Horse Racing Betting in New Zealand 2023
The act of placing a bet on horse racing has existed since ancient times. And there’s a rich history of betting on horse racing in New Zealand. Kiwis have been partaking in this sport for decades. Even now, it’s one of the largest sports for betting at popular bookmakers.
The racing industry contributes around $1.6 billion in total revenue every year. That should give you an idea of just how big the industry is in New Zealand. To keep the Kiwis satisfied, there are a lot of bookmakers with popular markets and great odds. What you’ll find in this article is a list of the best horse racing betting sites in New Zealand. Not just that, we’re also going to tell you what you can expect from those operators.
🏆 Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2023
🏇 Horse Race Betting Guide
If we look back to the history of horse betting, it all used to be done physically on race tracks. Punters had to place bets and turn in their slips after winning to get a payout. But as the gambling industry evolved, everything has shifted online. It’s not just casinos, sportsbooks have also made the move to offer their services online. And since it’s legal to participate in online betting for these races on offshore sites, players won’t have to deal with legal issues.
People with no idea how horse racing betting works get intimated by it. In reality, the markets can get tricky, although the betting odds are simple enough to be understood by any new punters. If you want to get betting into it as well, don’t worry. We’re going to walk you through how it works and get you started in no time.
- Pick a bookmaker: The first step is to choose a trusted site for horse racing betting online. Check the bookmaker’s reviews, plus make sure it has a horse racing betting app too! Then, sign up as a new user.
- Claim the welcome bonus: After registering successfully, navigate to the bonuses section. There should be a welcome bonus that’s waiting for you. Make sure to claim it with your first deposit.
- Look for a race: In New Zealand, races are held regularly. Simply pick a race that you want to bet on.
- Pick a horse: You need to choose a horse and the market that you want to wager your money on. Choose the market you want to bet on as well.
- Placing the bet: When you’re satisfied with your choice of horse and bet, all you need to do is wager your money and wait for the race to finish.
🖋️ Horse Racing Terms and Their Meaning
When you finally start betting on horses with real money, you will surely come across some new definitions. Further, we’re going to talk about some of the common horse racing terms and what they actually mean.
- Win: This is the betting market where you wager money on a horse that wins the race.
- Place: Horses in the first and second position “place” in the race.
- Show: This term refers to horses in the first three positions.
- Collect: This is the dividend or payout you get at the end of the race. It’s a product of your bet and the horse racing betting odds.
- Jockey: The jockey is the person that rides the horse in the race.
- Runner: Every single horse that takes part in the race is called a runner.
- Scratch: A scratch is a runner withdrawing from the race before it even begins. Any bets on the scratch are voided.
- Dead-heat: If multiple horses finish at the same time for a certain position, then it’s called a dead-heat.
- Box: A box is a kind of wager where you choose more than one horse. You don’t need to specify the orders that come in the horse racing results.
- Minutes to post: It’s the time that’s left before no more bets can be placed. All wagers need to be placed before this time ends. If you’re even a second late, your wager won’t be accepted.
✅ Types of Betting on Horse Racing
Before you make use of the horse racing free bets to enjoy free horse racing betting, it’s important to learn about the popular types of bets. Consider these as options that are offered by betting websites to players. Why don’t we take a look at the markets where Kiwis are betting on horse races?
Race Winner
In horse racing, the race-winner market is known by many terms. You’ll often see it being referred to as win/place/show. The Win bet is only for the winning horse. The first two horses predicted correctly are for the Place bet. And the Show market is for the first, second, and third places that end the rest.
Exacta
Exacta requires that bettors predict the first and second places correctly. But that’s not all as they also need to get the order in which the horses finish exactly right.
Trifecta
For the trifecta bet, you can apply the same principle of predicting horses and the orders in which they finish. This time around, you need to pick three horses correctly.
Superfecta
Turn the trifecta up a notch, and you get the superfecta bet. A racing bettor can win a massive amount of money from this type of bet. All they need to do is predict the horses and the order they complete the race for the first four positions.
Box Bets
All the types of bets we discussed come with some risks. If you get the order wrong, you won’t get paid. If this scares you, there’s an alternative that you can try out.
You can place the bet on horses in the same way as exacta, trifecta or superfecta. But you don’t need to worry about the order. This type of betting market is known as box bet in horse racing, and it’s really popular among New Zealand bettors.
🏅 How We Evaluate Horse Betting Sites NZ
Playing at a horse racing betting site in NZ has made things simple for punters. But operators need to be chosen carefully to ensure a smooth experience when betting on horse racing online.
