Last Updated on 23/02/2026 by Andy Clark
Horse racing runs in the UK every day of the year, making it one of the most popular sports to use bookmaker sign-up offers on. Whether you are betting on ITV Racing at the weekend, a midweek NAP, or the big spring and summer festivals, a free bet gives you an extra stake to work with at no risk to your own money.
This page covers the best horse racing free bets available right now — ranked by overall value for everyday racing customers, not just for one specific meeting.
What Makes a Good Horse Racing Free Bet?
Not all free bets are equal when it comes to horse racing. The key features to look for beyond the headline amount are:
Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG): If the starting price is bigger than the odds you took, you receive the SP automatically. This is especially important for racing, where prices move significantly between the morning and the off. bet365, Betfred, Boylesports, Ladbrokes and Coral all offer BOG from 8am – the earliest available.
| Bookmaker | BOG Offered? | BOG Start Time | Join |
|---|---|---|---|
| bet365 | ✅ | 8am | Sign-up |
| HighBet | ✅ | Market Open | Sign-up |
| Betfred | ✅ | 8am | Sign-up |
| William Hill | ✅ | 9am | Sign-up |
| BetVictor | ✅ | 9am | Sign-up |
| Ladbrokes | ✅ | 8am | Sign-up |
| Coral | ✅ | 8am | Sign-up |
| Midnite | ❌ | ❌ | Sign-up |
| Boylesports | ✅ | 8am | Sign-up |
| BestOdds | ❌ | ❌ | Sign-up |
| LiveScoreBet | ✅ | 10am | Sign-up |
| BetGoodwin | ✅ | 10am | Sign-up |
| CopyBet | ✅ | Market Open | Sign-up |
| BetUK | ✅ | 11am | Sign-up |
| SBK | ❌ | ❌ | Sign-up |
| Spinzwin | ❌ | ❌ | Sign-up |
| StarSports | ❌ | ❌ | Sign-up |
| NetBet | ❌ | ❌ | Sign-up |
| BetTOM | ✅ | 10am | Sign-up |
| BetMGM | ✅ | 9am | Sign-up |
Non-Runner No Bet (NRNB): If your horse is withdrawn before the race, your stake is returned rather than lost. Most major bookmakers offer NRNB from 48 hours before the race, with some extending this to several days for big festivals.
Extra Places: Bookmakers paying 4 or 5 places instead of the standard 3 on competitive handicaps. Betfred are consistently the best for extra place promotions, particularly on races with 16+ runners.
Lucky 15 bonuses: Betfred pay treble the odds if only one of your Lucky 15 selections wins — a significant uplift on small-stake Lucky 15 bets compared to other bookmakers.
Free bet flexibility: Can the free bet be used each-way? On any race or only selected markets? Can it be split across multiple bets or must it be used as a single token? William Hill’s 4 x £10 structure is one of the most flexible on the market.
Best Bookmakers for Horse Racing Free Bets
bet365 — Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets
bet365 is the most complete horse racing bookmaker in the UK. The bet365 sign-up offer delivers £30 in bet credits, but the real value is in the platform: live streaming of all UK and Irish racing, comprehensive Timeform-powered racecards, Each-Way Extra on selected races, daily super price boosts during major festivals, and 8am BOG. The My Horses tracking tool is useful for following ante-post fancies through to race day.
Minimum qualifying bet odds are 1/5 — lower than most bookmakers, making it easier to trigger with a race favourite. Bet credits expire after 30 days, giving more time to use them than most competitors.
Betfred — Bet £10 Get £50 in Free Bets
The highest-value sign-up offer among mainstream bookmakers. The £50 arrives as 3 x £10 sports free bets and 2 x £10 acca free bets, all credited within 10 hours of your qualifying bet settling. Betfred’s horse racing platform is particularly strong: 8am BOG, Lucky 15/31/63 bonuses (treble odds for one winner), Cheltenham and Grand National sponsorship relationships, and consistent extra place promotions on competitive handicaps.
If you primarily bet on Lucky 15s, Betfred is the standout choice — their one-winner bonus is not matched by any other major bookmaker.
Boylesports — Bet £10 Get £40
The Boylesports £40 free bet arrives as a single token after your first qualifying bet settles — useful for one larger bet rather than spreading across multiple races. Boylesports has an Irish racing focus with deep expertise on Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott runners, which matters given Irish dominance at major UK festivals. BOG from 8am, NRNB protection, and Pick Your Place (choose your own each-way place terms on selected races) make this a strong choice for festival betting.
William Hill — Bet £10 Get £40 with code G40
Four separate £10 free bets, each valid for 7 days and each needing to be used in full. The 4-token structure is one of the most flexible on the market — one per day across a four-day festival, or spread across different meetings. BOG from 9am (one hour later than bet365/Betfred), daily price boosts, and Extra Places on competitive handicaps. The qualifying bet must be a single at minimum odds of 1/2.
