BETTING : Racetrack San Siro Milan

BETTING

Introduction

One of the must entertaining and captivating aspects of horse races is the possibility of betting on winners or on the better placed horses, through different betting methods that are available at all racetracks. Betting on horses is not merely trying your luck: you put to the test your ability as predictors, evaluators of horses, perhaps playing together with friends.
Bets may only be placed by adults aged 18 and older.

Types of bets

WINNING

This is the simplest type of bet: the horse that is first place at the end of the race must be predicted. The bet may be placed with fixed odds or with a totalizator. Pay attention to “stable relationships”: all bets played on the horses declared as having a stable relationship and indicated on the race programs and on the monitors showing odds are considered to be winning.

The Italian trotting breed is considered of excellent level, and there even exists a specific Italian trotting breed.

PLACED

In this bet, the better predicts whether one horse, at the end of the race, is considered “placed”. In races with eight or more horses at the start (“starting horses”) a horse is considered placed where it is classified as first, second or third place, and if the race involves from four to seven starting horses, the first and second place horses are considered placed.

If after the bet is placed, withdrawals are announced that cause the starting horses to fall below eight or four, all “placed” bets are reimbursed.

This bet may also be played either with a totalizator or with fixed odds.

PLACE (FORECAST)

This bet is played using a totalizator: if in one race you like two horses and have trouble choosing a favorite, this bet is the one for you: in the couple, the horses that will be placed in first and second place at the finish line must be predicted. This is a bet that can be placed in races involving at least four starting horses. If this number falls below four, all bets are reimbursed.

TRIO (TRIFECTA)

This bet can also be played only with a totalizator: this is the type of bet that usually yields the highest winnings, but it is also the most difficult to predict, and indeed the first, second and third placed horses in a race must be predicted. It is played when there are at least six horses at the start (otherwise, the bet is reimbursed), and it is possible to play various types of combinations, which give rise to full-fledged systems, that can be more or less complex: the most common is the “rotating trio”, where at least three horses that are ranked in the first three positions at the finish line must be predicted, regardless of the exact order.

TRIS, QUARTÈ AND QUINTÈ

These are bets using the totalizator which may be placed only in certain races on the program during the day, scheduled in two racetracks, which may be either Italian or foreign, which fall within the so-called “Ippica Nazionale” (National Horseracing).

The Tris bet is essentially identical to the Trio: Quarté and Quinté are very similar, and it is necessary to predict, respectively, the first four or five horses ranked in a horse race. Quarté and quinté bets may be placed on “ordinary” Tris races, which usually start at 7:00 pm in the winter season and at 10:30 pm in the summer season.

Technical terms

This is the horse considered
qthe most likely winner of the race,
to which lower odds are assigned.

Favorite

This is the amount the one wishes to bet.

Wager

In trotting races, no handicap exists
as it does on gallop races,
but in certain cases,
in races with a start between
electronic beams, certain horses
are positioned along the start arrangement
slightly behind other horses.
In this case, the term
“penalization/handicap” is used, even if
it simply involves a slightly
longer distance to run with
respect to the horse’s adversaries.
Penalizations are generally assigned for
multiples of 20 meters.
For example, in a race we could
have horses that start with a distance
to be run equal to 1,600 meters,
others 1,620, and others 1,640 meters.

Penalizations

This is the number of horses
registered for each race,
and it is officially announced
by the race companies that manage
the racetracks;
bets may not be accepted before
the dissemination of this announcement,
since various types of bets may
or may not be
accepted depending upon the number
of horses taking part
in the various races.

Announcement
of starting horses

This means that two or more
horses taking part in a race
belong to the same owner.
The stable relationship is always
indicated in official programs,
and the horses involved
are highlighted – including on monitors –
using suits of French playing
cards or letters of the alphabet
between parentheses.
The stable relationship,
as we have seen,
may have an impact on bets.

Stable
relationship

A horse is considered duly
started once it is placed
“at the orders of the starter”.
This moment is announced
by the racetrack’s speaker.

Duly
started
horse

If a horse is withdrawn
before the start,
all bets played on him
are reimbursed;
in the event that a bet
has been played that envisages
different combinations, such as,
for example, a “rotating trio”
with four horses,
only the combinations that incude
the withdrawn horse (or horses)
are reimbursed, while the other
combinations remain valid.
If one or more horses are withdrawn
after the start, the bets played
on those horses are
considered to be losing.

Withdrawals

When a horse transitions
from a trotting race
to a gallop race,
or from a trot to what
is known as “ambio”
(the horse simultaneously moves his right
legs forward and his left
legs backward and vice-versa),
it may be disqualified.
A horse is disqualified
if it transitions to a gallop or ambio
twice during a race, or for a section
exceeding 200 meters, or in
the last 100 meters of the race.

Break

Where to bet

Once the horse (or horses) on which you wish to bet has/have been selected, you may go to the betting area, located under the grandstand, in order to make your fixed odds or totalizator bets.

Watch the race

You may watch the races from the main grandstand or from the sidelines next to the track; in addition, the Ristorantino del Sesana, during the summer season, offers numerous outdoor tables with a direct view of the race.

The Winner

At the end of the race, the winning horse is brought to the award area near the finish line, in front of the grandstand, where the awards and trophies are assigned.
Always wait for the official announcement of the order of arrival before discarding betting tickets: the jury may note irregularities that may even lead to a penalization or disqualification of one or more horses and, therefore, change the order of arrival.