Best Irish Horse Racing Betting Sites

Odds are crucial when selecting horse racing bookmakers in Ireland. Though a small difference in prices might feel insignificant, anyone placing a lot of bets will see it all soon mounts up.

Choosing horse racing bookmakers with the best racing odds is therefore the key, with those that offer promotions such as Best Odds Guaranteed particularly of interest.

BOG deals guarantee that backers will get the best price available, with Bet365 and Paddy Power among the bookmakers in Ireland that have a Best Odds Guaranteed promotion.

Here are the top horse racing bookmakers with the best racing odds in Ireland:

• Bet365 
• Paddy Power
• Unibet
• William Hill
• QuinnBet
• 888 Sport 
• BetVictor 
• BoyleSports 

While a lot of racing fans pick their selections on the day, others prefer to plan in advance.

Ante-post markets, therefore, need to be offered by horse racing bookmakers in Ireland, with Bet365 known in the industry for arguing a deeper selection than most online bookmakers. Alternatively, BoyleSports also has a decent array of ante-post betting markets to pick from.

Here are our picks for the horse racing bookmakers with the best ante-post market selection:

• Bet365 
• BoyleSports 
• Paddy Power 
• Betfair 
• Unibet
• William Hill

Not all racing is available to watch live on television, making live streams hugely important. Anyone who has had a bet on a big race wants to be able to watch it live to feel the thrill and see if they are going to have a winning wager, after all. 

Some online bookmakers need users to have a funded account in order to access their live streams, while others require account holders to place a bet on the race to be able to watch it.

Here are the top horse racing bookmakers in Ireland with the best horse racing live streams:

• William Hill
• Paddy Power 
• Unibet 
• Bet365 
• BoyleSports 
• Betfair
• QuinnBet

With so much competition out there it is special promotions, deals, bonuses and offers that the best betting sites in Ireland use in a bid to attract people to sign up with them and place bets.

The top bookmakers do not just aim these deals at new users. They also have a suite of special offers and promotions in place in order to reward the loyalty of their existing customers.

Some of the best special deals for horse racing include Best Odds Guaranteed and these are our selections for the top horse racing bookmakers in Ireland for this department.

• BoyleSports 
• Paddy Power 
• Mr Play 
• Bet365 
• Betfair 

Horse racing is global so there is usually a race to bet on taking place somewhere in the world, regardless of the time of the day or night, but this is not always the case.

Virtual horse racing, therefore, becomes a viable alternative that some sports fans might opt to choose when they login to their favourite online betting sites.

As well as virtual horse racing, some sites offer various other virtual sports, including football.

Our favourite horse racing bookmakers in Ireland for virtual horse racing bets are as follows:

• Bet365 
• BetVictor 
• Betfred 
• PaddyPower 
• Betfair

As we have mentioned, Best Odds Guaranteed is among the top horse racing offers that is available from horse racing bookmakers in Ireland.

This promotion means horse racing fans do not have to shop around for the best price, as they will get it anyway as a result of how this bonus works.

Best Odds Guaranteed is not offered by all bookmakers, though, with some choosing to try to provide value to their customers in a different way.

Our picks for the top horse racing bookmakers in Ireland that offer Best Odds Guaranteed are:

• Paddy Power 
• Bet365 
• BetVictor 
• Betfair 
• BoyleSports
• QuinnBet
• William Hill
• 888Sport

After selecting a bookmaker for horse racing betting, it is necessary to understand the different markets available. As with other sports, there is an awful lot of choice out there.

But perhaps horse racing is unique in the world of sport in the sheer amount of confusing terminology surrounding types of bets.

In order to help newcomers to get their heads around the jargon, here are some of the most common racing betting options - and what they are:

• Winner: A simple place to start, winner markets are easy to understand. This is a just bet on a horse to cross the line in first place, nothing more than that. 
• Each Way: Each way betting on horse racing involves two bets - one on the horse to win and one for them to finish in the places. The number of places paid depends on the number of horses in the race, as well as the bookmaker. Some betting sites offer extra place races. When betting each way, it is important to remember the stake is doubled. 
• Place only: Betting on a place only market is similar to each way wagers, except the half of the bet on the to win element is missing. Backers only need the horse to finish in the places to win the bet. 
• Forecast: To win a forecast, backers must predict the horses that finish first and second in a race. Reverse forecasts are also available at many online bookmakers in Ireland, as well as straight forecast bets. 
• Tricast: A tricast is similar, but the first three horses in the race have to be selected. 
• W/O Favourite: When betting on the without favourite market, the horse with the shortest price at that time is omitted. This can be a popular bet when there is a runaway favourite for a particular race. 
• Matched bets: Matched bets are increasingly popular as a way to make risk-free money out of online betting. This tactic involves using free bets and betting exchanges to cover all the potential outcomes of a race to lock in guaranteed profit whatever happens. 
• Insurebet/Coverbet: In this type of bet, the bookmaker will refund the stake if the horse does not win but finishes in the places instead. As a result, the prices available for an insurebet or coverbet wager tend to be lower than when backing a horse just to win. 
• Each Way Extra: This is a Bet365 promotion by which horse racing fans can add extra places to their each way wagers in exchange for a reduction in the price offered. 
• Tote: Betting on horse racing with the Tote is different to using a bookmaker or a traditional betting site. Instead of the bookmaker holding the money, all the cash wagered goes into a central pot, with winners receiving a share of the total cash. 
• Single: A single bet is easy to understand - it is selecting one horse to win their race. 
• Double: In a double, a second horse is added in order to improve the price available. 
• Accumulators: As with in other sports like football, accumulator bets are popular in horse racing. The more horses that are added, the higher the potential winnings are. But on the flip side, accumulators with many horses are incredibly hard to win. 
• Trixie: This is a type of horse racing bet made up of four selections: three doubles and a treble. If just one of the three horses wins, the bet is a loser, but if two win then a profit might be made, depending on the odds of the selections. 
• Patent: The patent is like a trixie bet, but taken to the next level. There are seven bets covered by the patent, three singles, three doubles and a treble. What this means is that even if only one of the horses wins, the backer will still receive a return on their wager. 
• Yankee: This one is a bet for four horses. The Yankee is made up of 11 different bets: six doubles, four trebles and a four-fold accumulator. Remember that when betting on an option like the Yankee or the patent, the stake is multiplied by the number of lines. 
• Lucky 15: A Lucky 15 bet on the horse racing is the same as the Yankee, but with the addition of four singles on each of the selections. This means backers of a Lucky 15 bet will at least get something back from their bet even if just one of the horses wins. It is also possible to back a Lucky 15 bet each way, which multiplies the stake even further. 
• Lucky 31: The Lucky 31 works in a similar way, but with an extra horse added. There are therefore 31 different lines to the bet, as follows - five singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, five four-fold accumulators and a five-fold accumulator to round it off. 
• Placepot: All leading online bookmakers offer a placepot and this is a popular type of horse racing bet in Ireland because it offers the chance to win a massive amount of cash from a relatively low stake. Backers of the placepot pick a horse they think will finish in the places for six pre-selected races. If all six do finish in the places, winners receive a share of the pot, in a similar way to the Tote mentioned above.

