Exactas.com

An Exacta bet is a two-horse bet, meaning you place your wager not on just one but on two contenders. The aim of a successful Exacta is to correctly determine the winner and second placed in a race, in their precise order. For example: You are quite certain that Wildflower and I Got The Blues are the strongest horses in the race; feeling adventurous you place an Exacta bet on these two horses, picking I Got The Blues as the winner and Wildflower as the runner up. The race proceeds. Your two horses are indeed the first contenders over the line; however, Wildflower emerges as the winner, whereas I Got The Blues comes in second. Although you have technically picked the right horses, you have nominated the wrong order, which means that your Exacta is lost. An Exacta bet only pays off if you have predicted the precise order in which your horses cross the line.

It is important to understand that an Exacta does not constitute two bets on two individual horses, but one bet on a 'team' of two horses. Should, for example, I Got The Blues take the win like you predicted while Wildflower fails to make second place your Exacta is lost again. You will not receive a partial pay-off if one half of your Exacta prediction comes through.

In principle you place an exacta like any other bet. If you are at the track you make your way to the bookmaker or the betting window; if you prefer to bet online please check under Where To Place An Exacta Bet for online bookmakers who offer this particular type of bet.

Live:

On the track you will write out your betting slip by hand, which makes it easy to ensure the word Exacta is on it. You write down your stake and the type of bet 'Exacta', making perfectly clear which position you nominate for each horse - for example:

£5 - Exacta	Rupert's Joy First Place;
	Eleanor Rigby Second Place

If you are still insecure about whether you have done it right, don't hesitate to ask the bookmaker and make sure everything is in order.

Online:

If you want to place an Exacta online, go to a portal that offers this service. When you select your race a window with the contenders should open up. In this window there should be an Exacta option for you to click on. This opens a column next to the selections which will allow you to nominate first and second place easily and without confusion.

There are two types of single wagers (meaning bets involving only one race); straight bets and exotic bets. The straight bets are predictions involving only one horse, namely Win, Place and Show bets. Exotic bets on the other hand are wagers placed on a number of horses competing in the same race, such as the Exacta. Other popular forms of exotic betting are the Trifecta - picking the first three horses across the line in the correct order - and the First Four, which selects the exact order of the first four horses to complete a race.

Exotic betting was introduced in a bid to make gambling at the horse races more interesting for the spectators. By expanding the options from straight bets to the more complex but highly lucrative exotic bets, the bookmakers reinvigorated the punters' interest in betting. When multiple bets were introduced, meaning bets placed on the outcomes of several consecutive races, which can be placed as straight or exotic bets, it opened a whole new world of possibility for the betting community.

As the pay-off on an Exacta, or any other exotic bet, is quite high, bookmakers were able to lower the minimum wager on these more complex bets. This means that bettors can curb their risk and still expect a decent pay-off when they win; while bookmakers have a larger range of bets to offer, keeping them in business.

Although the principle of the Exacta always remains the same, there are a couple of twists you can put on this bet to make it just that little bit more interesting. The betting process described above, betting on the first two of one race, is referred to as a 'single Exacta'. However, you can also place a 'multiple Exacta' or what is called a Quinella.

In a multiple Exacta you pick the first two horses in their specific order in a number of consecutive races. While this is naturally a lot more difficult and risky than the single Exacta - seeing as all your predictions have to proof accurate before you are eligible for a pay-off - they are also very valuable. A successful multiple Exacta will definitely put a smile on any punters face.

The Quinella can be played as a single or multiple bet, although the single mode is the most common. It works in principle like a Exacta, predicting the first two horses over the line. However, a Quinella does not predict the exact order. As long as the two horses you have deemed the fastest come in first and second it does not matter which precise positions they hold. As it is a little less risky than an Exacta, the Quinella usually does not pay out quite as much. It is however an excellent way to get used to exotic betting before tackling the more complex bets.