One of the advantages of betting on horses at a large online bookmaker is the opportunity to take advantage of deposit bonuses and free bet offers.

Typically, these horse racing betting bonuses and promotions are directed towards sports betting customers, but bettors may also use those same bonuses to wager on horse races.

You may also find additional bonuses reserved specifically for the horses, but let’s begin with a quick list of the best horse racing bonuses first.

The main thing to keep in mind is that all the same rollover requirements that apply to sports betting offers also apply to horse racing bonuses. So if an offer comes with a 5x rollover on sports, for example, the same would apply to horse racing. In that case, you would be asked to place wagers totaling five times the original deposit + bonus amount before withdrawing.

Best Horse Racing Betting Bonuses

AmWager Bonus

New customer bonus: 10% Back up to $500 or 100% up to $100

New AmWager racebook customers can choose from one of the two following welcome offers.

  • 100% up to $100: Use the promo code 100MATCH to claim a 100% first deposit bonus worth up to $100. This bonus comes with a 1x rollover on the bonus amount only, which means a customer who deposits $100 to receive a $100 bonus would need to place a total sum of wagers totaling $100 within 30 days to clear the bonus for withdrawal.
  • 10% Back up to $500: Customers who plan on wagering frequently can claim this offer to get 10% back on all exotic and win bets for 30 days. For example, a customer who claims this offer and bets $2,500 within 30 days would receive $250 in bonus funds. Use the promo code 500BONUS to claim this offer.

TVG Bonus

New customer bonus: 50% up to $250

TVG offers all new customers a 50% welcome bonus worth up to $250. New users who sign up for an account and make a deposit will receive an additional 50% in wagering credits.

For example, the first deposit of $500 would result in customers receiving $250 in site credit. Customers must claim this bonus within 15 days of signing up for an account and deposit at least $10.

TwinSpires Bonus

New customer bonus: Up to $200

The TwinSpires deposit bonus works a bit differently than most welcome offers because the bonus funds are not tied to the first deposit. New users who sign up for an account and use the promo code BET200 can claim up to $200 in bonus funds regardless of the first deposit amount.

After signing up with the promo code, new customers earn $100 in bonus cash for every $400 wagered over the first month. Customers who place a total sum of $800 worth of wagers within 30 days max out the bonus to receive the full $200 offer.

Other Horse Racing Betting Offers

You will find the occasional bookmaker with separate bonuses for sports betting, and horse racing, but the offers at most betting sites are interchangeable. However, it is common to find additional offers at your bookmaker designed specifically for horse racing. Below are a few examples.

Horse Racing Betting Rebates

Race Rebates: A racing betting rebate offers a return percentage of every bet placed over a certain time period back to your account. For example, your bookmaker may offer a 10% rebate on all wagers placed Friday through Sunday. If you were to wager $200 over the weekend under such an offer, you would get back $20 on Monday. These offers are advantageous because the rebate is returned whether you win or lose.

Odds Guarantee and Price Promises

Best Odds Guaranteed: Most horse racing betting sites have this offer running for nearly every race 24/7.  Under a best odds guarantee, you can take their price on your selection, but they will pay you out at the bigger odds if the starting price is higher.

Price Promise: A price promise is a guarantee that your bookmaker will offer odds that meet or beat all competing bookmakers for certain categories of races. For example, a notable betting site offers a price promise on all races shown live on Channel 4. The bookmaker will meet or beat any price found at Ladbrokes, William Hill, Paddy Power, Coral, Betfred, and Boylesports in this particular offer.

Money Back Specials

Money-back specials can take many forms, but they all have in common is returning certain wagers if they lose. A typical example of a money-back special would be a promise that if you back a horse to win, but he comes in second place instead, they will return your original stake.

Rolling Free Bets

Rolling Free Bet offers are not very common, but it’s great when you can find it. Rolling free bet promos give you free bets whenever you back winners for particular races. If you keep winning, you keep getting free bets.

Non-Runner No Bet

Major horse racing events such as the Triple Crown tend to attract the “non-runner no bet” offers. These specials return your wager on all ante-post selections if your horse doesn’t run. Normally, the big drawback of ante-post betting is the risk of losing your bet if your horse scratches. These offers eliminate that drawback and make ante-post wagers that much more attractive.

Free Live Steaming

Nearly all major betting sites provide live streams of horse races so you can watch the action live from your desktop or mobile, but access to those streams usually requires you to place at least one small bet on any race that day. Occasionally, bookmakers offer free live streams to everyone – even if you don’t plan on betting that day.

Terms and Conditions to Know

All horse racing bonuses come with a few terms and conditions. It’s just the nature of the business. The mere existence of a few terms and conditions should not be cause for alarm, but you should most definitely understand how they work and get into a habit of always giving them a look before claiming any offer.

Maximum Race Rebate

Horse racing rebate offers usually come with an upper limit on how much you can earn back each day or week. It usually works out such that the higher the rebate percentage, the lower the upper limit.

Qualifying for Best Odds Guarantees

Only certain bets qualify for best odds guaranteed promotions. You will often find that ante-post wagers (bets offered in advance of the race and before the declaration state) are excluded from best odds guarantees. It is important to understand exactly where any best odds guarantee applies.

Competing Price Promises

Horse racing betting sites that promise to meet or beat the prices offered by competing racebooks always provide a specific definition of who they consider being their competition. Invariably, this definition only includes large, well-known betting sites.