If you want to learn more about picking sports betting sites, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to share all of the things that you need to keep in mind when you choose a betting site yourself.
Safety and Security
At horse racing betting sites, your number one priority needs to be your own safety. It is not only limited to encryption and security features. The license of the betting site should also be something that you check. It needs to be valid and come from an authorized organization.
Variety of Betting Markets
We’ve already looked at the different kinds of betting markets. So, when you’re picking a bookmaker, make sure to go with one that covers a wide range of bets. Along with that, the bookmaker needs to cover popular racing events in NZ.
Betting Odds
Betting markets won’t be enough to cover your experience unless you have great odds to go along with it. The better the odds, the better the payout that you get. The best horse races betting sites in NZ already come with the best odds, so you don’t have to worry about it.
Betting Options
The ideal bookmaker in NZ should cover all of the popular races. This should be evenly spread out as separate options for betting on horses. A bettor should be able to access separate pages for pre-race bets and in-play racing bets.
Payment Methods
None of these things above will amount to anything if you have to face issues with your funds at the bookmaker. The popular deposit and withdrawal methods will ensure that you have a smooth time placing bets on your preferred race. Double-check the procedure time, fees applied, and verification steps before depositing or withdrawing.
🥇 Best Horse Betting Sites in New Zealand
If you’re playing on websites that experts recommend, you can ensure the best possible experience with bookmakers. You will get the perfect mix of betting options, markets, and odds.
Here are some of the best horse racing sportsbooks of 2023 that might be worth your time.
Betway
Betway is one of the oldest names in sports betting. The highlight of this bookmaker is a polished interface and coverage of races across tracks all across New Zealand.
It also comes with amazing bonus offers to improve your gambling experience at the operator. And if you combine that with the wide range of betting markets and great odds, you have a solid package on your hands. It’s also possible to catch the action live on the bookmaker’s platform thanks to the live stream.
888Sport
This bookmaker features a much sleeker-looking UI with a dark theme going all around. You also get to enjoy exclusive bonuses specifically for participating in betting. The interface is designed to deliver all the important information on how to bet horses successfully.
Make use of the bet slip feature to keep track of the racing bets that you place. Since you get a lot of payment options, don’t forget to take advantage of them to start placing bets on your favourite horse.
Bet365
There is little doubt that bet365 is one of the biggest sportsbooks in the world. Not only does it have great coverage of horse races, but you can also find other sports to play here with real money.
We’re not the only ones that are praising the website interface, it’s all of the players at bet365. All the necessary information you need for your research can be found on the betting screen on bet365.
📌 Horse Racing Tips and Strategies
What is a successful way to master betting on horses? This calls for having a strong and sound strategy. If you want to learn more about how to bet successfully, here are some horse racing betting tips that might help out.
Know your Runner
The Runner is the team of the jockey and the horse. The results of a race depend greatly on the condition of the horse and the jockey. Runners in the best shape and with good track records are ideal candidates for winning.
Distance
Distance is also a big deal in horse racing. Horses are bred differently for various distances. Some horses might excel over short distances, while others are bred for endurance across longer tracks.
Fixed Odds Vs. Tote Odds
The fixed odds do not change, while tote odds can fluctuate depending on the market. Make sure to learn the differences between the two odds and how they work before placing a bet on horses.
⚡ Major Horse Racing Events in New Zealand
We’ve told you that you can catch all horse betting action at the best-rated sportsbooks. But if you don’t know about the popular horse races, you’ll miss out on a ton. That’s why we’re bringing you some of the popular horse racing events across New Zealand.
Melbourne Cup
If you’re looking for a thoroughbred race to wager your money on, the Melbourne Cup is a good event in that regard. The entire course is 3200 meters and is only for horses that are three years or older. The race takes place at the Victoria Racing Club in Melbourne. You can find betting coverage for the racing cup whenever it takes place in New Zealand. And since it’s one of the year’s biggest races, expect to enjoy some amazing odds.
Breeders Cup
The Breeders’ Cup is another popular horse racing event held annually. Its roots go all the way to 1984, back when it was a single-day event. After the changes made in 2007, it became a two-day action-packed event with the best-thoroughbred horses.
Although the location for each Breeders’ Cup is different, its coverage in New Zealand is the same in all places. So get ready this year when the Breeders’ Cup rolls around to place racing bets on your favourite horses.
Royal Ascot
The Royal Ascot is one of the horse racing events that takes place on the Ascot Racetrack in England. In the UK, it’s one of the largest races of the year. Even on the global stage, the race is of significant importance to punters.
