Is Ladbrokes Horse Racing the best choice for betting on the racing? We take a look at what the bookie can offer punters looking to have a wager on the horse.
Ladbrokes was started as a commissioning agent for horses trained at Ladbrokes Hall. This passion for horses has carried over to the present day, in which they do their best to keep up & surpass competing bookmakers when it comes to coverage of horse racing.
They have a fantastic online offer for new customers. Anyone joining at ladbrokes.com on mobile or desktop can claim £20 in free bets when you bet £5.
Bet £5 Get £20 In Free Bets
18+ New UK+IRE customers. Paypal and certain deposit types and bet types excluded. Min £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 = 4 x £5 free bets. Free bets valid for 4 days on sports, stake not returned, restrictions apply. T&Cs apply
Horse Racing Platform
With such a rich past in horse racing Ladbrokes are more than aware of what players are focused on when it comes to betting. Ladbrokes know that bettors aren’t interested in 1 specific meeting, but prefer to have a view of all meeting on that day in a particular country.
With this knowledge, Ladbrokes has been able to create an easy to use, stress-free system that anyone can understand. At the top of the page, you’ll see the option to ‘Build a Racecard’, allowing players to build a custom menu of the meets they wish to bet on, further improving the convenience of Ladbrokes Horse racing platform.
Their menu separates all horse racing meets in the world by country, showing the most popular first and making it very easy for players to find the meet they want to add to their racecard.
The regular desktop site is our preference for betting on horses as you get a much bigger screen and more info when compared to the Ladbrokes mobile app. As far as betting on your mobile goes, that doesn’t mean you can’t bet from your mobile on the races with Ladbrokes, it is just a tad easier on a larger screen.
Live Streaming Service
Similar to most bookmakers such as William Hill, Ladbrokes don’t require customers to have a bet placed to watch an event live on most sports except for Horse Racing. You will need to place a minimum bet of £1 on the event if you wish to live stream the race.
Ladbrokes make it very easy for customers to know which races are available for live streaming by adding a ‘watch’ button next to eligible events.
Betting Odds
We ran a quick test for the 13:10 at Sandown to see how Ladbrokes compare with top 10 UK bookmakers for the race top 3 favourites. We ran tests 2 minutes before the race started to get the most up to date odds.
Our test found the below
- Perotto (f) – 1.62/1 was found to be joint best odds with William Hill
- Holwah – 1.87/1 at Ladbrokes was ranked 3rd
- Bright Armour – 2.50/1 ranked 1st in our test
Ladbrokes have also been rolling out ‘Guaranteed Best Odds‘ across some markets in which they will match or improve your odds if you find better at another bookmaker.
Promotions & Bonuses
We can all agree that we love a great welcome offer.
Welcome offers are what attract us to an online bookmaker ultimately. However, some of us will dig deeper to find out if they offer anything to players after the first deposit; we are all suckers for an attractive welcome offer at the end of the day.
In this department, Ladbrokes haven’t disappointed at all. With new players able to receive £20 in free bets with a £5 deposit.
To activate this welcome offer –
- Head over to the Ladbrokes website
- You will then be prompt to sign-up, this process takes no longer than 2 minutes, ensure you enter promo code ’20FREE’ at this point
- Once you have completed this, you will then need to deposit a minimum of £5 using a debit card (e-wallets such as PayPal or Skrill don’t qualify for this offer)
- Once you have funded your account, you will need to place a qualifying bet of £5 at minimum odds 1/2 within 14 days of registration.
- Once the qualifying bet has settled, your account will be credited with £20 in free bets.
My recommendation for these free bets is to place them on single events and play them safe, instead of trying to win big with them. You can, through many methods, whether you want to use some racing tips you find online, perform some of your research by reading updates from Racing Post or At The Races, or you could look at the odds and hope you win.
Please make sure you read through all the terms & conditions of this offer before depositing any money.
Existing Players Offers & Bonuses
As much as we love welcome offers, we want a bookmaker that will give players value in the future.
A way that they can do this is by giving existing players exclusive bonuses and promotions. Fortunately, Ladbrokes offer daily offers that range from free bets, boosted odds to loss insurance.
Let’s dig deeper into these promotions and what they mean to you.
Free Daily Odds Boost
Getting a boost on your odds means that you get more from your winnings if the wager comes in.
Ladbrokes not only regularly gift players with ‘odds boosts‘ to apply to their bets, but they also offer increased odds on a range of crucial matches.
Extra Places
Sometimes, placing an each-way bet isn’t enough. Luckily Ladbrokes have you covered.
With this promotion, you will be given extra places for which your horse can finish, and you still win; usually offer places 4 & 5.
Loyalty Promotion
Ladbrokes have some engaging rewards for loyal members, including the Ladbrokes Grid Card.
This card allows Ladbroke Casino Players to accumulate points, and those that enjoy betting on sports can get the free Ladbrokes Grid Card in which translates the amount wagered into points; these points can be redeemed prizes & rewards.
Here is what you could get discounts for:
- Pubs & Restraunts
- Mainland UK Cinemas
- Mainland UK Race Courses
- Online Stores
This is one of the only UK bookmakers to reward players in this way, and I am a massive fan of this approach and hope it is one other bookies adopt in the new few years.
Free Bets
Not only will you receive £20 in free bets after you sign up; every week, you will also receive free bets, the value based on how much you wagered the previous week.
From our testing, we received £5 in free best when we wagered £50 the previous week. Although we can’t confirm that you receive 10% in free bets, that is the return we saw.
In-Play Betting
In-play betting is a phenomenon that has taken over the industry in the last few years, and it’s safe to Ladbrokes has perfected this aspect.
Ladbrokes offers a range of live betting possibilities with 30+ different sports and markets at your fingertips.
This does include horse racing, the odds change during the race, and you can use this opportunity to grab a big win.
With the length of a typical horse race is just a couple of minutes, a lot of this is down to your timing, and I noticed that the bets are suspended sometimes during the race that could cause some issues.
Virtual Horse Racing
Virtual horse racing is one of the most popular virtual sports markets in the UK. Ladbrokes reports stated that virtual horse racing betting accounts for around 25% of all bets placed on horse racing. It, therefore, made perfect sense that Ladbrokes went the extra length to make sure that they provide not only a top-quality online experience but also offline virtual betting experiences that simulates all the fun of betting on an actual race.
FAQs
What Happens If My Horse Is A Non-Runner?
If your horse becomes a non-runner after you have placed your bet, you will be covered by Ladbrokes Non-Runner Insurance in which you will get your stake back if you placed the bet as a single, or the selection will be made void and will not impact your accumulator.
What Is An ‘Each Way’ Bet?
An Each Way (otherwise known as EW, E/W) bet is essentially two different bets: one for the horse to finish first, the other bet is for your horse to place in any of the place positions offered in that race, usually second, third or fourth. This means you receive a return on your wager if your horse wins, but also if it just places within the top 4.