To the uninitiated, sports betting can seem to be a somewhat confusing hobby. The use of jargon, acronyms, synonyms and so forth can make learning about betting tricky. Take SP for example, do you know what it is? Do you know how it relates to EP, AP or BP? If the answer to this is ‘no’, then in this article, we will clarify exactly what these terms mean and how they relate to each other.
Then, we will contextualise each in sports betting examples so you can see them at work and how they relate.
Firstly, let’s begin by understanding what the key terms mentioned above mean, starting with the most useful of those terms.
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SP stands for Starting Price. It refers directly to the odds of any horse or greyhound running in a race at the time the race starts. It is this time factor which largely differentiates between SP and the other forms of betting prices as we will discover below.
Starting Price (Noun) – The final betting odds available on a horse or greyhound when the race starts.
The starting price of a horse or greyhound is important. It is the final price available on that selection before the race starts (and pre-race betting markets close), and it is also the price shown for the winner, second and third-placed horses when the race results are confirmed.
The Betting Price (BP) on the horse on the day of the race will likely change based on the money bet on the horse (and others run in the race). The Starting Price is the price available after all stakes on the race has been taken and the betting markets have closed.
As you will likely have realised, bookmakers' prices on a runner in a race can differ. While they are usually similar, there are always discrepancies in odds from one bookmaker to the next, so how is a universal starting price for a horse decided?
This is decided using a system designed by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). For each race, the BHA ranks the odds available on every runner in the race in a single list, from the longest odds on offer for that runner, to the shortest.
For example, let’s say the BHA collated 20 available odds on a runner and they were ranked from highest odds to lowest as follows:
1 to 10 – 2/1, 2/1, 2/1, 2/1, 19/10, 19/10, 19/10, 15/8, 15/8, 15/8,
11 to 20 – 9/5, 9/5, 7/4, 7/4, 17/10, 13/8, 13/8, 8/5, 8/5, 6/4
At the midway point in the list (after the 10th price), the list is split in two and the second ten prices are discarded with just the first ten prices from the list remaining.
1 to 10 – 2/1, 2/1, 2/1, 2/1, 19/10, 19/10, 19/10, 15/8, 15/8, 15/8
The Starting Price for that horse is deemed to be the shortest odds available in the half that contains the longest odds for the bet.
1 to 10 – 2/1, 2/1, 2/1, 2/1, 19/10, 19/10, 19/10, 15/8, 15/8, 15/8 ← This is the SP!
Starting Price is a simple concept to understand but it is also essential to know how it relates to other betting prices that may be available on the same selection. Other available betting prices are generally based on the time that they are available to place bets on for that particular race.
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The starting price is the final price confirmed for a horse before a race starts. But before that, there may be a selection of other prices available at different times before a race. These include: –
While not available for every race with every bookmaker, Antepost prices are prices offered by a bookmaker for a race that is not due to be run for a significant amount of time. This may be weeks, months or even a year before the race is due to be contested in the case of major races (such as The Derby, The Cheltenham Gold Cup, Grand National etc).
Antepost prices are not available for every race with most bookmakers. They tend to be available only for major races 9 (2000 Guineas, The Derby, Grand National etc), or major meetings (such as the Cheltenham Festival or Royal Ascot etc).
Long-term antepost prices are usually available from a year before the race. Short-term antepost prices are available from around five days before a race starts.
For major race meetings, such as the Cheltenham Festival, antepost prices for at least the most popular races, if not all races at the meeting, are usually available with the best bookmakers a month or two before the meeting starts.
When are Antepost Prices Available? – From the moment the bookmakers open the market until the day before the race. Usually, antepost prices are available weeks or months before the race is scheduled to be run.
The Early Price (EP) is the first price available on a selection in a race that is taking place that same day. It is the initial price available on a selection when the betting markets open for that day with the chosen bookmaker.
Punters who feel a selection is likely to be well-backed during the day will likely try to back their choice of horse using an Early Price as this may well be the best price for the selection on race day.
When are Early Prices Available? – Early Prices are the first available prices with a bookmaker on the day of the race. They are made available between 8 am and 10 am on the day of the race. They refer to the prices offered initially when the race day betting markets open.
Once the Early Price has been set and the betting markets are open for punters on the day of the race, people will start to bet different amounts on the different runners in the race.
As this happens, bookmakers will adjust the prices of each of the runners accordingly. If a runner is attracting a lot of backing in the market (which means more money is being bet on that selection to win) then the bookmaker will likely reduce the odds on that selection.
Conversely, if one selection is not attracting much money in terms of bets from punters, then the bookmakers will increase the odds on that selection to make it more appealing to bettors.
All these changes from the Early Prices, through to the Starting Price being declared are called the Betting Price. The Betting Price is the price which changes more often than any other as most of the money on a race is bet in the time from the Early Prices until the race starts.
When are Betting Prices Available? – From the moment the betting markets for the race open on the day of the race, usually a short time after the Early Prices are declared. The Betting Price is then available until the Starting Price is declared at the start of the race when the betting markets close.
The infographic below outlines the changes in odds type available for a typical race (that includes Antepost betting being available).
It is important to note that AP, EP, BP and SP can change quite dramatically for the same horse. This is shown in an example of a bet I made many years ago on a horse called “Entrepreneur”.
Back in 1996, a betting enthusiast friend of mine advised me to place a bet on a horse called Entrepreneur to win the 1997 Derby at Epsom. I duly placed an antepost (AP) bet on the horse at odds of 16/1.
At this point, the horse had run one race, finishing fourth. However, a couple of weeks later, Entrepreneur won at Kempton and, a few weeks after that, landed an impressive win at Chester to complete a solid two-year-old season.
In 1997, Entrepreneur’s first outing was in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, and he was an 11/2 second favourite for that race, never having competed in a group race previously. He won the race ahead of favourite Revoque and was installed as the favourite for next month’s Epsom Derby just ahead of Revoque.
By now, Entrepreneur’s antepost odds for The Derby had come in dramatically to around the 3/1 mark, but then Revoque pulled out of the race after a poor run in the Irish 2000 Guineas. The odds on Entrepreneur now dropped to around even money and they remained around that price for the Early Prices (EP) when betting markets opened on Epsom Derby Day in 1997.
When the markets opened, Entrepreneur was heavily backed once again, meaning its Betting Prices (BP) changed from around even money to odds-on. Come the start of the race, Entrepreneur's Starting Price (SP) was 4/6, and he was the clear favourite to win.
Unfortunately for my friend and I, who both had Entrepreneur to win at odds of 16/1 from our Antepost bets the year before, the horse didn’t quite have the legs in the straight and ended up finishing fourth, with Benny the Dip, Silver Patriarch and Romanov finishing ahead of him.
The SP of a horse is essential for punters to know for several different reasons. We have outlined some of the key reasons below.
A guarantee like this is great news for punters as it means that you are always paid out at the higher odds, out of the price you took or the SP.
The Starting Price (SP) is fundamental for horse racing betting, greyhound racing betting or indeed any form of bet. While it is more commonly used in these sports, it can be applied to any pre-match betting market.
Understanding SP and its relationship to other prices such as Antepost Price, Early Price and Betting Price is a key skill for any punter to learn.
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