Cheltenham Festival
Not satisfied with a single day of betting on horse races? Then join in on the Cheltenham Festival and enjoy four days of horse racing action. Punters from across the world flock together to watch the race live on the Cheltenham racecourse. This event has a long history spanning almost a century. That’s why it makes sense that it’s considered one of the most anticipated races for betting in New Zealand.
📺 Live Streaming and In-Play Betting
We’ve often encountered many sports on online bookmakers with the opportunity of live betting. Unfortunately, the option to stream the matches live was rarely to be seen. However, that’s not a scene you ever have to see if you’re betting on horses. Horse races also come with the option to broadcast the match live. This advantage is available at the most popular bookmakers.
What’s the advantage of in-play betting over regular bets then? The main benefit for which in-play bets are so popular is because of the control that they offer. You get to adjust your bets depending on the state of the race. This can work both ways. You can prevent yourself from incurring any huge losses. On the flip side, a well-placed bet at the right moment might end up getting you a huge win.
🎁 Bonuses & Promotions for Horse Betting
We’ve been discussing the technical side of horse race betting all this time. So let’s take a minute to look at some benefits, namely bonuses and promotional offers available at NZ sportsbooks.
Matched Free Bets
If you’ve been on a bookmaker, then this is a bonus offer that you’re bound to have seen. It follows a simple system. You have to bet a certain amount in a betting market. Whether you win or lose the bet, you will get the free bets nonetheless. Usually, you get more in free bets than how much you had to wager initially. This is what makes the bonus interesting to the players.
Accumulator Boosts
Accumulators are a series of bets a punter can place on sports and betting events. It’s not necessary that the selection for accumulator bets need to be on the same sport. But the catch is that the entire bet is lost if you lose even one of your selections. That’s why to make the accumulator bets feel worth the risk, accumulator boosts are offered. With this, a player can enjoy bonus winnings on a successful bet.
Non-Runner No Bet Offers
After doing tons of research, you bet on a runner, but they bail out of the race at the last second. That’s one of the worst nightmares that you can have. But if you have activated a non-runner no bet offer, you’ll be insured, and your money returned to you.
📱 Best Horse Betting Apps
One of the favorite things about horses betting in NZ is that you can participate from anywhere in the world. No matter your situation, you can bet if you have a mobile phone on you. With a stable internet connection, you should be able to bet on horses from anywhere. Here we’ve made a list of three of the most popular apps for betting that are known among the Kiwis.
LeoVegas App
LeoVegas has one of the most visually stunning interfaces out of all the horse racing betting apps we have checked out. The different elements of the casino are neatly arranged to make it easier to navigate through everything on the site. Kiwis can join today and get up to 2000 NZD from the first three deposits. The bonus also comes with 150 free spins to use on some of the best slots.
10Bet App
10Bet is an app that is focused more on cricket. You can tell it from the logo design. If you ever wanted to participate in cricket betting NZ, you probably thought of 10Bet because it’s an absolute crowd-favourite.
But did you know 10Bet also offers a betting horse racing section? Here you can find the best odds and renowned racing events. Enjoy the 50% deposit bonus for new players, where you can get a maximum of 80 NZD to use on races.
888Sport App
In terms of the layout, 888Sport is head and shoulders above the rest. And this applies to the bonuses as well. After signing up, new players that place a bet of at least 10 NZD can get 30 NZD as rewards in free bets.
⭐ Conclusion
Horse racing has a special place in the hearts of gamblers in New Zealand. And you can tell it from the amount of love and care online bookmakers have put in the horse races section. The best betting markets feature some great odds. That way, a good payout is guaranteed.
The betting apps make it easy for anyone to enjoy the race from anywhere. They’re also available for streaming live.
When you’re placing bets on horses, make sure to regulate yourself and spend money wisely. If you don’t want to burn out your bankroll, gambling responsibly should be a policy that you should pick up.
❓ FAQ
You can choose from several options in New Zealand. But from what we’ve managed to find out Betway, bet365, and 888Sport are good.
As long as the operator is located outside the country, Kiwis will face no legal problems trying to play at offshore sportsbooks.
There’s no single bonus in New Zealand that can be called special. But from what we found, matched free bets seem to be special among the players as a betting bonus.
You can find the bets most NZ players are wagering on the sportsbooks. These include Win, Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta, and Quinella bets.
Yes, you definitely can! The matches can be streamed directly on the betting platform. You can also do it from your phone.
Several popular brands have launched their betting apps in New Zealand to be used for horse betting. Check out the applications from LeoVegas or 888Sport, for example.
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