Ladbrokes — Bet £5 Get £30
The lowest qualifying stake of any major bookmaker — just £5 to unlock £30 in free bets (paid as 6 x £5 tokens). Ladbrokes integrates Tote pool betting alongside fixed-odds markets, useful for big-field handicaps where the pool often beats bookmaker prices. 8am BOG, extra places on selected races, and immediate free bet crediting on bet placement rather than waiting for settlement.
Coral — Bet £5 Get £30
Identical qualifying stake to Ladbrokes at £5, with a similar 6 x £5 free bet structure. Coral stands out for horse racing with NRNB on all 28 Cheltenham Festival races (alongside bet365), 8am BOG, Extra Places from 6pm the evening before races, and a dedicated horse racing bet builder token. Free bet stakes returned if a bet becomes void — more generous than most bookmakers.
HighBet — Bet £10 Get £30
HighBet credit free bets as 2 x £10 horse racing free bets and 1 x £10 football acca free bet — the only bookmaker in this list to explicitly designate free bet tokens for horse racing specifically. BOG available from market open. A good option as a secondary account alongside bet365 or Betfred.
Horse Racing Existing Customer Offers
Sign-up offers are just the starting point. Once you have accounts with the major bookmakers, the ongoing promotions for existing customers add significant value to everyday racing betting.
Betfred run Extra Places on competitive handicaps throughout the year — paying 4 or 5 places instead of the standard 3 — and their Best Odds Guaranteed runs from 8am on all UK and Irish racing. Their Lucky 15 bonus (treble the odds for one winner) is not matched by any other major bookmaker.
bet365 offer the Position Payout promotion, which pays out early if your horse moves into a paying position during the race, alongside daily Super Boosts and Each-Way Extra on selected meetings.
William Hill offer BOG on all UK and Irish racing, Extra Places on selected races daily, and a Daily Racing Winnings Boost — pick one horse per day and apply your boost token at the point of adding it to your betslip for instant enhanced odds.
Ladbrokes offer 8am BOG on all UK and Irish racing, Extra Places on selected races (bets must be placed from 3pm the day before to qualify), and a horse racing bet builder available from 10am or three hours before each meeting — letting you combine win, top 2, top 3 and winning distance markets across different races.
Coral offer 8am BOG on all UK and Irish racing (capped at £10,000 additional winnings per day), Extra Places on selected races with bets qualifying from 6pm the evening before — earlier than most competitors — and a dedicated horse racing bet builder token included in their sign-up offer.
Boylesports offer 8am BOG on all UK and Irish racing, Extra Places on selected races (typically 4 places in fields of 12+, 5 places in fields of 16+), and their unique Pick Your Place feature — choose your own place terms on selected each-way bets, with the number of available markets scaling with field size.
Horse Racing Free Bets for Big Meetings
Sign-up offers can be timed to coincide with the biggest meetings of the UK racing calendar. The key dates for 2026 are:
Cheltenham Festival — 10th-13th March 2026. The biggest jump racing event of the year. For dedicated Cheltenham betting offers and a day-by-day strategy guide, see our Cheltenham Festival free bets page, which covers the top sign-up offers and explains how to use them across all four days.
For the Festival specifically, our dedicated Cheltenham existing customer offers page covers what bet365, Betfred, William Hill, Coral and Boylesports are running for registered customers across all four days in March.
Grand National — April 2026, Aintree. The most-watched horse racing event of the year. Bookmakers typically run enhanced welcome offers in the build-up, and some restrict or close their sign-up offers in the final days before the race. It is worth claiming offers at least a week before Grand National day to guarantee access.
Royal Ascot — June 2026. Five days of flat racing’s biggest meeting. Particularly useful for extra place promotions — Royal Ascot fields are large and competitive, making place betting valuable.
Glorious Goodwood — July 2026. One of the summer’s most popular meetings with ITV Racing coverage throughout the week.
For all of these meetings, the same principle applies: open accounts with multiple bookmakers in advance, trigger qualifying bets early, and use free bets on the races with the best place terms or the biggest competitive fields.
How to Claim Horse Racing Free Bets
The process is the same across all bookmakers:
Register a new account via a link on this page, make the minimum required deposit (typically £5 or £10), place a qualifying bet at the specified minimum odds, and receive free bets once the qualifying bet settles (or in some cases immediately on placement). Always read the T&Cs before placing your qualifying bet — the minimum odds, eligible markets, and payment method exclusions vary between bookmakers.
Common restrictions to check: Payment methods (PayPal, Skrill, Neteller and prepaid cards are excluded by most bookmakers), minimum qualifying odds, whether the free bet must be used as a single token or can be split, and expiry dates (usually 7 days from credit, though bet365 gives 30 days).
Horse Racing Free Bet Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a horse racing free bet?
- Can I use a free bet each-way?
- Which bookmaker has the best horse racing free bet?
- Do free bets work on Lucky 15s?
- What is Best Odds Guaranteed?