- Fact-checked by Josh Miller
- Edited by Diana Westfield
Ante post betting means taking a price on a race before the final runners are confirmed, sometimes months before. You back a horse for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in November at 20/1; by March, if it’s been running well, it might be 6/1 on the day. That’s the appeal: if you’re right early, you get a far bigger price than anyone backing it on the morning. The catch is that if your horse doesn’t make the race, the bet is usually lost.
What is ante post, and why are the odds bigger?
Early prices carry more uncertainty. The horse might get injured, run in a different race, or the going might turn against it. Bookmakers price that risk in, so the odds are longer than they’d be on the day for a horse in the same form. You’re not getting a free gift; you’re being paid for taking a chance that the horse turns up at all.
A rough rule of thumb: if you think there’s a 70% chance your horse lines up and you’d make it 8/1 on the day, an ante post price needs to be better than about 12/1 to be worth it, because 30% of the time your money is gone before the race starts. The CasinoCalcs expected value calculator does that sum for your own numbers.
Non-runner no bet and Rule 4
In the run-up to big festivals, bookmakers often switch markets to non-runner no bet: if your horse doesn’t run, you get your stake back. The prices are a little shorter than straight ante post, but the biggest risk has gone. For most people backing a festival horse a few weeks out, NRNB is the better deal.
Ante post bets aren’t subject to Rule 4 deductions when another horse is withdrawn, which is a small plus. Bets placed on the day are, and the Rule 4 calculator shows how much comes off.
Each way ante post
Each way ante post on a big field can be a good bet: a 33/1 shot at 1/5 the odds for four or five places pays well if it simply runs into a place. The each way calculator settles it. On the day, compare your price with the starting price; if you’d have done better at SP, that’s useful to know for next year. Starting price explained covers how SP is set.
Early prices, early losses too. BeGambleAware.org has free support if betting stops being fun.