How We Rate the Best Horse Race Betting Sites in Canada

The internet is home to thousands of betting websites that offer horse racing among the many sports options. While all of them promise to provide their clients with the best experience, most of them do not live up to these claims.

Sifting through the many sites trying to get the cherry-pick the perfect ones can be a tasking endeavour, especially if you do not know what you are looking for. Our experts understand what makes a website ideal, and the bookmakers listed on our page check all the boxes. The criteria applied when selecting them includes:

Bonuses and promotions

Bonuses and promotions are handy tools that boost your bankroll and allow you to place more significant stakes or exploit more odds. The best sportsbooks have lucrative incentives lined up for their clients to keep them happy and bringing back more business.

The offered rewards cater to both new and returning clients in welcome and reload packages. Also, they have lenient terms and conditions that do not demand too high a price for their winnings to be cleared for withdrawal. The various bonuses awarded for horse racing include welcome, reload, cashback, loyalty, free bets, and reload bonuses.

Licenses

Online gambling is very much like the wild west with rogue sites looking to dupe players. Licenses are a great way to tell good sportsbooks from pawns. In Canada, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission offers licenses to local websites to confirm that they have been tested and verified as legitimate.

International licensing institutions with excellent reputations are also considered, including the Malta Gaming Authority, the UK Gambling Commission, Alderney Gaming Control Commission, and Curacao eGaming. These bodies’ licensees uphold the best gambling standards to ensure player protection.

Safety and security

Online sportsbooks require customers to provide personal information when opening accounts and conducting real money transactions. Without proper security measures in place, this info can be used for financial and identity theft.

We confirm that our listed bookmarkers have security systems in place, such as SSL encryption, to keep unauthorized third parties at bay. Also, they have to have PIN-protected accounts and run adequate checks on the user during withdrawals.

Customer support

A sportsbook’s client care system goes a long way in determining how well gamblers will experience their services. The best ones have responsive customer support teams with various methods of reaching them, such as live chat, phone, and email. Responses are usually timely, and staff members are well versed in handling an array of issues effectively. If an FAQ section is included, it touches on relevant questions that are commonly presented and offer detailed responses.

Banking and payouts

The bookmarkers listed on our website partner with payment methods available to Canadian bettors, including Visa, Neteller, Mastercard, Bitcoin, Skrill, Trustly, Paysafecard, and iDebit. These cashier channels assure the safe transaction of funds to and from accounts, and they apply reasonable rates and processing periods.

Competitive odds

Top-tier sportsbooks offer the best odds for players to maximize their payouts. The difference between odds on various websites is not usually significant. However, when placing numerous bets, the contrast can be substantial.

Additional features

We go for sportsbooks that go beyond offering the basic horse racing bets such as Win, Place, and Each Way. The best bookies have exotic bet types like Exacta, Quinella, Duet, Trifecta, First Four, and Daily Double.

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Top Websites to bet on Horse Racing

Out of the many websites available online, a few of them meet our applied criteria. Here are the most recommendable of these sportsbooks:

Bet365

Bet365 is an all-around gambling destination that houses a sportsbook and casino. The gaming den was established in 2001, and it currently operates under Hillside Gaming ENC, a New Jersey-based company.

Bet365 offers odds on the biggest horse races, including the Kentucky Derby, Aintree Festival, US Triple Crown, and Breeders’ Cup. Gamblers can also access other popular sports and events like football, hockey, baseball, tennis, soccer, and basketball.

Betway

Betway is one of the most prominent bookmarkers worldwide. The company started out in Europe in 2006, and it has spread to other regions like Canada over time. Betway Limited Casinos, the corporate head behind the entity, has its headquarters in Malta and tens of offices in other areas. Betway is famous for covering the biggest horse racing events with a range of basic and exotic odds attached to them.

Bettors can claim free bets worth CAD 10 when they spend CAD 25 or more on parlays and accumulators. These funds can be used in horse races and other events like football, cricket, cycling, eSports, curling, boxing, UFC, politics, and volleyball.

Sports Interaction

Sports Interaction has been around for over twenty years, having opened in 1997. The sportsbook is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and Jersey Gaming Commission. Sports Interaction supports real money horse racing bets with reliable cashier channels like Skrill, Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, and Direct Deposit. The website also features a section with the latest news in the sports world, keeping gamblers updated all in one destination.

The Best Betting Types for Horse Racing

There are multiple kinds of stakes to choose from when betting in horse racing. These different types of wagers cut across various events. They might carry varying odds, but they mean the same thing despite where they are featured.

