Betting on the ponies and watching your jockey bring it home has never been more exciting than when you do it at the best horse racing betting sites.
These sportsbooks bring you closer to the action with live streaming – and BetMGM is the top number one thoroughbred for horse racing betting in the US.
It covers horse races 24/7 from all over the world and offers daily specials and a $1,500 welcome bonus for new players.
Curious to learn more about the rest? Read on!
| Sportsbook | Best For | Bonus | Overall Rating | Payout Speed | Highlights |
| BetMGM | Best Overall | $1,500 in bonus bets | 4.95/5 | 12 hours – 5 days |
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| Caesars | Best Rewards Program | First-bet insurance up to $1,000 | 4.85/5 | 12 hours -5 days |
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| DraftKings | Best Mobile App | Up to $1,000 welcome bonus | 4.75/5 | 1-4 days |
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There’s much more to talk about – so stick around for our reviews of the top sites for horse racing betting in the USA.
BetMGM has been around since 2017 and it’s an affiliate of NYRA, which has allowed this top-rated sportsbook to offer customers a unique and rewarding racebook app experience.
Over the last seven years, BetMGM established itself as the go-to online sportsbook for US horse racing bettors who are looking for widespread coverage of horse races, a mobile-friendly experience and lots of great bonuses.
Added to all this is state-of-the-art security, a variety of payment methods, as well as live streaming of each horse race. The interface, meanwhile, makes it easy to navigate the site and place your horse racing bets.
You can take your pick from over 10 different horse racing bets, including win, place, show, win show, place show and exacta, as well as place multi-race bets that promise to turbocharge your potential profits.
All the information about each horse race is available at your fingertips via a unique feature called Bet Pad, which lets you see at a glance all the runners, the odds, as well as each horse’s form and past races.
As a regular customer, you can become a part of BetMGM Rewards, which lets you earn points anytime you bet on horses before redeeming them for luxury hotel discounts and other awesome benefits.
BetMGM is a horse racing betting platform that puts the fun into betting on the ponies. You can get started today with a $1,500 welcome bonus if you lose your first bet.
BetMGM is legal all over the US, with eligible states including Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Wyoming, and Iowa.
To access horse racing betting at Caesars, you need to head to the Caesars Racebook, which is part of the hugely successful and established Caesars Entertainment brand.
Caesars Racebook is available via the Caesars app or on desktop. You get to browse and bet on more than 300 tracks, including Finger Lakes, Harrah’s Philadelphia and Monmouth Park, as well as races from all over the globe.
Indeed, UK races are covered here, as are Irish and Australian races.
Once you start betting, you’ll be added automatically to Caesar’s highly rated loyalty program, which rewards you anytime you bet on horses.
You can also become a Caesars VIP by betting on horses, with perks including discounted hotel stays.
The Caesars Racebook interface is straightforward and easy to get to grips with, and it comes complete with live streaming, as well as some useful handicapping info. Race replays are offered, too.
Caesars stands out for its huge track coverage and generous rewards program. Sign-up today and you can get up to $1,000 in bonus bets if your first bet loses.
It’s also consistently rated one of the best NBA betting sites online.
Caesars is legal in a host of US states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and others.
Mainly known as one of the best DFS sports betting sites, DraftKings offers horse racing betting in the US in the shape of DK Horse.
It’s basically their affiliated horse racing site created out of a partnership with TwinSpires (who powers the tech) and you can use it to bet on horse races across the US.
The major difference between the DraftKings sportsbook app and website is that DK Horse is only accessible if you’re a resident of one of the states where it’s legal (as opposed to being able to play it whenever you visit a legal state).
Moreover, if you sign-up to DraftKings, you’ll need to create a separate account for DK Horse. Any funds you deposit will not be linked.
You can place various wagers at DK Horse, including an exacta bet, a trifecta bet and a daily double, although a few – such as super high 5’s – are missing.
There’s plenty of key information for all races included on the app, however, such as the track surface and the race type, while jockeys are also listed. Live streaming and race replays are part of the package, too.
You can fund your account via the same methods that are available at DraftKings, including credit and debit cards, wire transfer and Money Order.
DK Horse is an accomplished horse racing online betting platform affiliated with one of the best online sportsbooks. Join today and claim a $1,000 welcome offer.
| Sportsbook | Horse Racing Odds | Greyhound Racing Odds | MLB Odds | NHL Odds | Soccer odds |
| BetMGM | 5/5 | 4.85/5 | 4.8/5 | 5/5 | 4.8/5 |
| Caesars | 4.9/5 | 4.8/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.8/5 | 4.6/5 |
| DraftKings | 4.85/5 | 4.7/5 | 4.4/5 | 4.4/5 | 5/5 |
As per our research, BetMGM is consistently the top betting site for horse racing odds.
