Betting against the favorite is the most popular lay horse strategy on horse racing. Many people use this method because favorites in horse racing lose more often than they win. Understanding how laying the favorite works on betting exchanges can help horse racing bettors expand their knowledge and their betting options.

What is the Laying the Favorite Lay Horse Strategy?

Laying the favorite is simple. Bettors pick a horse in a race and they bet that this horse will not win the race. If the horse finishes in the second or lower place, the bet wins. If the horse finishes first, the lay bet loses.

The lay option is not available in all betting exchanges for horse racing. It is available on Betfair, but Betfair exchange is not accessible to anyone in the world due to regulations and geo-restrictions. There are only few betting exchanges to allow laying on horses, such as Betnfair.

When applying this lay horse strategy, other bettors in the betting exchange are backing the favorite horse to win and the platform combines these back and lay bets and it matches them. As long as a bet remains unmatched, it can be adjusted. As soon as it gets matched, it cannot be altered.

Why Use Laying the Favorite Lay Horse Strategy?

Laying the favorite is a popular lay horse strategy for various reasons:

Favorite horses lose often

It has been seen that about 60%-70% of the favorite horses in horse races do not win the races.

More chances of winning

instead of backing a horse to win or finish in top 3 spots, laying a horse gives more winning chances.

It is good for small odds

Laying a horse with low odds like 2.0 or 3.0 reduces the potential losses.

Control over the odds

on betting exchanges, bettors can choose the odds they want.

How to Use the Lay the Favorite Lay Horse Strategy on a Betting Exchange

To be able to apply this lay horse strategy, bettors need to:

  1. sign up on a betting exchange, deposit money and login to their account.
  2. navigate the sports, select horse racing and pick a horse race.
  3. pick the favorite of this race, click on its lay odds (usually pink tab) to open their betslip.
  4. accept the odds or offer new ones using the arrows in the odds tab.
  5. place their stake in the stake tab. The betting exchange will show the potential liability for the bet, which means it will show how much money the bettors risks losing from this bet.
  6. place the bet, confirm it and wait for it to be matched by another bettor in the platform.

Example of the Laying the Favorite Lay Horse Strategy on a Betting Exchange

To understand better how this lay horse strategy works on a betting exchange, it would be useful to take an example.

A bettor accesses their betting exchange account and they pick a certain horse race. A horse with the name “Speed Runner” is the favorite in the race. The lay odds for this horse are at 3.00. The betting exchange charges a 5% commission on all winning bets.  The bettor decides to bet £10 against Speed Runner at odds of 3.00. They click on the pink box of Speed Runner’s lay odds, the betslip opens, they accept the odds already offered, they type 10 on the stake tab and they place the bet. They confirm it and another bettor in the platform matches it.

Here is how this lay horse strategy works:

If the horse loses, the bettor wins the lay bet. The profit from this bet will be the £10 stake minus the 5% commission fee (£0.50) charged by the exchange. The net profit will be £9.50.

If the horse wins, the lay bet loses. The loss is the liability amount (lay odds – 1)*stake. (3.00 -1)*10 = 2*£10 = £20

So, betting £10 against the favorite horse of the race at odds of 3.00, means risking losing £20 to win £9.50.

Laying the Favorite strategy works on all types of races, from small local events to major international ones. It allows bettors to profit even when they are not sure which horse will win a race. By laying the favorite, a bettor has many chances of winning, because in a race with 10 horses, any of the other 9 horses winning will result in their profit. To minimize the risk of big losses, it is good to bet with low odds and always include the exchange commission in the calculations of the net profit.

In Short

Laying the favorite is a popular lay horse strategy in horse racing betting on betting exchanges. Bettors bet against the favorite horse winning a race risking losing an amount of money in order to win a profit close to their stake. With proper preparation this lay horse strategy can be a fun and profitable way to bet on horse racing.