Horse racing betting is one of the most popular genres of online or offline sports betting and William Hill have been steeped in its history since our eponymous founder began laying horse racing odds at tracks around Birmingham in the 1920s.

Whether you’re betting in our shops, online, on your mobile or via our app, you’ll never have to wait long for the next horse racing betting opportunity at William Hill, with live races from across the UK, Ireland, Europe and beyond to experience around the clock, as well the futuristic thrill of virtual horse racing when all the world’s horses are asleep in their stables or out on the gallops.

Cheltenham Festival betting with William Hill 

From the moment it begins in October, the jumps racing season begins building towards the thrilling four-day crescendo that is the Cheltenham Festival (Champions Hurdle day, Champion Chase day  , Stayers’ Hurdle day  and Gold Cup day ) in March. Aficionados begin taking big ante-post odds on their selections in the Cheltenham Festival odds for races such as the Gold Cup from the moment the previous year’s race has been completed. 

Betting on the Grand National odds with William Hill

Cheltenham may be the jumps racing fan’s favourite meeting of the year, but, when it comes to the event that gets the entire nation horse racing betting, the Grand National at Aintree is still the odds-on favourite. The massive 40-runner field virtually guarantees tasty odds about your horse racing picks whether in-depth form study, the horse’s name or something more random still is your inspiration. The 4m2f marathon is the jewel in the crown of a three-day meeting on Merseyside.

Royal Ascot betting with William Hill 

Jumps racing fans have their Cheltenham, but the flat’s biggest festival is the five-day spectacular of elite thoroughbred racing betting that is Royal Ascot. Coming hot on the heels of the first four ‘Classics’ of the season, the 1000 Guineas, the 2000 Guineas, the Derby and the Oaks, the Royal Meeting takes things up another notch, before Glorious Goodwood, the St Leger, the Grade 1 festooned Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Paris-Longchamp and Champions Day at Ascot continue the momentum into the autumn.

How to bet on horse racing with William Hill

Once you’ve signed up and made a deposit, betting online on horse racing odds with William Hill is as simple as you want to make it. If you haven’t done so yet, why not take advantage of our sign-up offer to earn yourself some free bets? Or maybe you’d rather go into one of our shops, but don’t know how to fill out a betting slip? Don’t be shy, our friendly staff will be happy to assist you. 

How to work out horse racing odds?

Before you get betting, it’s important to understand how Horse racing odds work. The odds may seem confusing to the uninitiated, but those fractions aren’t so intimidating. When your horse racing bet is odds-against (when the number on the left of the / is greater than the one on the right of it) it means that if you stake the number on the right and your bet is successful, you will win the number on the left as profit, while your original stake will be returned. If the odds on offer about your pick have a larger number on the right of the / than the left (known as odds-on), you will need to stake the number on the right in order to win the number on the left in profit, plus your stake back (if it wins!).

If all that sounds like too much hard work, visit williamhill.com, make your selection and input your stake on the betslip to see how much you could win, or use our bet calculator.  

Use the William Hill Betting Calculator . 

What is a win single bet in horse racing?

The most straightforward way in which you can bet on horse racing odds with us is to back your selection to win the race they are running in, however there are so many other ways you can enjoy betting on horse racing.  

How does each-way betting work in horse racing?

You’ve probably heard about each-way betting (it’s one of the most popular ways to bet on the sport), but maybe you’re not familiar with exactly how it works. Each-way betting means placing two bets on the horse you’ve selected – one of them to win and one on them to place (finish within the first two, three or four). The win part pays out at the win-odds quoted, while the place part pays out at a fraction of the win odds, usually either a quarter or a fifth. How many ‘places’ count for your bet depends upon how many runners the races has. Less than five = no places, five-seven = two places, eight to 16 = three places, while four places pay out in handicap races of 16 runners or more. Each-way betting is generally best reserved for horses who are available at prices that mean that if your horse places then you will at least get your money back. This depends on the fraction of the odds being paid for the place in the race you’re betting on. For example, if William Hill are offering a quarter of the odds on the place and the horse you’ve backed with £5 each-way at 4/1 finishes second, you lose the win part of the bet, but end up breaking even because the place part paid you out at 1/1 (winning you a fiver and returning the place part of your stake).

Horse racing accumulators, doubles, trebles and Lucky 15s 

Much like with the popular football accumulator, horse racing lends itself nicely to multiple bets where you back horses in more than one race, with the odds on the double, treble or accumulator (four single bets or more) usually far more attractive than backing all selections separately.

Alongside these wagers, bets like the Lucky 15 can be very popular. A Lucky 15 is comprised of 15 different bets (of the same stake) on four runners, comprised of four singles, three trebles, six doubles and a fourfold. This type of bet is a favourite because you get some return for a single, but returns can rocket the more winners you get thanks to the multiple bets. 

What does SP mean in horse racing betting?

SP in horse racing betting refers to a horse’s starting price. In the UK this means the prevailing price available among the on-course bookmakers at the track when the race begins. If you don’t ‘take the price’ on your horse when placing the bet, it will be paid out at SP if it wins, meaning the starting price could have fluctuated to be better or worse than the odds that were available when you placed the bet. Taking the price is advisable, however, as, if you bet on horse racing online with William Hill, you will have the best odds guaranteed. This means that if the SP is better than the odds at which you placed the bet, you will be paid out at the better odds.

promotions.williamhill.com/offer/best-odds-guaranteed 

Horse racing betting tips

Tips for betting on horse racing are a popular way to decide which horse you’d like to place a bet on and there are numerous tipsters, some more successful than others, plying their trade in newspapers, on websites and on premium-rate phone lines. However, William Hill give you free access to some of the most trusted and reputable horse racing betting tips on the UK and Irish racing scene. Racing Post Spotlight information gives individual write-ups for every runner in each contest as well as summary of the most fancied and a selection. For more in-depth analysis, opinion and horse racing betting tips, check out 

news.williamhill.com/horse-racing 

What is a nap in horse racing betting? 

Not all horse racing betting tips are equal – think of the nap as the king of them all. A tipster’s nap is their best of bet of the day, the week, or whichever timeframe they choose to apply it to. The William Hill Radio naps table is a brilliant resource, in which you can view the daily nap bets of all the pundits – including the likes of Rory Delargy, Andy Holding, James Millman and Leonna Mayor – and see how they’ve been faring with their naps over the preceding days to judge their form.

Horse racing offers and promotions

The massive range of horse racing odds and betting opportunities available at William Hill are complimented with daily offers and promotions. Enhanced Odds and Flash Odds price boosts offer chances to benefit from more generous prices about selected bets, while extra places for each-way bettors are another frequent incentive to choose William Hill. New offers and promotions are being added all the time, so keeping up to date via our promotions page is a must. 

promotions.williamhill.com