Best Horse Racing Betting Sites in Canada 2026: How to Bet on Horse Racing

Horse racing remains incredibly popular around the world, with numerous races taking place at top courses like Aintree, Royal Ascott, Dieppe, Kenilworth, and Kentucky, which has also led to a rise in horse betting in Canada.

The top Canadian sports betting sites have embraced horse race betting and this is what we are looking at in the below guide. If you read on, we’ll give you an introduction on how these sites work, the types of horse racing bets you can place, and some recommended operators that stand out when it comes to horse racing.

Top Sportsbooks for Betting on Horse Racing in Canada

How does online horse racing betting in Canada work?

With our baseball betting in Canada guide, we started with a basic explanation of how bets work and what these betting sites offer, so we’ll do exactly the same with horse betting in Canada.

Betting sites feature daily races from around the world

Around the world on nearly a daily basis, horse races take place at prestigious race tracks. Popular countries where horse racing happens include the UK, Ireland, the USA, South Africa, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Horse racing sportsbooks in Canada feature betting markets for these races. Some of the sites also feature live streaming of the races so you can watch the horses in action.

You can place real money bets on the horses in these races

If you have a valid account with one of these Canadian betting sites, you can place bets on the races. In most instances, you are betting on specific horses either to win, or finish in one of the top 3 places in a race. For example, when we wrote this guide, there was a race at Kenilworth in South Africa, and you could place bets on the horse “Dream Trip” to win, with odds of +225.

Pros and cons of horse racing betting in Canada

From our experience with Canadian sportsbooks, horse racing is not universally available. There are quite a few top betting sites that simply don’t support this sport or offer any markets for it. This can limit your choice and mean that some of the best sites simply aren’t eligible.

However, for the sites that do feature horse racing, we typically find that they go all out and have an amazing selection of races throughout the day from international locations, and plenty of popular bet types. In some instances, depending on your Province in Canada, you might also be able to get special horse racing promos and bonuses.

Pros and Cons

• Massive range of international races
• Plenty of betting variety
• Some live streaming is available
• There can be horse racing promos

• Not all CA sportsbooks have horse racing
• Not as well covered as other sports

Races and bets that horse racing sportsbooks in Canada support

Once you start getting into horse betting in Canada, you will start to realize the sheer magnitude in terms of the variety of races and the types of bets you can make. If you enjoy the sport, you can really get involved and follow horses and jockeys from around the world.

Popular race locations for horse betting

In terms of races, there are certain international locations that feature heavily at Canadian horse racing sportsbooks. Additionally, you will find that there are specific meets (tracks) that are regularly featured on a weekly basis. Some of the better-known and more-featured locations and tracks are listed below:

• UK and Ireland:
  • Royal Ascot.
  • Beverley.
  • Newbury.
  • Aintree.
  • Ffos Las.
• Australia & New Zealand:
  • Doomben.
  • Warwick Farm.
  • Ballarat.
• USA:
  • Louisiana Down.
  • Penn National.
  • Kentucky.
  • Finger Lakes.
  • Thistledown.
• Other:
  • South Africa - Kenilworth.
  • Canada - Assiniboia Down.
  • Turkey - Elazig.

Common types of horse racing bets

While horse race betting doesn’t offer the same type of betting variety as other sports like soccer and basketball, it does have a unique array of betting options particular to the sport and how the races operate. You can see some of the most common betting options in the below table:

On top of these bets, you can also get other exotic bets like the Trifecta, Superfecta, and Box/Wheel bets, but we only recommend these if you have studied the races and understand exactly how the bets work.

Five of the best horse racing sportsbooks in Canada

For our golf betting in Canada guide, we picked out some recommended operators, and we will do the same for horse racing. This matters even more so with horse race betting in Canada as not every sportsbook actually has support for it.

