Americans love to bet on horse races like the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, but what if they want to cast their net wider and look at placing some bets on the best British races?
This is something that can be done very easily, so let’s take a look at how to do this and what races you might like to wager on.
The Top British Horse Races
Few, if any, countries have as many top-quality races each year as the UK. One of the highlights of the British sporting calendar is the Cheltenham Festival that is held in March. Every day of this Festival has excellent events like the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the World Hurdle, but perhaps the most important of all is the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
This Grade 1 National Hunt event is one of the finest horse races on the planet, with 22 fences for the horses to jump. While the prize money is dwarfed by international races like the Dubai World Cup and the Pegasus World Cup, there is no doubt that this remains one of the most prestigious races around, with some of the most famous horses in history winning it.
The Grand National is held at Aintree in April and is unique in that it is when many Brits who don’t normally take an interest in the sport decide to place bets. This race sees the horses charge around a tough track of over four miles with 30 fences to complete, which means that there is plenty of excitement as the runners regularly fall or unseat their jockeys.
The Ascot Gold Cup is another great race, and this is the highlight of the Royal Ascot meeting where members of the Royal Family are often seen in the crowds. It is a flat race that is considered to be a premium event for horses that are classed as “stayers”, as it is run over two miles and four furlongs. It was first run in 1807 and is joined in Royal Ascot by races like the Royal Hunt Cup and the Queen’s Vase.
At the end of April or beginning of May, the 1,000 Guineas Stakes and 2,000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket are the first classics of the UK’s flat racing season. The second of these events is also the first part of the Triple Crown, which is completed by the Epsom Derby in June and St Leger Stakes in September.
How to Bet on These Races
British punters have a long tradition of placing their bets at local bookmaker’s shops, which were made legal in the 1960s. There were once 13,000 of these shops across the country, but in recent years the UK had shifted towards online betting, with many new and established bookmakers moving their operations online.
Many Americans can now place bets in the same way, as different states in the US have now begun to introduce legislation that allows people to bet on the internet. If you live in a state where online sports betting is legal, you can look to see which sites are authorized to operate here.
Once you enter a regulated betting site for your state, it is then a question of opening an account before looking to see which races to bet on. As you would expect, all of the big American races from racetracks like Pimlico, Del Mar, and Santa Anita Park are covered.
However, if you scroll down the list you will see races from the UK, as well as from other countries like Australia, Hong Kong and so on. You can simply choose the race you are interested in and then place you wager in the usual way.
Don’t forget the time difference when getting ready to follow the action and whether it is legal to do online sports betting in your state. For example, if you live in Indiana you would be happy to know they recently legalized horse racing betting online. You can inform yourself better here: https://www.twinspires.com/states/indiana
