Horse Racing Market Movers

Whether or not you choose to “follow the money” it is always a good idea to keep a close eye on the horse racing market movers. A horse that drops sharply in price may alert you to a fancied runner or a piece of form that you had overlooked. Conversely, a horse that goes out significantly in the betting could indicate that something is amiss. On this page, we list the best backed horses today and the biggest market drifters.

What is a Market Mover?

In general terms, any horse that has been reduced significantly in price can be considered a market mover. There are no specific guidelines so a horse that is cut from 3-1 to 2-1 in a big televised race will almost certainly have attracted a lot more money than a horse cut from 16-1 to 8-1 in a maiden race at one of the minor meetings. Market support can be particularly noteworthy in maiden races where there is little or no form to go on, but each case must be treated on its merits.

For example, the media may describe a horse as a “steamer” or say that the price has been “slashed”. All of this tends to build up a bit of a frenzy as punters try to get on before the price gets even shorter. Horses that go the opposite way in the betting market can be called a “drifter” as the price lengthens. There can be many reasons for a horse to drift in price, perhaps a change in the going or it may have been unruly in the paddock. Sometimes horses go out in the betting simply to balance the books in the face of support for other horses in the race. There is certainly no need to rip up your ticket just yet!

Horse Racing Steamers and Drifters

Everyone likes to get a bit of value with their betting and we are monitoring the odds for all our Tipsters every day of the week. The most heavily backed tips of the day will be listed, along with the name of the tipster and the time that the selections were published.

Our tipsters have pin-pointed some terrific value in the past, none more so than Lucky 7 Naps. In February 2018, he tipped Warden Hill at odds of 40-1 in a Hunters’ Chase at Doncaster. The horse opened at 13-2 on course and returned at the SP of only 2-1! This is currently the biggest steamer ever recorded on The Tipster League.

Early Odds also picked out a big steamer when Save The Bees won at Haydock In July. The horse was tipped at 33-1 and returned at odds of 10-1. Value Wins also knows how to beat the odds and his winning selections include Phoenix Star (22-1 to 10-1) at Yarmouth. These are not isolated cases either! The Inside Edge struck with Meandmyshadow at Southwell in January, backed from 16-1 to 15-2.

Of course, the odds can sometimes go the other way and it is just as important to watch the market drifters. We also provide a list of the biggest market drifters, based on the selections of our tipsters. If you’ve already taken a price it can be disheartening to see your horse drift out in the betting. If you can secure Best Odds Guaranteed with your bookmaker you are certainly advised to do so, although this is not included in the League table calculations.

Where can I get the latest betting information?

Your online betting account displays the odds for individual races, usually with the price changes displayed. Not everyone has the time to scan through every race to spot betting patterns but there are plenty of free websites that do the work for you. Betfair market movers and drifters are listed from 9.00 am every morning and are updated every 5 minutes throughout the day’s racing. 

The Racing Post is the first port of call for many and they issue “The Briefing” which includes a section for market movers. They report even the most minor moves in the betting market so you will have to sort through them. The Sporting Life website publishes SkyBet market movers across all the day’s meetings. Bookmakers rarely go out on a limb these days so don’t expect the original prices to be available with other bookmakers. The day’s biggest market movers are listed in simple race-time format and the site is very good at highlighting significant price cuts.

Oddschecker is a very popular site with punters, making it easy to do a quick price comparison across the bookmakers. They also have a market movers page every day of the week. Rather than issue a list, oddschecker picks out what they consider to be today’s horse racing steamers and provide a quick assessment. This is invariably a quick recap on the horse’s recent form and a suggestion at the possible reason behind the market support.

Oddschecker also publish a “Money Horse”, their idea of the best backed horse of the day. These are published quite early in the morning and will reflect any heavy support that has shortened the odds overnight. Once again, they provide in-depth analysis of the money horse to back up the reported price change.

ITV Racing pick out the day’s best backed horses and list them at the start of the programme. They tend to focus on the televised races but Matt Chapman will usually note any later gambles when the racing is off air.

AtTheRaces has a dedicated page which lists the top ten market movers and the top ten drifters. They have even created their own formula to provide the ATR index which includes everything from market share to price change. The top ten steamers and drifters are also provided for every meeting.