While horse racing takes place virtually all year round - at least somewhere in the world - there are a few major events in the sport's annual calendar when it comes to betting.

Here are the popular horse racing events to bet on in Ireland:

• Cheltenham Festival  
• Grand National 
• Royal Ascot 
• Epsom Derby 
• Glorious Goodwood 
• Punchestown Festival 
• Curragh Irish Derby Festival 
• Galway Races Summer Festival 
• Listowel Harvest Festival  
• Down Royal Ulster Derby 
• Leopardstown Christmas Festival 
• Killarney Spring Festival 
• Longines Irish Champions Weekend 
• Fairyhouse Easter Festival

Running in March every year, the Cheltenham Festival is the highlight of the sporting calendar for a lot of horse racing fans. The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the highlight of the meeting, which has a strong Irish flavour as a result of its proximity to Saint Patrick's Day. Other big races that take place at the Festival include the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Stayers' Hurdle. Hundreds of millions of euros are bet on the festival each year.

For casual horse racing fans, the Grand National is the most famous race of the year. Known around the world for being particularly chaotic, two laps of the Aintree racecourse provides a test of endurance. The first Grand National was run 181 years ago, so this is one of the longest-running horse races around. It is estimated that 500 million people watch the race each year.

Royal Ascot is famous for its links to royalty, along with a unique sense of pageantry. Considered by many to be Britain's most valuable race meeting, Royal Ascot sees about 500 horses race over the course of five days of action. The highlight of the meeting is the Gold Cup.

Britain's richest horse race is the Epsom Derby, a race that is often called the "Blue Riband" of the turf. It is also thought of as the most prestigious of the five Classics. The Epsom Derby is typically scheduled to be run on the first Saturday of June each year.

For horse racing purists, Glorious Goodwood is up there with the Cheltenham Festival. Officially named the 'Qatar Goodwood Festival' for sponsorship reasons, the meeting is held in late July. Top races that take place within Glorious Goodwood include the Stewards' Cup, the Nassau Stakes, the Goodwood Cup and the Sussex Stakes.

Moving on to events that take place in Ireland, Punchestown Festival definitely makes the cut for the best horse racing events to bet on for Irish racing fans. Punchestown Festival - held annually in April - has a similar format to the Cheltenham Festival. Key races of the meeting include the Punchestown Gold Cup, the Champion Chase and the Champion Hurdle.

One of the top Irish races of the year, the Irish Derby, takes place within the Curragh Irish Derby Festival. Taking place three weeks after the Epsom Derby, a number of horses have won the double of claiming first place in both races.

Galway Races Summer Festival is among the highlights of the social calendar for horse racing fans in Ireland. Taking place at the end of July, the meeting tends to be attended by around 150,000 people every year. The historic Galway Plate, which is worth €200,000, is a highlight.

Racing fans from around Ireland also love to head to Listowel Harvest Festival, a seven-day meeting that is without a doubt the autumn highlight of the Irish racing calendar.

Each June, Irish racing fans get excited about the Down Royal Ulster Derby, which was established in 1936. One of the top racing events of the year in Northern Ireland, the Ulster Derby is the country's most valuable flat race and has never been won by the same horse more than once, though jockey Tommy Murphy rode the winner on four occasions in his career.

Leopardstown Christmas Festival is a must-attend festive event for a lot of Irish racing fans. With a number of Grade 1 races over the course of four days of top-class action, the festival is a great way to finish off Christmas. There is usually over €1 million in prize money up for grabs.

Claimed to be held at the most scenic racecourse in Ireland, anyone who has been to Killarney Spring Festival will certainly find it hard to argue with that assessment. But those who cannot attend will find it just as enjoyable to have a bet on the top races via a leading online bookmaker.

September sees what many believe to be Ireland's greatest racing event: the Longines Irish Champions Weekend. Taking place over two days - one at Leopardstown and one at The Curragh, the event includes the Irish Champion Stakes and the Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes on day one. Day two of the Longines Irish Champions Weekend has a stacked schedule including the Comer Group International Irish St Leger, the Moyglare Stud Stakes, the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes and the Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes.

Wrapping things up is the Fairyhouse Easter Festival, which as the name suggests is held at Easter weekend each year. The BoyleSports Irish Grand National is the key race of the meeting, which also hosts the Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa Most Stylish Lady competition.