Best Horse Racing Betting Sites: Updated March 2024

Our experts have ranked and reviewed the best horse racing betting sites available in Ireland to help you find your ideal online bookmaker. The latest offers from licensed horse racing betting sites are listed below.

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Horse Racing Betting Sites Compared & Reviewed

Below are some of the pros and cons of the best horse racing betting sites in Ireland for March 2024, with alternative options for each type of site.

Best Horse Betting Site For Cheltenham: William Hill

Best Features: William Hill customers can look forward to non runner no bet on all 28 Cheltenham races, three Cheltenham odds boosts on each day of the Festival, best odds guaranteed on every race and a €5 free bet for new and existing customers on each day of the Festival.

Biggest Negatives: No insurance for coming second to a 'rag'.

Alternative: QuinnBet

Our View: William Hill's variety of Cheltenham offers means there is something for racing punters of all descriptions. The bookie's €5 free bet for new and existing customers on each day of the Cheltenham Festival is a particularly nice touch.

Best Site For Free Racing Bets: BoyleSports

Best Features: New BoyleSports customers can claim a €50 racing free bet when they sign up and place a qualifying bet of €10. There's plenty for existing customers too, like a €5 free Cheltenham acca bet for every five accas placed, a €5 Cheltenham free bet when you place a total of €25+ on multiples and a free bet of up to €20 if your horse comes second to the favourite.

Biggest Negatives: Betting app navigation could be improved.

Alternative: Betway

Our View: BoyleSports stands out as one of our favourite horse racing betting sites thanks to its selection of free bets. When it comes Cheltenham and the Grand National, BoyleSports offers more than most other sites, including great-value extra place terms.

Best Horse Betting Site For Live Streaming: bet365

Best Features: bet365 is renowned for its live betting service, including its live streams. We were able to watch races in high-quality on the bet365 app and website from Ireland, the UK, France, USA, Australia, South Africa and even Japan.

Biggest Negatives: bet365 does not offer a loyalty club.

Alternative: 888sport

Our View: We always want to watch the race we're betting on and that's usually possible with bet365. We enjoyed racing promotions here like the 'Price Promise', which ensures bet365 odds are never beaten for races shown live on ITV.

Best For Money-Back Specials: 888sport

Best Features: 888sport has a range of money-back specials that refund your stake if your bet narrowly loses. The popular racing bookmaker allows you to claim your money back if your selection is a non-runner at the Cheltenham Festival.

Biggest Negatives: Telephone support not 24/7.

Alternative: Betway

Our View: We love the money-back specials offered here but this site isn't a one-trick pony, as you also get live streams from every racecourse in Britain and Ireland, including the best races at Cheltenham, Aintree and Leopardstown (with no minimum stake needed to watch a race).

Best Horse Racing Betting Site For Spread Betting: Spreadex

Best Features: Spreadex provides a compelling alternative to the standard fixed-odds betting on offer from other horse racing betting sites. Here you'll find a range of unique markets, where profits and losses are not fixed and you win or lose money depending on how accurate your bet is.

Biggest Negatives: Spread betting can be risky, so proceed with caution.

Alternative: Ladbrokes

Our View: We enjoyed mixing up our horse racing betting with spread bets and also took advantage of racing promos in Spreadex's fixed-odds section, such as 'First Past The Post' (you still win your bet if your horse finishes first and is later demoted).

Best For All-Round Racing Offers: Quinnbet

Best Features: QuinnBet gives you money back as a free bet if your horse finishes second to the starting-price favourite or if your selection falls in selected races. There's also bonuses on accas, tricasts, forecasts and yankees, as well as extra place races and best odds guaranteed across the board

Biggest Negatives: No acca insurance on racing.

Alternative: bet365

Our View: A range of horse racing promotions and free bets keep QuinnBet fresh daily. We're always on the hunt for horse racing betting sites with lots of special offers - and we counted as many as 11 here when testing out the site.

Best New Horse Racing Betting Site: LiveScore Bet

Best Features: LiveScore Bet boasts a bet €10 Get €60 welcome offer for new customers. You'll also find best odds guaranteed and non-runner no bet for the biggest meetings like the Cheltenham Festival, as well as live streaming available for races in Ireland, the UK, USA, France and South Africa.

Biggest Negatives: Desktop site looks slightly cluttered and could do with a refresh

Alternative: talkSPORT BET

Our View: This new horse racing bookie has all the features you'd expect from an established bookmaker. A lot of newer sites don't have as many perks for horse racing punters, but LiveScore Bet is already putting it up to the competition.