You’ll find great odds on a wealth of tracks, including Tampa Bay Downs, Santa Anita and Delta Downs, as well as worldwide tracks in countries like Dubai and the UK.
You’ll also benefit from daily odds boosts here that increase your potential payout.
And while both Caesars and DraftKings offer competitive horse racing odds too, the former is a good choice for NHL odds, while DraftKings delivers great value to soccer bettors.
Make sure to check our dedicated reviews of the top sportsbooks in Indiana and sports betting sites in Colorado if you’re living in any of those states.
Never bet at an online horse racing site before?
The good news is that signing up and placing bets is a piece of cake for new customers.
Using our top pick BetMGM as an example, here’s our four-step guide to signing up to an online horse racing betting site:
You don’t want a horse racing betting site to fall at the first hurdle, which is why the first thing you should look for are its bonuses and promotions.
Horse racing fans can enjoy a variety of bonuses at all the top betting sites. These include a welcome bonus, odds boosts, reload bonuses and seasonal promos for all the big races.
What’s more, the top betting sites make it easy for you to claim their offers and they set fair wagering requirements.
Whether you want to place a simple win or place bet or try your luck with something more complex, such as an exotica bet, the best online horse betting sites let you place the horse racing bet you want to place.
From Belmont Stakes to Churchill Downs and beyond into Europe and Asia, top-rated betting sites should offer a huge selection of tracks for you to bet on.
Indeed, many of the top betting sites for horse racing cover 200+ tracks, including tracks that are available all week long every week of the year, as well as annual events like the Kentucky Derby.
From data analysis tools to handicapping tools, those who want to make long-term profits from horse bets should check to see if a betting site is well-stocked when it comes to their extra features.
While not all online horse racing betting sites have absolutely everything, some of the very best ones are feature-rich, which serves to enhance your experience.
For when you’ve got a question, it helps if the customer service at a betting site is easily reachable. Licensed online horse betting sites make it easy for you to get in touch round the clock via channels like live chat, email and telephone.
Sometimes you’ll be able to save time by using the FAQ page, too.
Horse racing betting sites in the USA have a responsibility to help their customers stay in control. To check how committed a betting site is before you sign-up, check to see what safer gambling tools they offer.
Things to look for include deposit limits, wagering limits, as well as loss limits.
Funding your account at any betting site should be easy. This is certainly the case at the top horse racing betting sites, which support popular banking options like credit cards and debit cards.
Indeed, a major sign of a sportsbook’s credibility is the banking options it accepts. Provided it accepts deposit and withdrawal methods you trust, you can be sure it’s legit.
Prefer to place a horse racing bet on your mobile? Legal horse racing sites are just as dedicated to the mobile versions of their site as they are the desktop versions.
Many come complete with betting apps that you can download to your iOS or Android device, and which offer the same races and bet types as the desktop version. Even if there’s no app available, you’ll still be able to access the site via your mobile browser.
There are different ways you can bet on horses, with all the best online racebooks offering a variety of wagering types.
Let’s break down some of the most popular and fairly out-there horse racing bets you can place:
The easiest bet you can place is on a horse to win a race. Nothing else needs to happen – as long as your horse finishes first, you win your bet.
A place bet is similar to a win bet but a little easier to get right. Instead of backing a horse to win a race, you’re backing it to finish in the top 3.
The only catch is that, if there are less than 8 horses in a race, your horse needs to finish in the top 2.
When placing wagers, you’ll notice that there’s the option of turning your win bet into an each way bet. What this means is your stake will be split equally between a win bet and a place bet.
For example, if you place a $25 stake on a win bet but decide to turn it into an each way bet, your stake will automatically be doubled to $50. Half ($25) will go on a win bet and the rest ($25) will go on a place bet.
An each way bet is a good way to cover your losses if the horse doesn’t win, but it’s really only to be used if you’re super confident it will at least come in the top 3.
A double bet in horse racing is when you bet on the winners of two different races and put them into the same selection.
A treble bet in horse racing is when you bet on the winners of three different races and put them into the same selection.
Parlays are available to horse racing fans who want to add more than three selections to the same bet. For example, you might pick a horse to win one race, another horse to win another race… and so on.
They’re perfect for whenever there’s a huge day of racing but they can be quite unpredictable. What’s more, the fact that every single pick must win makes it very hard to land, even if the potential profits can be huge.
The trixie bet is a sort-of parlay – but it comes with better chances of winning. It’s a multi-bet that combines four placed bets.
How does it work?
