Whether you are Racing in the USA, the United Kingdom, or in South Africa, at some point in time an avid horse racing enthusiast would have mentioned to you that two horses have been entered in a particular race as an Entry, or that two horses in another race are Coupled. In the USA the term Entry is used, in most other horse racing jurisdictions, the term Coupling is utilised.
What is a Linked Entry or a Coupling in Horse Racing Terms? When two or more horses are owned by the same stable or trained by the same trainer, the two horses run as a single betting unit. In the USA the unit (two horses from the same stable) is referred to as a Coupled Entry, whereas in most other countries where horse race meetings are held, it is referred to as a Coupling (Entry). If you bet on one of the horses in a coupled entry to win, its stablemate is also included in your ticket at no extra cost.
The rules regarding coupled entries are varied amongst racing countries. Races with very big fields (such as several European Race Meetings) might also result in coupled entries as trainers will enter multiple horses from their respective stables to try and win the big money Races.
How are coupled entries labeled and are their benefits?
In the USA, coupled entries are identified by the letters that appear after the betting number. For example, two horses competing as a pair may be marked as #1 and #1A, with the common number indicating they are a pair.
The primary benefit of betting on a paired entry is that you receive more opportunities to place a winning bet. If you believe that #1 will win a particular race, and for some reason, it starts slow, or run wide around the turn impacting its finishing speed, and its stable companion (#1A) has a perfect trip and wins instead, you have placed a winning bet despite the horse you bet on not winning.
Advantages and disadvantages of betting paired entry
Betting on “two horses for the price of one” appeals to many bettors, and therefore the odds given to a paired entry may be lower than the odds you would obtain if you could wager each horse separately. Assume, in a particular race, you have completed studying the form, and your top pick is #1A, who is ordinarily a 20-1 longshot.
If his entry mate #1 is the favorite, the ultimate odds on the entry will be a lot less than the 20/1 you would receive from bookmakers if your pick was not coupled to the favourite and even if #1A wins, you will not receive the odds of the #1A, but the much smaller odds of the coupled entry (#1 and #1A).
Coupled entries may also make handicapping a race ahead of time difficult. There will be times when a trainer would submit two paired horses with just one rider nominated to ride both. This is generally a clue that one of the two entry horses will be withdrawn at final acceptances, but it might be difficult to decide which one until race-day declarations are disclosed.
A significant feature of betting linked entries
When betting linked entries, keep in mind that the horses involved constitute a Single Betting interest and therefore the paired entry may occupy only one place.
This implies that when wagering exotic bets such as the exacta (In an exacta wager, you’ll be trying to pick the first two in the official order of finish in a race), trifecta (To win, you have to pick the first three in the official order in a single race), or superfecta (You have to be able to predict the first four in the official order of finish in a race), linked entries cannot run first and second, first and third, or first and fourth.
Are Horseracing enthusiasts advantaged or disadvantaged by Coupled Entries in a Race
Coupled horses have been used as a betting entry in horse racing for decades. The theory is that if a trainer or owner enters more than one horse in a race, he or she knows which of the two horses is superior and may exploit that fact by strategically employing the “other” horse to set up the race for the “better” horse.
The goal of combining the horses into a single betting entry is to protect individuals betting on the other horse so that even if the other horse isn’t given its best chance of winning and the better horse wins, the person betting on the other horse is protected.
The Closer needs A Rabbit and Small fields present fewer Betting opportunities
There will be times when a trainer will enter a coupled entry into a race, where one horse is far superior to the other. However, the superior horse will require a genuine strong pace to ensure that its superior finishing speed can be seen to its greatest advantage.
To try and ensure that this has a big probability of happening, the other horse will be entered into the race solely to set the pace for the “superior” horse, so that it has the best chance of winning. The “Rabbit” is therefore sacrificed to try and ensure that the stable wins with the horse that the trainer believes is the superior horse for that race.
So, although the coupling seems to be better for racing in general, there might be coupling issues. Because of fewer betting entries, coupling might make wagering less enticing. When horses are coupled in tiny fields or when numerous horses are coupled in a race, betting options might become much less appealing.
Horse Racing Partnerships – Owners vs the Casual Bettor
Whether a horse racing owner is part of a partnership of a syndicate, they normally have more information about the horses in their trainers’ yard than your casual bettor. They will also, therefore, know if a horse has been entered into a race to try and set up the race for the stables other coupled entry.
Partnerships often have a different mix of owners owning a part of the horse, therefore will they be happy to “sacrifice” their horse for another horse from the same stable to win for another set of owners. A single owner or a group of owners who possess a big number of horses together may easily find a “Rabbit” to sacrifice especially if both horses entered as the coupled entry have the same set of owners.
Coupled Entries – Good or Bad
Coupled entries are a standard, especially in the USA. There are times when trainers will utilise the system to ensure that their more superior horse has a better chance of winning a race (sometimes putting the owner or owners of the less superior horse at a disadvantage) and other times where both horses are entered because they are both trying to win.
However, no matter what the reasons for the trainer entering the Coupled Entry, casual bettor and amateur handicappers alike will have to take the coupled entry into account, study the form of both horses, and make a decision as to which of the two have the better chance of winning the race.