Best Pools Horse Racing Betting Site: Tote

Best Features: Experienced punters often choose the Tote -  the world's largest pool betting operator. All money staked on a race goes into a pool, so winnings are often greater, especially on less-fancied runners. The placepot is this site's standout promotion, with a €100k prize fund for predicting six horses to place at a meeting.

Biggest Negatives: No fixed-odds markets to bet on at the Tote.

Alternative: Ladbrokes

Our View: Pool betting is a really useful tool in any racing punter’s arsenal and the Tote is the leading pools betting option. We enjoyed trying out this site's fantasy games, 'Ten to Follow' and 'Tote Fantasy', for something a bit different. 

Latest Horse Racing Betting Odds & Results

How we Review Horse Racing Betting Sites

When ranking the best horse racing betting sites, these are the main factors we take into account. We recommend considering these yourself when deciding which horse racing bookmakers to sign up with:

Betting Odds

The better the odds are, the more money you stand to potentially win over time. That’s why we're always on the lookout for horse racing betting sites with value pricing. We compare odds across a range of horse racing bookmakers to find out which sites consistently have the best odds.

Market Coverage

Good horse racing bookmakers have a range of markets to choose from. A plethora of betting options should be available for all major races in the UK and Ireland, while the best horse racing betting sites also have markets for international races from the likes of France, the USA and Australia.

Licensing & Regulation

It is crucial to go with a horse racing betting site that is licensed and regulated by a recognised regulatory body. Licensed horse betting sites protect your personal details and provide the best responsible gambling tools.

Payment Options

The best horse racing betting sites should support your preferred payment method. Whether it’s a debit card or e-wallet, you should always have plenty of choice. Deposit/withdrawal limits and processing times should also be reasonable.

Mobile Betting

Horse racing betting apps and mobile sites allow you to bet on the horses no matter where you are. The best horse racing bookies have easy-to-use apps with all the same features as desktop sites optimised for mobile. You may even get extra perks like notifications to your phone about the latest offers.

Daily Racing Promotions

Promotions separate the best horse racing betting sites from the rest. Odds boosts, extra places and best odds guaranteed are some of the staple offers we look out for. 

Customer Support

Horse racing betting websites should have customer support teams available round-the-clock. There should be a number of different ways to contact support, including live chat, email and telephone.

Festival Promotions

The biggest races of the year should take priority when it comes to horse race betting online. For the likes of the Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot and the Grand National, you should get lots of betting offers from your bookmaker. These could be price boosts, free bets, non-runner no bet or extra each-way places.

Live Streams

If you can't watch a race, having a punt on a horse isn't nearly as exciting. Top horse racing bookmakers have live streaming available on a daily basis, so you can (hopefully) cheer your selection on to victory.

Reputation & Reviews

We check online reviews and feedback from bettors to gauge a horse racing betting site's reputation. Comments on payouts, customer service and overall user experience are good indicators of a site's overall quality.

User Reviews of The Best Horse Racing Betting Sites

The following are some of the best horse betting sites in Ireland, based on user ratings from the Apple App and Google Play stores.

Tote - Google Play Store Rating: 4.6/5 Apple App Store Rating: 4.5/5

User feedback on the Tote is largely very positive, with most commenters pointing to the placepot and quadpot prediction games as their favourite Tote betting features.

BetVictor -  Apple App Store Rating: 4.8/5 Google Play Store Rating: 3.7/5

BetVictor has a strong reputation in Ireland with very positive user feedback. Reviewers on the Apple App Store appreciate this bookie's user-friendly in-app layout.

bet365 - Google Play Store Rating: 4.5/5 Apple App Store Rating: 4.7/5

bet365 has long been a firm favourite of horse racing punters, including Apple App Store users like MacaulayRose7, who writes: "bet365 and their team have created the fastest and most aesthetically pleasing sports betting application with the best odds and the most markets."

Meet Our Team of Horse Racing Betting Experts

At Gambling.com, we have assembled a team featuring some of the foremost horse racing betting experts in Ireland. You can rest assured they know what to look for in a good horse racing betting site. Get to know our racing experts a bit better below:

Best Horse Racing Betting Offers in 2024

The best horse racing betting sites offer a range of bonuses for new and existing customers. These are some of the best offers to look out for right now:

888sport - Non-Runner Money Back Cheltenham Special

Place a bet on the Cheltenham Festival and get your money back if your selection is a non-runner. The promotion runs from from 12:00 on 1st January 2024 until 11:59 on 10th March 2024. 

Ladbrokes - Extra Each Way Places

Ladbrokes is known for its broad range of horse racing offers. Regular racing punters will appreciate the extra each-way places offered for bets placed on selected races from 3pm the day before the race. 

