Online horse betting in Australia can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.

At horse racing betting sites you can bet on 'runners' to Win or Place, you can bet on the top 2, 3 or 4 runners, and you can even create multibets by combing multiple horse bets into one for a higher payout.

Learn more about how to bet on horse racing.

There are Australian, and international races, to bet on every day of the year at betting sites for horse racing in Australia and plenty of major racing events in the calendar that garner the attention of millions of punters.

Approximately one million Australians bet on racing in a typical month

Top online betting horse racing events in Australia include the Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate, Victoria Derby, The Everest and The Championships.

When you bet on horse racing in Australia there are many things you'll want to keep in mind. These things will also help you to choose between best horse racing betting sites Australia has.

Below we have outlined the top factors we consider when looking for horse betting sites - you can use these as a guide when deciding which horse racing bookies are right for you.

Below we've listed what we reckon are the best horse racing betting sites Australia has. We've used the criteria above when creating our list but of course, depending on what you're looking for, your top online horse betting websites may be different from ours.

Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2021

1. Unibet → High odds & heaps of previews, form guides and features
2. Bet365 → Best live streaming & great range of markets
3. PlayUp → Australia's best fixed odds for racing
4. Sportsbet → Live streaming of Australian & New Zealand races
5. Draftstars → Unique racing fantasy betting with big prize pools
6. Neds → Wide range of racing markets
7. Ladbrokes → Good form guides, tips & previews
8. Betfair → Best odds for big events like the Melbourne Cup
9. PointsBet → Solid racing bookie with good odds & features

Alright we know we've already given you two lists of the best Australian betting sites for horse racing but here's a little more in-depth information about our 3 favourite horse racing bookies. Hopefully, it helps you decide which online horse betting site is best for you.

At most horse racing betting websites you'll get an overview of the races that are next to start in the 'Next to Go' section. Otherwise, you can filter between Thoroughbreds, Harness racing and Greyhound racing.

The first thing you'll need to do before you can start betting on the races is to choose a horse racing betting website and sign up. This takes approximately 2 minutes.

When you enter a horse racing betting market you'll be able to filter through the days races at the top of the screen. Below this, you'll get an overview of the race, track, weather and perhaps some expert picks.

The main section of a given online horse racing market is taken up by each horse, their odds for Win and Place bets as well as their flucs (price fluctuations) and form.

If you're looking for more specific information about online horse betting sites and their types of bets and odds jump to the section below.

Okay so you've got the gist of betting sites for horse racing in Australia and maybe you even know which horse racing bookie you want to use but maybe you're still unsure of what types of odds to use and what types of bet to place.

Horse Betting Sites Bet Types

• Win - You bet on the winning horse
• Place - You bet on a horse to come 1st, 2nd or 3rd (in smaller races only 2 horses place)
• Quinella - You bet on the first two horses to finish (in any order)
• Exacta - You bet on the first two horses to finish (in the correct order)
• Trifecta - You bet on the first three horses to finish (in the correct order)
• First 4 - You bet on the first four horses to finish (in the correct order)
• Quadrella - You bet on the winning horses from four different races
• Boxed Exotics - The bets above (excluding Win and Place bets) are known as exotics. You can 'box' an exotic meaning you cover all combinations of the horse finishing order.

Horse Betting Sites Odds

• Fixed Win/Place - The price you take is the price you get
• Starting Price (SP) - You get the price a horse is paying when the racing market closes
  
• Best Tote - You get the best price from all 3 major Australian TABs
  
• Middle Tote - You get the middle price from all 3 major Australian TABs
  
• Top Fluc - You get the highest price a horse is paying in the time between when the market opens and when it closes

Most of the things you'll want from horse racing betting sites in Australia are the same things that you'll want from horse betting apps. This includes good odds, lots of markets, live streaming and plenty of form information and racing previews.

However, the best horse betting apps offer more than this.

The best horse betting apps are simple to navigate, load fast and make betting on the races easy

All the best betting sites for horse racing in Australia have iPhone and Android apps. iPhone apps can be downloaded from the App Store but android horse racing betting apps must be downloaded directly from the bookmaker's mobile website.

When choosing horse betting apps you may not to check out our betting apps page or download a couple to see if you like them. You'll want to pay special attention to their odds, how well laid out their racing markets are and how easy it is to access from guides and racing previews.

Before downloading horse betting apps we recommend signing up with your chosen online horse betting site first.

New horse racing betting sites are attractive for many Aussie punters because they often bring new features and better odds to the table.

New racing betting sites are not always better than more established bookies but they can be.

PlayUp for example was launched in 2019 and offers Australia's best fixed odds for racing as well as an easy to use website and mobile horse betting app.

Draftstars is another great new horse racing bookmaker. Draftstars doesn't offer much in the way of racing betting, because they are a fantasy betting site, however, they do have fantasy racing markets for big race days. On Draftstars you can pick a fantasy team of horses. Points are calculated based on the official S-TAB dividend so that a horse paying $12.00 would receive 12 points.

Old betting sites for horse racing generally beat new betting sites for horse racing when it comes to things like live streaming and range of markets but for new betting experiences and great odds new horse racing bookies are often the way to go.

Live streaming is one of the most sought after features of online horse racing betting sites in Australia.

That's probably because there's nothing quite like cheering on your horse and when you can't be at the races the next best thing is to be following the action live.

At most online horse racing betting websites you'll need to have money in your account to access live streaming

Not all horse racing betting websites offer live streaming but the few that do like Unibet, Sports, Neds and Ladbrokes are some of the biggest online racing betting sites in the country.

Many racing betting sites have similar tote and SP odds but not all horse racing bookies offer top fluc odds and high fixed price odds.

We like the horse racing betting websites that have high fixed odds and that consistently offer Top Flucs and Best Tote odds.

When you choose the odds you want to take its important to understand where the value is.

The starting price will generally be better when the horse is not favoured on the moments before the race whereas the fixed odds price might be the best option if a horse is likely to be backed just before the jump. Top fluc odds are always good because you secure the highest price offered in the moments leading up to the race's start.

If you're not lucky enough to be at Flemington for the Melbourne Cup, or if you want to skip the queues then using a Melbourne Cup betting site or app is your best option.

All horse racing betting sites in Australia have Melbourne cup odds which are all pretty much the same, however, one horse racing bookie stands above the best.

With the Betfair exchange, you'll always get the best Melbourne Cup odds.

Betfair is great for the Melbourne Cup, and other big Australian races like the Cox Plate, Victoria Derby, The Everest and The Championships because they have no bookmaker margins. Instead, punters can offer and accept bets from each other which means that the odds you can get for all horses are closest to their real market prices - i.e. they are higher than on other horse racing betting websites.