The best of these bets include:

The Best Horse Racing Events to Bet On

Horse racing is a traditional sport that is mainly confined to formal events. Several of these races outshine the rest, some of which date back decades.

The best races to bet on include:

Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival is an event that runs for four days and takes place annually in March at the Cheltenham Racecourse. The race is popular with Irish visitors because it coincides with St. Patrick’s Day.

The festival has horses competing in several Grade I races, including the Queen Mother Champion Chase, Cheltenham Gold Cup, and Champion Hurdle. The prize money awarded to winners is second only to the Grand National.

Triple Crown Thoroughbred Racing

The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing is legendary in the USA for consisting of three races rather than one event: The Belmont Stakes, Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes.

The Triple Crown title is awarded to a three-year-old thoroughbred horse that wins all three races. The title was commissioned in 1950, but the first horse to win the events did so in 1919.

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby runs in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, and is held annually. The event is slotted for the first Saturday in May, and it drags on for two weeks in the Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition consists of a Grade I stakes race run by three-year-old thoroughbreds.

Breeders’ Cup

Breeders’ Cup Limited runs an annual series of Grade I races for thoroughbred horses. The event runs for two days and is held in different locations in the United States. The races are run on a left-handed track made of turf and dirt.

Aintree Festival

The Aintree Hurdle has been running since 1976 and is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race held in Great Britain. The event runs with horses that are four years or older, and they run a two-mile, four-furlong distance. The course has eleven hurdles. The event is usually scheduled for April.

Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot is a horse racing, social, and fashion event rolled into one. The Royal Ascot meet started in 1711 under Queen Anne, making it one of the longest-standing events of its nature. It lasts four days, attended by the British Sovereign, and held in the Ascot Racecourse.

Glorious Goodwood

Glorious Goodwood is a festival that runs for five days and highlights the Goodwood racecourse season. The venue is famously considered the most beautiful racecourse thanks to its placement on the South Downs that offer breathtaking views of the countryside that surrounds it.

The Grand National

The Grand National is an annual England race that is a National Hunt horse race. The involved horses are seven years or older, run a four-mile, 2.5-furlong distance, and jump thirty fences over twenty laps.

Belmont Stakes

Belmont Stakes, regarded as the third jewel of the Triple Crown, is a Grade I stakes race held in the United States. The race is conducted with three-year-old thoroughbreds and is held in Elmont, New York.

Horse Racing Betting Bonuses and Promotions

Sportsbooks that feature horse racing often woo gamblers with an array of bonuses and promotions to boost their bankrolls. These incentives are packaged differently to target different bettors and circumstances, and the most popular ones are:

• Welcome bonuses – incentives awarded to new clients after registering an account and committing real money.
• Free bets – bonuses that allow punters to place free stakes, but the wager is not paid back like when using regular funds if the result is a win.
• No deposit bonuses – boons granted to gamblers without requiring a cash-in to activate and are often available to new bettors.
• Reload bonuses – incentives awarded to regular clients returning to place more bets after the first one.
• Cashback bonuses – offers that give back gamblers a portion of the money spent or lost when betting.
• Loyalty programs – clubs that reward bettors the more they bring business to a casino. Players can progress through different tiers by spending more money.

How to Bet on Horse Racing

The processing of placing horse racing bets is straightforward, especially if you understand the different kinds of bets offered. The procedure unfolds as follows:

1. Choose an ideal website with the horse racing option, open an account, and deposit into it.
2. Open the ‘horse races’ section and pick the one to bet on
3. Determine the kind of bet to make, including singles, doubles, accumulator, and others.
4. Place the stake and wait for the results.

Key Horse Racing Terms and What They Mean

The horse racing world has confusing jargon throw around, a lot of which can fly over the heads of unseasoned fans of the sport. Here are such standard terms you will hear and what they mean:

• All-Weather Racecourse – a synthetic racing surface made using sand that is mostly not affected by the weather.
• Blinkers – a headgear type fitted on horses that limit their field of vision on each side and keeps them focused on the race.
• Bridle – a tack piece that goes over the horse’s head and helps the reins and other bits remain in place.
• Cheekpieces – headgear made out of sheepskin that goes on each side of the harness and functions to keep the horse concentrated on the race like the blinkers.
• Classic – Grade 1 contests ran by three-year-old thoroughbreds.
• Furlong – an imperial distance measurement unity equal to 0.125 miles or a little over 201 meters.
• Handicap – a race where horses carry different weights determined by their overall rating given by the handicapper.
• Non-Runner – a horse taken out of a race for which it had already been declared.