Kwiff - First Past The Post

Kwiff’s ‘First Past The Post’ promotion pays you out as a winner on horses that may be disqualified for any reason after a stewards enquiry. As long as your horse crosses the finish line first, you win your bet.

Biggest Horse Racing Betting Events

You have dozens of races to choose from each day at the best horse racing bookies. 

However, a handful of meetings generate the greatest buzz and attention each year. These are the top events to look out for at horse racing betting sites:

The Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival is the most important meeting in the jumps racing calendar and takes place every year in March. It hosts 14 of the 40 Grade 1 races that take place throughout the season, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup

This Festival attracts the best chasers, hurdlers, trainers and jockeys from across the UK and Ireland each year. Additional highlights include the Champion Hurdle, the Champion Chase, the Stayers’ Hurdle and the Ryanair Chase.

Cheltenham offers are always worth looking out for, as the best horse racing betting sites tend to ramp things up for the Festival in order to compete for business.

Cheltenham Promotions by Bookie

The Punchestown Festival

Seen by many as the Irish version of Cheltenham, the Punchestown Festival is the major meeting of the Irish National Hunt season.

The five-day showpiece event features some of the finest jumps horses and jockeys in Ireland and the UK. Major races at the Festival include the Champion Chase, Ryanair Novice Chase, Champion Hurdle and Punchestown Gold Cup.

Punchestown boasts an impressive prize fund just over €3.5 million. Along with 12 Grade 1 races, the meeting is famous for its competitive best-dressed competitions and lively entertainment. 

You can find a host of Punchestown betting offers at Gambling.com each year during the festival. 

The Galway Races

The Galway Races at Ballybrit Racecourse is probably Ireland's most beloved racing festival. The seven-day event, which traditionally runs into the August Bank holiday weekend, attracts bigger crowds than any other Irish meeting. 

The historic Galway Plate, which dates back to 1869, and the Galway Hurdle are up for grabs each year. But the Galway Festival is much about the atmosphere as the jumps and flat racing, with each day of the summer festival following a theme.

It's always worth looking out for Galway Races betting offers as Ireland's best horse racing betting sites usually have valuable promotions. 

The Dublin Racing Festival

The Dublin Racing Festival, held in February, brings the top jumps horses to Leopardstown Racecourse. The event features a series of high-profile races, including Grade 1 contests, which are among the most prestigious in the Irish National Hunt calendar. 

Some of the key races often featured in the Dublin Racing Festival include the Irish Gold Cup, the Arkle Novice Chase, and the Dublin Chase. 

The Festival serves as a crucial preparation for horses targeting Cheltenham, making it a key date in the calendar for horse racing punters.

The Irish Derby Festival 

Usually spanning a weekend in late June or early July, The Irish Derby Festival takes place at the Curragh Racecourse in County Kildare.

The main attraction is the Irish Derby, a Group 1 flat race run over a distance of one mile and four furlongs for three-year-old thoroughbreds. The race is part of the Irish Triple Crown and is considered one of the most important events in Irish horse racing.

The Irish Derby at The Curragh is Ireland's equivalent of the Epsom Derby and it is usually held four weeks after the English race.

The Grand National (English)

The Grand National is the most popular horse race in the world and comes hot on the heels of Cheltenham each April. It attracts more than 600 million viewers across the globe, which puts it ahead of Australia's Melbourne Cup in terms of viewing figures.

34 of the sturdiest stayers battle it out over a gruelling four miles and 514 yards at Aintree. Popular obstacles such as The Chair and Canal Turn make the Grand National an epic spectacle and many horses fail to complete the race.

The race has a prize pool of £1 million, making it the richest National Hunt race of the season. It's usually the busiest day of the year for horse racing bookies and you'll always find lots of Grand National offers available.

Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot is the most prestigious flat racing event of the year in the UK. It has a total prize purse of more than £9.5 million, making it Britain’s richest meeting.

Royal Ascot includes eight Group 1 races: the Queen Anne Stakes, King’s Stand Stakes, St James’s Palace Stakes, Prince of Wales’s Stakes, the Ascot Gold Cup, the Commonwealth Cup, the Coronation Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

The best UK and Irish trainers, jockeys, sprinters and stayers take part, but it also attracts elite runners from countries such as the USA, Australia and France.

Gambling.com's list of the best Royal Ascot betting offers ranks the best free bets and promotions available for this Festival, which takes place in June.

The Final Word From Our Horse Racing Betting Experts

At this point, you should have the information you need to choose a horse racing betting site with confidence. Remember that we only list licensed horse racing bookmakers at Gambling.com, so all of the sites featured here are legal and regulated. 

If you need more information before deciding whether to sign up, click through to any of our in-depth bookie reviews to find out more. Best of luck with your racing bets!

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