Exotic Bet – What is an Exotic Bet in Horse Racing [2024] 🏇

Once a rookie horse racing bettor has mastered the basic straight bets, they can progress to the slightly more complicated exotic bets. Exotic horse racing bets, unlike straight bets, involve numerous runners and, in some cases, multiple races.

Take the place bet, for example. The place wager is a straight bet in which you pick a single horse and win if that horse finishes first or second. It just includes one horse in a single race, which is why it’s called a straight bet.

The quinella bet is the closest approach to a place bet when it comes to exotic horse racing bets. The quinella entails selecting two horses and winning if they finish first and second in any order. It isn’t a significant leap in complexity from the place bet, but it does include two separate horses, making it an exotic play.

When we talk about boxing, wheeling, and keying horses, things get a little more complicated. Readers who spend the time to go through this page will gain a solid understanding of the many sorts of exotic parimutuel racing bets.

Exotic Horse Racing Bets: How Do They Work? 🤔

In its most basic forms, exotic parimutuel horse racing bets are simple. However, in comparison to straight bets, the majority are substantially more difficult to win. Except for the quinella, all exotic bets require the bettor to make numerous selections and have every prediction correct to win.

Exotic bets, on the other hand, pay out more. Especially during large races like the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup, a winning trifecta can yield a lot of money to the winning bettor. The Superfecta and Pick 6 bets are among the most lucrative in horse racing.

The typical exotic bet works like this 📜

Exacta: A wager on two horses to finish first and second in that order.

Quinella: A wager on two horses to finish first and second in any order.

Trifecta: A bet on three horses to finish first, second, and third in that order.

Superfecta: A bet on four horses to finish first, second, third, and fourth in that order.

Daily Double: A bet on two horses to finish first in two consecutive races is known as a daily double.

Pick 3: A wager on three horses to finish first in three races in a row.

Pick 6: A wager on six horses to finish first in six races in a row.

The Horse Racing Boxing Exotic Bets 🐴

Now we’ll look at some of the more advanced exotic horse racing bet. Boxing a bet is a step up from a simple exotic wager, but it’s still not difficult. The most important thing to remember is that boxing an exotic bet allows you to cover every potential selection combination.

Exotic wagers are high-paying bets since they require predicting the finishing positions of two, three, four, or more horses, but this is no easy task. Horseplayers who want to increase their odds can box their bets to cover more outcomes for a fee.

Covering every potential combination of picks is what boxing a bet entails. The bettor can also increase the number of horses on the ticket.

Take, for example, the trifecta bet. It’s difficult to pick three horses to finish first, second, and third in that exact order. If successful, it’s also a fantastic strategy to secure a significant win.

A bettor who is ready to wager a little amount of money can pick three horses and box the bet to assure that it wins regardless of the order in which the horses finish. For example, if a bettor bets on horses 2, 3, and 4 in a three-horse box trifecta, he will cover each of the following outcomes:

• 2-3-4
• 2-4-3
• 3-2-4
• 3-4-2
• 4-2-3
• 4-3-2

The bettor has secured a victory by boxing the trifecta if the chosen horses finish in the top three spots in any order. Because it covers six different finishing positions, this bet would cost $ 12 assuming a $ 2 initial stake.

As bettors add additional horses to the mix, the price of boxing exotic bets skyrocket. Adding a single horse to the above box, for example, would cost $ 48. It’s a high-stakes wager, but it covers all 24 of the four runners’ possible finishing positions.

Pick 3, Pick 6, Exacta, Perfecta and other exotic bets are also available.

How to Place a Bet on an Exotic Horse Race

The keyed exotic horse racing bet takes things up a notch in terms of difficulty. Understanding how to box a wager is key to understanding this bet (see above). Selecting a horse as the “key” to win the race and then adding two or more other picks who can finish in any order are known as keying a bet. It’s comparable to a box bet, but it’s more efficient for bettors who have a good sense of which horse will win. The bettor can decrease the number of viable combinations and hence the amount of the wager by selecting one horse as the key runner who must finish first. A bettor may, for example, join a trifecta by selecting Horse #4 over horses 6, 7, and 8. If Horse # 4 comes in first and any of the other selections come in second and third in any order, this bet will win. It’s important to remember that this wager only wins if the essential horses finish first. The horse’s key lowered the number of successful combinations, but the bettor still won since he saved money on the wager. The bettor would lose $ 48 on a $ 2 trifecta four-way box bet. The key horse must win if one of these horses is placed on top of the other three, but the bet price reduces to only $ 12 if the bettor places one of these horses on top of the other three. Exactas, trifectas, Pick 3s, Pick 6s, and other exotic bets can all be keyed. Here’s where you can learn more about the horse key, including how to compute costs:

Bringing a trifecta bet to a close

Wheels (complete and half) Wheels and half wheels are terms for several kinds of exotic key bets. A complete wheel entails picking one or more important tracks and using the rest of the landscape to fill in the gaps. In an eight-horse race, an exact full wheel on Horse # 7 across the field would cover all of the following:

• 7-1 
• 7-2 
• 7-3 
• 7-4 
• 7-5 
• 7-6 
• 7-8

In this case, an exact $ 2 full wheel would cost the bettor $ 14, because it essentially lays seven individual exact bets, with the number 7 associated with the field. This bet will win regardless of the outcome, as long as the number 7 comes in first. Depending on the sort of exotic bet and the number of horses in the race, full wheel bets might be costly. A partial wheel merely shows how a horse is introduced to others, but it does not cover the full field. Using the same scenario as before, a perfect partial wheel might position Horse # 7 ahead of Horses 1, 2, 3, and 4, resulting in the following outcomes:

• 7-1 
• 7-2 
• 7-3 
• 7-4