One of the most entertaining and captivating aspects of horse races is the possibility of betting on winners or on the better placed horses, through different betting methods that are available at all racetracks. Betting on horses is not merely trying your luck: you put to the test your ability as predictors, evaluators of horses, perhaps playing together with friends.
Bets may only be placed by adults aged 18 and older.
WINNING
WINNING
This is the simplest type of bet: the horse that will come in first place at the end of the race must be predicted. The bet may be placed with fixed odds or with a totalizator. Pay attention to stable relationships: all bets played on the horses declared as having a stable relationship and indicated on the race programs and on the monitors showing odds are considered to be winning.
The Italian trotting breed is considered of excellent level, and there even exists a specific Italian trotting breed.
PLACED
PLACED
In this bet, the better predicts whether one horse, at the end of the race, is considered “placed”. In races with eight or more horses at the start (“starting horses”) a horse is considered placed where it is classified as first, second or third place, and if the race involves from four to seven starting horses, the first and second place horses are considered placed.
If after the bet is placed, withdrawals are announecd that cause the starting horses to fall below eight or four, all “placed” bets are reimbursed.
This bet may also be played either with a totalizator or with fixed odds.
COUPLE
COUPLE
This bet is played using a totalizator: if in one race you like two horses and have trouble choosing a favorite, this bet is the one for you: in the couple, the horses that will be placed in first and second place at the finish line must be predicted. This is a bet that can be placed in races involving at least four starting horses. If this number falls below four, all bets are reimbursed.
TRIO
TRIO
This bet can also be played only with a totalizator: this is the type of bet that usually yields the highest winnings, but it is also the most difficult to predict, and indeed the first, second and third placed horses in a race must be predicted. It is played when there are at least six horses at the start (otherwise, the bet is reimbursed), and it is possible to play various types of combinations, which give rise to full-fledged systems, that can be more or less complex: the most common is the “rotating trio”, where at leat three horses that are ranked in the first three positions at the finish line must be predicted, regardless of the exact order.
TRIS, QUARTÈ AND QUINTÈ
TRIS, QUARTÈ AND QUINTÈ
These are bets using the totalizator which may be placed only in certain races on the program during the day, scheduled in two racetracks, which may be either Italian or foreign, which fall within the so-called “Ippica Nazionale” (National Horseracing).
The Tris bet is essentially identical to the Trio: Quarté and Quinté are very similar, and it is necessary to predict, respectively, the first four or five horses ranked in a horse race. Quarté and quinté bets may be placed on “ordinary” Tris races, which usually start at 7:00 pm in the winter season and at 10:30 pm in the summer season.
the most likely winner
of the race, to which lower odds
are assigned.
wishes to bet.
registered for each race,
and it is officially announced
by the race companies that manage
the racetracks;
bets may not be accepted
before the dissemination
of this announcement,
since various types of bets
may or may not be accepted
depending upon the number
of horses taking part
in the various races.
starting horses
or more horses taking part
in a race belong to
the same owner.
The stable relationship
is always indicated in official programs,
and the horses involved
are highlighted – including on monitors –
using suits of French playing
cards or letters of the alphabet
between parentheses.
The stable relationship,
as we have seen,
may have an impact on bets.
horse
before the start,
all bets played on him
are reimbursed; in the event
that a bet has been played
that envisages different combinations,
such as, for example,
a “rotating trio”
with four horses,
only the combinations that
include the withdrawn
horse (or horses) are reimbursed,
while the other combinations
remain valid.
If one or more
horses are withdrawn
after the start,
the bets played on those horses are
considered to be losing.
The betting area is located behind the grandstand, on the left next to the main entrance. Other betting points are available inside the racetrack.
You may watch the races from the main grandstand or from the sidelines next to the track; TV screens are positioned wtihin the betting agency in order to watch the race and see replays.
At the end of the race, the winning horse is brought to the award area near the finish line, in front of the grandstand, where the awards and trophies are assigned.
Always wait for the official announcement of the order of arrival before discarding betting tickets: the jury may note irregularities that may even lead to a penalization or disqualification of one or more horses and, therefore, change the order of arrival.