhile, be sure to to take advantage of the vast amount of horse racing free bets and sign up offers to back our horse racing tips with.
📈 Advantages
- Higher odds – one of the most significant advantages of ante-post betting is the availability of greater odds for your selections. Often, if punting on a horse race before the five-day entry stage, you lock in a price of a selection that may have higher odds available than the odds offered closer to race day.
- Profit – if you have identified a particular horse, who may perform exceptionally well for a future race or target, it can yield healthy returns. A single race result can transform the betting odds for future horse races, therefore placing an early wager can be rewarding.
- Fewer runners – in major horse races, it is important to attempt to establish which horses may or may not participate. Betting ante-post offers the opportunity to gauge each race more accurately, due to some horses not taking up their entry, come race-day.
- Hedge your bets – if your ante-post selection shortens in the betting market, it offers the chance to review your market position and potentially add another bet to maximise the chance of winning.
- Exciting – it may be pleasurable to watch your ante-post selection take part in key trial races before their main target, knowing that their odds will decrease if winning.
📉 Disadvantages
- Risk of a non-runner – the main risk of ante-post betting is that a horse you’ve wagered may not take part on the day. If your selection is withdrawn before the race, you will lose your betting stake, unless specific rules state otherwise (some horses can be balloted out for big handicap races, which would result in receiving your money back).
- Market fluctuations – as per any horse race, a variety of factors can influence betting changes. Ground conditions, trainer form, a jockey change or minor injury can severely affect the price of your ante-post selection.
- More places available on the day – some top bookmakers will offer enhanced place concessions on race day, meaning that your ante-post wager may be running for fewer places if an each-way selection.
- Multiple entries – many horses will have more than one big-race entry, which may scupper any ante-post bets for a specific race. This is commonly seen at Royal Ascot, where many horses are entered for the handicaps.
⏱️ When to Place Ante-Post Bets
It may be prudent to place a future bet for a specific race following an impressive display in a trial or reappearance effort.
After the entries are announced is often a good time to place an ante-post wager, especially if you believe your selection will definitely take part.
This is also important in regards to finding runners who are unlikely to participate, hence offering value for your selection. Market trends can indicate good times to bet ante-post – for example – if a horse is being supported in the market for a future race, it offers more confidence that they will take part.
📋 Additional Factors to Consider
- Checking news from trainers and owners – one can pick up vital clues about future targets for horses from newspapers and online sources, including social media.
- Non-runner no bet – some top bookmakers will offer ‘non-runner no bet’ concessions for ante-post races, such as at the Cheltenham festival. This means even if your selection doesn’t participate, you will receive your money back.
- Shop around – it is wise to look at all the bookmaker prices for the specific ante-post horse race in question. You often see plenty of variation in the ante-post prices.
- Weather – ground dependent horses are often the cause of non-runners in the lead-up to an ante-post horse race. If your horse requires certain ground conditions, it may be wise to check the weather near the track, as race day approaches.
- Trainers – certain trainers may target particular races. Some stables may be well known for winning at specific racecourses.
Summary
Ante-post betting is one of the most enjoyable forms of betting for punters and racing enthusiasts. There are plenty of advantages to ante-post betting, including the chance of generating profit by taking higher odds for their selection.
The potential of fewer runners in an ante-post race, come race day, is one of the major draws to betting in this nature. There are obvious risks to ante-post betting, mainly the chance of your selection not participating, for whatever reason – such as changing ground conditions, owners and/or trainer decisions, injury etc.
Successful ante-post bettors make sure to arm themselves with extensive knowledge in the lead-up to a race. They will keep an eye on both trainer and jockey form, market movers and the weather conditions at the racecourse in question.
If ante-post punters are strategic, they can put themselves into a profitable position by using many of the aforementioned approaches.
Written by Andy Robson
18+ please gamble responsibly.
