Kickthebookies is the analytical layer of horse racing: the statistics, prices and records behind a race, shown plainly so you can make your own call.

This page explains ante-post betting — taking a price on a race weeks or months before it is run — what you gain, what you risk, how the early prices move, and the evidence that bears on them, with every term explained once.

Contents: What ante-post betting is · What you gain and what you risk · How an ante-post price moves · The evidence that bears on an early price · A worked illustration · How the risk changes through the season · The season’s long-range markets · The words, plainly · Common questions

What ante-post betting is

An ante-post bet is one placed on a race before the final declarations — days, weeks or months ahead, at a fixed price. The big targets are the races with their own long markets: the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Champion Hurdle, the Grand National and the King George over jumps; the Guineas, the Derby, the Oaks and the St Leger on the Flat.

The trade is simple. You take a price while the picture is still unclear, and in return you carry the risk that the horse does not run. Under standard ante-post terms a non-runner loses the stake. Under non-runner no bet (NRNB) the stake is returned if the horse does not take part; bookmakers open NRNB on the big races in the weeks before them, usually at slightly shorter prices.

What you gain and what you risk

Early price	What it costs
A bigger price than the day-of market, if your reading of the horse is right before the market’s	The horse may not run: injury, a change of target, the ground on the day, or the yard choosing another race
The price is fixed whatever happens afterwards	The price can drift after you take it, and the stake is tied up for months
Time to watch the trials and the weather with a position already held	The opposition, the going and the horse’s fitness are unknown until race week

Whether that trade is worth making is a judgment for each race and each punter; this page sets out the evidence that bears on it.

How an ante-post price moves

A long-range market opens with a bookmaker’s own set of prices built from ratings, trials and the yard’s stated targets, with the margin added — how bookmakers set prices explains the mechanics. From there three things move it:

• News. A target confirmed, a setback reported, a trial won or lost, a forecast for the ground.
• Money. A horse backed steadily shortens and is called a steamer; one whose price keeps lengthening is a drifter. The move tells you where money has gone, not whether the horse is better or worse.
• The exchange. The exchange price is set between backers and layers and is the sharpest reference once real money has been matched; bookmakers follow it. A long-range exchange market is thin early, so a price with little money behind it means less than the same price with plenty.

The starting price (SP) is the price at the off on the day, and the point of ante-post betting is the gap between it and the price taken months before — in either direction.

The evidence that bears on an early price

• Does the target suit the horse? The course, the trip and the ground, judged from runs on that evidence, not from reputation. The course’s record by trip and going is on its racecourse page; the horse’s own record is on its profile.
• Is the yard aiming at it? Some trainers train for one target a season and say so; their record at that meeting is on each trainer profile.
• What do the figures say? KTB Speed for how fast the horse has actually run against the race’s demands, KTB Rating for its ability against the likely opposition — our own figures, each explained on its own page.
• Where is the book shaded? The popular yards are priced short early; a less fashionable rival with a comparable record may be the one the market has not caught up with.
• Is NRNB open? When it is, the same horse can often be had at a price a shade shorter with the non-runner risk removed. Which matters more is the punter’s call, but it should be a deliberate one.

A worked illustration

An invented horse in an invented season. Cotswold Comet wins a Grade 2 over three miles on soft ground in October and is quoted at 16/1 for the Gold Cup, with the exchange a touch bigger but thin. A punter who has read the race as a stayer’s performance and the yard as one that targets the race makes his own price 11/2.

By March, after a close second in a trial, the day-of market has the horse at 9/2. The early price was more than three times the SP; the same reading in October was worth that gap, and had the horse missed the race through injury in February the stake would have gone with it under standard terms, or been returned under NRNB. Both outcomes are the same bet; only the result differs. The bet calculator shows what each price returns, win and each-way, under the place terms on offer.

One more point the illustration makes: nothing in it depended on the horse winning in March. An early price is right or wrong at the moment it is taken, judged against the evidence then; the result is the market’s verdict on the horse, not on the reasoning.

How the risk changes through the season

When	Non-runner risk	What is known
Months out	High	Little: last season’s form and a stated target
After a trial	High	Current form and fitness; the opposition taking shape
NRNB open	Removed	Most of the field; the ground still a forecast
Race week	Low	The declarations, the going and the draw

The prices shorten down that table as the information arrives. Non-runners and market movers record the withdrawals and the moves as they happen.

The season’s long-range markets

Jumps

• November – December: the first Grade races of the season and the King George at Kempton; the first clues for the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup.
• January – February: the trials — the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham, the Irish Grade 1s at Leopardstown.
• March: the Cheltenham Festival, four days and 28 races.
• April: Aintree and the Grand National; the Scottish National at Ayr.

Flat

• May – June: the Guineas at Newmarket, the Derby and the Oaks at Epsom, Royal Ascot.
• July – August: the King George at Ascot, Glorious Goodwood, the Ebor at York.
• September – October: the St Leger at Doncaster, Champions Day at Ascot.

The words, plainly

Term	Meaning
Ante-post	A bet placed before the final declarations, at a fixed price.
NRNB	Non-runner no bet: the stake is returned if the horse does not run.
Starting price (SP)	The official price at the off on the day.
Steamer / drifter	A horse whose price keeps shortening / lengthening.
Each-way	Two bets of equal stake, one to win and one to be placed; the place terms are set when the bet is struck. Each-way explained.
Overround	The bookmaker’s margin: the sum of a book’s implied chances above 100%.
Hedge	A later bet, usually laying the horse on an exchange, that reduces the position already held.
Trial	A race run in the weeks before a target, used by yards to prepare and by markets to re-price.

Common questions

Is ante-post betting better value than betting on the day?

Sometimes. The early price can be much bigger than the day-of price when a reading of the horse is right before the market’s, and it can be much worse when the horse does not run or its form falls away. The price is bought with uncertainty; NRNB terms remove the largest piece of it at a slightly shorter price.

What happens to my ante-post bet if the horse doesn’t run?

Under standard ante-post terms the stake is lost. Under non-runner no bet (NRNB), which bookmakers open on the big races in the weeks before them, the stake is returned. The terms are set when the bet is struck, so check which apply before you place it.

Can I bet each-way ante-post?

Yes, and the place terms are fixed when the bet is struck, which can be a point in its favour in a big field. The win part is the larger risk over a long wait, because a non-runner loses both parts under standard terms. Each-way betting explained covers the terms.

What do the exchanges add to an ante-post market?

An early price set between backers and layers, and a signal: a price with real money matched behind it means more than a bookmaker’s quote nobody has tested. Long-range exchange markets are thin until the trials, so the volume at a price matters as much as the price.

Does Kickthebookies give ante-post selections?

No. We show the evidence that bears on an early price: each horse’s record, our own figures, the trainer’s record at the target meeting, and the moves and non-runners as they happen. Where a selection appears on the site it is the top-ranked runner by Fit Score in a race that day, shown with its record, win or lose, on the Fit record — not an ante-post view.

Betting should be for fun, never a way to make money. Set limits and only stake what you can afford to lose; if gambling is affecting you or someone near you, help is free and confidential on our responsible gambling page. 18+ only. Questions or corrections: the contact page. Last reviewed 11 October 2026.