What is Exacta Betting in Horse Racing? Tips for Making Exacta Bets on Saturday’s Breeders Cup

Exacta betting is great for those who are new to horse racing and want to bet on this year’s Breeders Cup. You’ve come to the right place. We’re going to advance your knowledge by explaining what exacta betting is in horse racing.

An exacta bet requires you to select the horses that finish first and second in the correct order.

Exacta Betting: An Overview

We’ll use last year’s Breeders Cup Classic results to illustrate how an exacta bet works in horse racing: No. 4 Flightline won the 2022 Breeders Cup Classic and No. 7 Olympiad finished second. The 4-7 exacta paid $35.74 on a $2 bet. More from Breeders Cup: Breeders Cup Classic field

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Horse racing tutorials: What’s a superfecta? | Place bets | Show bets

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Exacta Betting Basics

Exacta Straight Bet

This is the most basic form of exacta betting. You’re picking two horses that must finish 1-2 in the correct order. In horse racing terminology, you need one horse to win and the other to place (finish second).

Here’s how you would have made that exacta bet on last year’s Breeders Cup Classic.“$2 exacta on 4 and 7.” Easy, right? The total cost of your exacta straight bet here is $2.

Exacta Bet: 2023 Breeders Cup Classic Example

Let’s flash forward to this year’s Breeders Cup Classic. Arcangelo (starting from the No. 1 position) and Arabian Knight (12) are the two favorites. Here’s how you would make a straight exacta bet on them finishing 1-2, respectively. “$2 exacta on 1 and 12.” If Arcangelo wins and Arabian Knight finishes second, you will cash this bet!

Types of Exacta Bets

How to Box an Exacta

What if you like two horses, but can’t decide which one will win the race? You can box those two horses in an exacta, and they can finish in either order.

This is a form of insurance, and you pay for the privilege of having two winning combinations. A $2 boxed exacta will cost you $4. You can also box an exacta using more horses. For example, a $2 exacta box using three horses will cost $12 to cover six different winning combinations.

Exacta Key Box Bet

An exacta key box bet allows you to save some money. Instead of boxing all the horses involved, you will use one key horse on top and bet other horses underneath.

A $2 exacta key box featuring one horse on top and two horses underneath will cost $8. You’re paying for two boxed exactas.

Exacta Wheel Bet

This one’s a bit more complex, so stay with us here. You will pick one horse to finish first or second and then “wheel” it in your exacta to cover every possible winning combination — provided your horse finishes in the correct position.

Let’s say, for example, you like the No. 3 to win the second race, which features a total of seven horses. You would make a “$2 exacta wheel, 3-All” that costs $12 to cover six possible winning combinations.

How Much Can I Win With Exacta Bets?

The beauty of exacta bets — and exotics in general — lies in the fact that you can bet small and potentially win big. In the 2022 Kentucky Derby, for example, a $2 exacta on Rich Strike and Epicenter returned a shade over $4,000.

If you had placed a $10 exacta, your winning ticket would have paid out more than $20,000. The more you bet, the more you win — when the horses cooperate and finish in the proper order. Spoiler alert: This doesn’t always happen.

Longer odds are also your friend when it comes to winning money on exacta bets. If you prefer betting favorites — or the chalk — you’ll be looking at smaller payouts.

How Do Exacta Betting Payouts Work?

Horse racing operates on a parimutuel system. You’re not betting against the house, but rather fellow horse bettors. Here’s an example to help explain how exacta bet payouts work. Let’s say 5,000 $2 exacta bets are made on a race. Do the quick math, and that’s $10,000 that goes into a pool. Twenty-five tickets end up having the first two horses in the correct order.

Those 25 winners will each be rewarded with an equal share of $10,000, less the approximate 20% tracks typically take out as their revenue. So that’s $8,000 divided among the winners, or $320 per $2 bet. Most tracks display potential payouts for exacta bets on their tote boards, TV monitors, and websites, so be on the lookout Saturday for your potential winnings!