You first of all must pick 3 horses to win at separate events. Then, your selections are combined into four bets – three doubles and a treble.
If your treble loses, you’ll still see some sort of return because one of your doubles is guaranteed to win. If your treble wins and one of your doubles wins, you’ll be rewarded with big gains.
The catch is that the bet is always placed at 4x your original stake.
The patent bet is basically a supercharged version of the trixie bet. You start off picking 3 horses to win at separate events but this time your selections are turned into seven bets – three singles, three doubles and a treble.
The differences between a patent bet and a treble bet is the inclusion of singles bets, as well as the fact that your stake is increased 6x.
Another bet that’s similar to the trixie bet. This time you choose 4 horse winners, with your selections turned into eleven bets.
For the Lucky 15, you choose 4 horse winners, with your selections turned into fifteen bets.
With the Canadian, you must choose 5 horse winners, which are then turned into twenty-six bets.
For the Lucky 31 bet, you choose 5 horse winners, with your selections turned into thirty-one bets.
For the Heinz bet, you choose 6 horse winners, with your selections turned into fifty-seven bets.
One of the biggest and most complex horse bets you can place is the Goliath bet, which is when you bet on 8 horse winners from various events, including the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, Churchill Downs and so on.
Your selections are turned into 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 56 five folds, 28 sixfolds, eight sevenfolds and an eightfold parlay. In total, you’ll be placing 247 bets and you won’t see a return unless at least 2 of your bets win.
It’s legal to bet on horse racing in numerous US states in 2024.
Some states have race tracks, such as Churchill Downs, where you can go and place your bets while watching the action unfold, and they also have legal online horse racing betting sites, where you can place your bets in a safe and secure environment.
However, horse racing betting isn’t yet legal in all states, which is why it’s important that you check local laws before you place bets.
Here’s a list of all the US states where wagering on horses is legal as of May 2024:
These are the best horse racing betting sites you can join in the USA today. Each one has been independently reviewed and rated for their track coverage, their odds, as well as their regular bonuses and overall usability.
BetMGM is the best place overall for betting online, with all new customers entitled to up to $1,500 worth of bonus bets if your first bet loses.
Other solid options for horse racing include Caesars, which is home to a compelling rewards scheme.
Whatever you decide to do, please remember to stay in control and to always play responsibly when betting online.
Betting on horses is 100% legal in numerous US states, including Arizona, Colorado, Iowa and Kansas. As long as you sign-up to licensed sportsbooks that are permitted to offer their services in your state, you’ll be just fine.
Yes, you can bet on horses in-play at any online betting site that offers this feature. The odds will change once the race begins to reflect the current positions and you can keep placing bets right up until the final stretch.
You can bet on thoroughbred racing in the US. You just have to find a thoroughbred race, as well as a betting site that is offering said race.
Winning bettors are subject to tax in the USA, with the IRS treating it as a salary. Therefore, horse racing betting – and all forms of sports betting – is taxable.
In most cases, you’ll be sent a W2-G form by your sportsbook if you win $600. Then, your annual winnings are taken into account at the end of the tax year. If you’ve got a net profit, you’ll need to add it to your tax return.
Exactly how much tax you’ll pay depends on how much profit you’ve made, as well as which state you’re based in.
All the best horse racing betting sites USA let you bet on over 200 race tracks from the USA and around the world. These include Belmont Stakes, Churchill Downs, Triple Crown events, Royal Ascot, the Kentucky Derby – and many, many more.
The best betting site for horse racing is BetMGM. Not only can you start out with $1,500 worth of bonus bets, you can take advantage of the best odds, a range of betting tools, as well as live streaming of every race you want to bet on.
The best betting app for horse racing is DraftKings, which lets you bet on horses via their affiliate site and app DK Horses. The app is available for iOS and Android devices, over 300 race tracks are covered and live streaming is offered along with race replays.
You’ve got two options when it comes to finding the best horse racing odds. The first is to join a few different reputable horse racing betting sites that are known for their great odds, before comparing their odds for each race you want to bet on.
The other thing you can do is check odds comparison websites, which list the early market prices for each race every day of the week.
Yes, you can win real money betting on horses. All you have to do is sign-up to a reputable, licensed sportsbook, make a deposit, pick out a horse and place your bet.
If the horse wins, you’ll be paid in real money that you can then withdraw into your bank account.
DISCLAIMER: This article is for entertainment purposes only. Gambling is risky, and it’s important to approach it with caution. Check your local laws to ensure that online gambling is legal in your jurisdiction. All websites on this page are 21+ only.
If you have a gambling addiction problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700. The following free gambling addiction resources can be of help as well:
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