Trading Horse Racing on Betfair was the sport which started it all when it comes to Sports Trading. If it was not for trading on horse racing becoming so popular in the early 2000s then it is doubtful that football, tennis and cricket would have become such popular trading sports also.

I am often contacted by people new to Betfair trading and many fear that racing trading sounds too confusing for them and I can understand how intimidating it can be for a newbie.

So, here I have compiled the FOUR different types of racing trading that there is. This will definitely help you decide which type of racing trader you would want to be.

Pre Race Scalping

This is probably the most popular type of racing trading but also the hardest to master. Some might argue it is almost impossible these days. This usually involves trading the 10 minutes before a race begins and scalping the price movements for 1 or 2 ticks at a time. In the 10 minutes before a race starts you will see lots of price movement as the punters money flies in across the country. The markets are moving at a frenetic pace and by keeping a close eye on the markets you can get a feel for which way they will move in the next few seconds and get in and out. Repeat this a few times before the race and over a few races per day and you can easily be making 3 figures per day doing it. If you are good that is anyway.

In reality, if you are not good at this type of trading it can be very frustrating. I will hold my hand up and admit I have never been able to work it out myself. My own experience made it seem like the market moves were random rather then following a pattern of some sort. To do well at this sort of trading in this day and age will definitely take some practice, however, once you do “crack it” you will have a virtual ATM machine as your Betfair account and a way of making money on a daily basis.

Pre Race Swing Trading

This is similar to the scalping but is less intense. You will usually get involved in the 10-20 minutes before a race goes off and you are identifying short term trends that you can profit from. Instead of going for 1-2 ticks per trade you would aim for 5-10 or more ticks per trade. This is a bit easier to get your head around as you pick your right opportunity and then watch closely to see if you achieve your target. It is definitely less intensive then the constant scalping and, like the above method, you also do not need a good knowledge of the horses at all.

Pre Race Day Trading

The day trading form is decreasing in popularity slightly as liquidity during the mornings of the races is not quite as good as it used to be. The racing day trading would usually involve looking at some prices in the morning and where the money has been spent overnight. By profiling the correct races you might spot some horses which were potential steamers or drifters throughout the day. I have dabbled with this myself with good success as it suits my own trading lifestyle and other methods. One thing I would suggest is that a good knowledge of the horses will definitely benefit you with this sort of method.

In-Play Racing Trading

This is the “dark side” of racing trading if you listen to people on forums. Many will suggest there is no point trading in-play since those with faster pictures or at the race course will be stealing the value. This is true to an extent but this does not mean there is no possible way to make money from it. By profiling certain horses that will run well, favourites who probably won’t run well and races that should have a tight finish then there are plenty of ways to make money. You will definitely need to do your research ahead of this sort of trading but these days I am coming across more and more traders who do in-play racing full-time. Perhaps there was a time when pre-race was safer and easier but it could be that times are changing.