Ante-post betting

In horse racing and greyhound racing, an ante-post bet is a bet placed before the horse/greyhound racing course's betting market has opened, and is made on the expectation that the price of the horse/greyhound is presently more favorable than it will be when the course's market opens. Generally, this includes any bet placed before the day of the race. Ante-post betting, unlike starting price betting, carries the additional risk that the original bet will be forfeited, rather than returned, if the wagered horse fails to run.¹

Sometimes so-called no-runner no bet offers are available. If this offer applies to a ante-post bet, the bet will be void in case the horse fails to run. As a result, the money placed on the bet will be returned to the bettor. ²

The ante in ante-post is derived from the Latin ante (meaning "before"), but the post is not the Latin post (meaning "after"). Instead, it is derived from the nineteenth century Betting Post, a stake that was traditionally fixed somewhere on the course ground like a sign-post to signal the beginning of fixed betting to bettors. Bettors would then queue in their carriages in front of the Betting Post.¹

Ante-post bets represent only a small fraction of bets placed by British bookmakers. For ante-post bets, bookmakers set competing prices, because they cannot fix prices to racecourse prices. In consequence, ante-post prices often vary significantly between bookmakers, and bettors will pick the most favorable price from among them. This means that ante-bets are often less profitable. However, they often afford bookmakers significantly more press coverage, due to the variances in price.³