How to Place a Superfecta Bet in Horse Racing

Betting the exotic wagers are some of the most exciting opportunities that horse tracks allow. And why stop at just exacta or even trifecta; why not go for it all and bet the superfecta? The superfecta is arguably the most difficult bet in all of horse racing since you must correctly predict the first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finishers in a given horse race. No one says it's easy, but the payouts are often astronomical. Here is how to properly place a superfecta bet.

Things You'll Need

  • Racing form
  • At least $2
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Instructions

    • 1

      Pick the winner. Without the winner, your superfecta ticket is worthless. So study the form and pick a winner.

    • 2

      Find your second-place finisher. There aren't any tricks here either: figure out who is going to come in second. Is it going to be a leader who will fade to second place? Will it be a finisher that just misses? Study the form and make your pick.

    • 3

      Locate the stragglers. First- and second-place finishers are sort of the easy part. But the third- and fourth-best horses don't always finish third and fourth. Because of a hot or slow pace and any combination of other possible factors, horses that are better might tire out and fade to the back of the pack. Betting the back half of your superfecta is all about strategy and figuring out how the last quarter-mile of the race will pan out.Oftentimes, the third- or fourth-place finishers will come from two different areas. Sometimes, you'll find that the horse that led the entire race will tire under pressure, fade and finish the race in third or fourth place. However, it's just as feasible to assume that horses who took it easy during the first part of the race will gather steam, finish strong and come running through the stretch and finish in or near the money. You need to find if any of these horses will close and factor into the superfecta.While sometimes a horse fades and sometimes a horse closes, you can be pretty sure that almost all the time a horse will do one or the other.

    • 4

      Box your bet. If you think you have the skills to bet a $2 superfecta straight (picking all four finishers in order with only one combination), then kudos to you, and you should write handicapping books and make millions. However, if you're like the rest of the world, you probably need to box your bet and have a few combinations, just in case things don't go as perfectly as planned.Boxing your bet is basically making more combinations. It'll cost you more ($2 per combination), but it also increases your chances of a nice payoff. You never want more than one or two runners in the first- or second-place positions, but open up the third- and fourth-place slots to a few more horses to account for some of those factors that might come into play.A good superfecta bet often has at least 10 combinations.