What Do You Need to Bet on Horse Racing? Part 1

If you casually attended Cheltenham Festival or other big horse racing festivals this year, you undoubtedly had an awesome time. Did you place any wagers? If it was your first time doing so, maybe you won, maybe you lost—but you probably discovered one thing for certain, which is that betting on horse racing really ups the ante when it comes to excitement.

If you are planning on betting on future races but you are still brand new to all this, you may be wondering what you need in terms of knowledge, supplies, and techniques to be profitable at it. You can make a lot of money wagering on horses, but only if you know what you are doing.

In this guide, I want to talk about the basic materials and know-how that you need to succeed.

Supplies

You need to decide first whether you plan to bet online or offline. Betting online does not mean you need to stay home! A lot of racetracks nowadays have online access, so if you have a mobile device and you choose a UK betting site which is mobile-ready, you will be able to bet from anywhere.

That leads me to the next thing you need—a UK betting site you can trust. We have therefore compiled an extensive set of in-depth reviews on the best UK betting sites for horse-racing betting for you to look at. We know how hard it can be to choose a site which offers the features and quality you need. Reading our reviews will teach you about the criteria which are important, and we will introduce you to some of the top betting sites out there.

Along with a UK online bookie account, you will need the following materials:

• A desktop, laptop, or mobile device with a reliable and safe internet connection
• Some way to watch live events, if you plan on wagering in-running (Channel 4 broadcasts many events live, but many UK betting sites do as well if you commit to a very low minimum bet)
• Access to historical information on horses, jockeys, trainers, and tracks, as well as news updates throughout the year (you can find all of this online)
• Documents for keeping track of your horse racing wagers (I recommend a spreadsheet for tracking basic information on your bets, and a separate document for in-depth journaling)
• Enough money to bet responsibly.

Along with these basic materials, there are also some intangible things that you will need to bet on horse racing. I will go into these intangibles in-depth in the next instalment in this series, What Do You Need to Bet on Horse racing? Part 2.