Pros and cons to ante-post betting

Working as one of the most beloved sports in the world, horse racing entertains audiences in a vast array of ways, and the ability to bet on such a large percentage of races has to rank highly upon that list. Horse racing weighs in closely with football for the most regularly used sports for betting on in the UK, and its many ways to bet only offers more reason to get involved.

There are many different online websites that offer their own free horse racing tips and TeamFA are a perfect example, as they specialise in multisport, leaving no stone unturned in the UK betting circuit, where they provide previews, recommended bets, tips and odds on all of the most popular sports across the globe including horse racing.

Of all the many different markets in horse race betting, something a lot of regular punters indulge in is ante-post betting. It’s easily one of the most favourable of all horse racing markets but there’s not always much explanation as to why it’s so desirable, so we’ve put together an explanation of the key pros and cons:

The perks of ante-post markets

Although it’s not always made completely clear, the concept of ante-post betting is based around being able to bet on specific horses distinctly prior to a given race taking place. This can work the same as backing a team to win the World Cup months before it kicks off or choosing who you could see scooping the PGA Tour well in advance. Technically, ante-post betting is any market where you can back it before it happens, and a lot of bookmakers refer to horse racing bets in this category as ‘Future Races’.

It would be wrong to say that there’s all that many reasons behind why so many people back ante post markets ahead of all others. The main factor which makes it so desirable is that in betting on it so early, you’ve been able to attain the strongest odds as there’s been no time for the given price to alter through the variables that regularly come into play like injuries to more favoured nags or the odds shortening through the horse you’re wanting to back becoming more likely to finish first.

Downsides to the joys of ante-post betting

When choosing your own free horse racing tips, there’s plenty of factors you need to consider. Backing the horses, you think will win a given race is made even more worthwhile through ante post markets but it’s not completely fool proof.

A lot of the main bookmakers will give you better returns if the price gets better for the horse you’re backing after you’ve backed it prior to the race taking place, but if that’s not an option with the bookie you’ve chosen to use, you could end up with inferior returns to what you could have got if you’d waited closer to the time.

Another factor that could be frustrating after you’ve already backed your horse in ante-post terms is the offers, boosts and enhancements that could be offered on that horse or race, which tend to always be released shortly before the race takes place.