Betting on Greyhound Racing

Jacket colours
Greyhound racing in New Zealand has a standard colour scheme 

• Box 1 = Red
• Box 2 = Black & White Stripes
• Box 3 = White
• Box 4 = Blue
• Box 5 = Yellow
• Box 6 = Green
• Box 7 = Black
• Box 8 = Pink
• Reserve 9 = Green and White stripes
• Reserve 10 = Red White and Blue

Betting on greyhound racing is exciting and easy. For a start, there is only a maximum of eight greyhounds in a field hence your chances of winning are generally greater than they are than when wagering on horses. Exotic bets such as doubles, trebles, trifectas, First 4 & Quaddie are particularly popular for greyhound punters. Analysing form for greyhounds can be as simple or as complex as you like & normally depends on the level of investment planned! Suffice to say however there are some useful tips for all greyhound punters to follow.

Here are just a few:

Watch out for weight variances (ie greyhounds which are racing at a significantly different body weight to when they last competed) as dependent on the greyhound this can be a significant pointer to its chances.

It pays to get to know the racing habits of the greyhounds you wager on by studying their individual traits as box draws can significantly impact upon their chances. ‘Railers’ like to draw inside boxes and ‘scouters’ prefer to start from outside traps. Few greyhounds do not have a preference for which box they start from.

All the relevant statistics can be found on this site to assist your analysis.

Keep an eye out for kennels which specialise in producing greyhounds to excel over certain distances. For example there are some trainers who are experts at conditioning the majority of their charges for either sprint, middle distance or staying races, but not all.

The ‘boxes for courses’ theory very much applies in greyhound racing. Case in point although box 8 is the traditionally the 3rd most successful trap (only box 1 & 2 rank better) it can be a tricky, proposition on some courses. It always pays then to do your homework on box statistics at individual venues.

As with horse racing, research into breeding and bloodlines for avid greyhound punters is vital. The sport does produce the odd ‘freak’ (or amazing greyhound from ‘average’ blood lines) but statistics show that the majority of leading greyhounds are bred from well performed parents.

As the greyhound tracks in this country can vary significantly in shape, length, surface composition and camber it pays to keep a close eye on where certain greyhounds are engaged to race as track and distance statistics are traditionally good guides.

The term ‘downgrade and dangerous’ is frequently heard in greyhound racing. It applies to greyhounds which are racing in a lesser grade than in their most recent starts in which they were successful. Always look out for a greyhound having its first start in its new downgrade.

Fact: Favourites win 40% of the time

Fact: Favourites finish 1st or 2nd 60% of the time

Fact: Favourties finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd 70% of the time

Fact: With only eight runners in a field, wagering on a Greyhound race gives the punter a stronger chance of winning.