It seems like much more of a contested and/or niche thing, and we estimate perhaps only 50% of Canadian betting sites have horse racing betting. Below though, we have scoured those options, and picked out our top 5 favorites that we think give an enjoyable and varied betting experience.

bet365 - great for betting personalization

One thing that made bet365 stand out to us aside from the overall horse racing betting variety it offers is the special “My Horses” feature that it has. If you have a bet365 account, you can track specific horses and monitor their performance. You can also open your “My Horses” section to quickly see what upcoming races they have, and the different types of bets you can make for them.

In terms of coverage though, we always see plenty of action at bet365 including meets in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, the UK & Ireland, and South Africa. This is also one of the better sites when it comes to mobile horse betting as they feature an iOS and Android app, both of which have superb ratings from their relevant stores, and work like a dream for horse betting.

Betway - simple horse race betting utility

As with the other sports we’ve tested at Betway Canada, it does a great job of keeping the horse racing betting simple, and as a result, we rate this as one of the better options for beginners, or those just getting into the sport. You’ve got clear categories for the different race times throughout the day, and the betting options are easy to follow. It doesn’t have the largest selection in terms of exotic bets, but you’ve got standard race winner options and each way picks.

Depending on your location in Canada, you might also be able to sign up at Betway and get a welcome bonus that either includes free bets or a deposit match bonus. We think this is one of the top sites in general too, for actual sports variety outside of horse racing, as you’ve got 30+ sports covered, and the markets for the different leagues goes way beyond the 1st flight competitions.

BetVictor - live streaming is available for plenty of meets

We have been especially impressed with BetVictor for its range of international meets. For example, when we wrote this guide, there were bets for UK races at Beverley, Ffos las, Newbury, and Newton Abbot, Australian races at Hawkesbury, Echuca, Taree, and Mackay, and Brazilian races at Gavea. These were running throughout the day and it always seems like there’s betting action available.

BetVictor is also one of the better horse racing sportsbooks in Canada for live streaming if you want to watch the horses in action as you place bets. Just click the small play icon next to the race name and you should be taken to the live coverage if it’s available. Lastly, BetVictor offers a range of ante post bets (advanced futures bets) for upcoming horse races weeks in advance.

BC.Game - top CA crypto horse racing site

Similar to what we found in our cricket betting in Canada guide, BC.Game is one of the top options for crypto horse racing betting. It accepts a wide range of cryptocurrencies for deposits and withdrawals including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dogecoin, and we like how easy it is to link your external wallet and make payments.

For horse racing, BC.Game goes all out and offers a superb range of daily meets and betting options. You can usually find races in France, South Africa, the UK, Ireland, Australia, the USA, and Japan. If you are just a fan of racing in general, you might also be interested in the greyhound and harness racing options that BC.Game offers and it is one of the few Canadian sites that offers these markets.

1xBet - great for international races

Last up we picked 1xBet which is another reputable brand offering horse race betting in Canada. The site looks great, and it does an excellent job of organizing its sports betting information so you can quickly jump to the horse racing section and pick out the bets for specific races. In terms of availability, it is great for international races in the UK, Ireland, and South Africa, and we regularly see options for meets at popular places like Kenilworth, Dieppe, Monbetsu, Beverley, and Newbury.

There’s outright and each way options for pretty much all the horses in each race, and you might also be able to find some live streaming. Aside from horse racing, 1xBet is undoubtedly one of the top options for cricket and soccer, and it also has some incredibly niche sports like bare-knuckle boxing, fencing, Futsal, boat racing, and Gaelic football.

Conclusion - give horse betting in Canada a try now at these top sites

While not every site offers horse betting in Canada, as you can see from the above, there are plenty of high-quality, legitimate options that give you unrivalled access to meets around the world from the most prestigious tracks. There’s also loads of betting options, with all of these sites having standard outright winner and each-way picks, plus a range of exotic bets.

If you intend to give horse racing betting in Canada a try, be sure to do your research on the horses, racing conditions, previous form, and the jockeys. And to get directly into the action and save time researching your own sites, you can get started by clicking any of the relevant banners we have on this page for recommended brands like bet365, Betway, BetVictor, BC.Game, and 1xBet.

Horse betting in Canada FAQs