Greyhound Racing & Betting Odds

• Home
• Greyhound Racing & Betting Odds

• Weekly Expert Betting Tips - Join our free mailing list

• Australian Greyhound Racing

  Going To The Dogs...

  Fast, exciting, great for betting on and a cracking night’s entertainment, Greyhound Racing is incredibly popular here in Australia, and just a couple of hours at a track will show you exactly why. In some countries, Greyhound Racing is an amateur pursuit, but in Australia it’s a professional sport – and that means that it’s well-regulated and well supported, ensuring that the races are good and the dogs healthy and well-treated.

  It’s not all that hard to see the origins of Greyhound Racing – they chase after a fake bunny rabbit, after all! The roots of the sport as we know it are in coursing, a type of hunting with dogs that emphasises the speed and agility of the dog instead of its ability to sniff out prey. As far back as 1876, attempts were made to race greyhounds, but on a straight track, and without much success. It wasn’t until that fake bunny was invented that things started to come together: a man named Owen Patrick Smith developed the mechanical hare in 1912 out of a desire to see Greyhound Racing treated like Horse Racing, and also to save the lives of lots of jack rabbits! An Irish-American, Smith was active in opening the first dog-racing track in California, and it wasn’t long (despite some teething troubles) before the sports arrived in the UK, where it was immediately popular, with 40 tracks around the British Isles by the end of the 1920s.

  A big part of the popularity of Greyhound Racing lay in the ease and enjoyment of betting on the dogs. The accessibility of the tracks – they could be closer to towns than horse-racing parks – was another big plus for the sport, and its popularity hit a peak in the 1940s, with millions of punters regularly enjoying Greyhound Racing. There has been a steady drop-off in popularity since then, but in recent times sponsorship, TV coverage and other factors have seen Greyhound Racing well supported. The enduring appeal here in Australia is surely thanks to the great night out to be had at an evening meet at any of the many tracks around the country, to the ease and the fun of putting a bet on a race, and to the fact that the races are genuinely great to watch!

  It’s All About The Hounds

  Obviously, there would be no Greyhound Racing without the hounds. And it just so happens they’re the thing that make the sport so good to watch. First of all, they’re fast. Very fast. The mechanical hare clips along at about 60kmph, and that means that the race covers good distances very quickly. Races vary in distance, obviously, and there will usually be eight dogs in a race, numbered from trap one (on the inside barrier) to trap eight on the outside. Those two tend to be the favoured traps for punters, as there’s less chance of a dog in either of those getting caught in the pack and hampered.

  Because you have to remember that it’s dogs who are running the races here – and if you’ve ever had a family pet who wasn’t problem-solving smart (to say the least), then you’ll understand why there’s so much excitement and uncertainty in Greyhound Racing. Without a jockey or a driver to steer them in the right direction, the dogs have to make decisions themselves, and whilst they’re lightning quick and incredibly enthusiastic, they can sometimes lack a tactical outlook. Some dogs are quicker than others, obviously, but equally valuable is a dog who’s that bit smarter: who knows to run the inside line, and to avoid the pack and its risk of delays from tripping over others dogs or struggling to get past them. In a shorter race, it can be fatal for a dog to fall – they do get up very quickly, and they can get back into the race over long distances, but it’s clearly not the best way to win!

  Greyhound Racing In Australia

  Each State has its own governing body when it comes to Greyhound Racing, but the NSW and Victoria organisations are the biggest, each operating more than 40 racetracks. There are lots of famous tracks around the country, and one of the great things about Greyhound Racing in Australia is that there’s likely to be a track within easy reach of you wherever you live. You can probably catch the odd race on TV, too, from the big tracks like Wentworth Park in Sydney, Cannington Park in Perth, Adelaide’s Angle Park, Albion Park in Brisbane and Melbourne’s Sandown Park.

  So many tracks and so many meetings mean that there’s Greyhound Racing to enjoy pretty much every week throughout the year, and you’ll find all the odds at online bookmakers like Easybet, Ladbrokes and others. There are plenty of news outlets and guides to help steer you in the right direction in terms of betting, with most of those online bookmakers offering you tips and lots more, a website for each of the State governing bodies waiting online, and all sorts of independent sites around to give you the inside track...

  There are lots of races in the Australian Greyhound Racing calendar to look out for, and, like the Horse Racing, they’re broken down into groups, with the Group 1 races being the most high-profile races and the most lucrative, too. All of the excellent online bookmakers we’ve laid out for you below will give you plenty of notice of upcoming races (especially the big ones!), and you’ll have more than enough chance to gather info on the dogs who are involved before you place your bet. Then, all you need to do is enjoy the race!

  Where’s Your Money?

  Greyhound Racing is so popular and meets are so well attended in Australia because it’s so exciting to watch, and because a night out at the track is so much fun. The dogs are fast, and that makes for both exciting and quick races. It’s popular with the punters, too – and as a punter you can approach a bet on the dogs in the same way that you would approach a bet on a horse race. Online bookmakers have really improved their service in recent years, and they’re your first port of call. Sites like Sportsbet, Luxbet, BetEasy, Sportingbet and Ladbrokes are some of the best out there – any site that has a specific Australian presence will cater to all your Australian Greyhound Racing needs. The most common bets are these:

  Win – simple and popular: just pick the dog who’s going to come home first!

  Place – pick a dog you think will finish first or second, and you’ll collect your winnings.

  Trifecta – name all the three runners, in any order, who will be the first three home.

  Quinella – pick the two dogs who will finish first and second, in any order.

  Exacta – as with the Quinella, you pick the first two runners home, but with the Exacta you have to pick the right order, too.

  First Four – name the first four runners home, in the correct order.

  Quaddie – to win a big prize on a Quaddie (and it will likely be a very big prize), you need to correctly identify the winners of four separate races named by the TAB.

  BIG6 – like the Quaddie, but even harder to land (and so even more lucrative), the BIG6 needs you to select the winners of six of the races named by the TAB.

  Where To Bet

  As we’ve said, for Australian Greyhound Racing you’re best off with an online bookmaker who caters directly to the Australian market – those are the sites that will have the best odds for the dogs, and they’ll offer you the most markets, as well. In fact, you can expect to see all the races going on all around the country covered by the bookmakers below:

  Sportsbet – arguably one of the very best betting sites in the world, Sportsbet offers a comprehensive betting service for everything from Alpine Skiing to Volleyball. And that includes Australian Greyhound Racing. This is our first stop for online betting.

  Luxbet – backed by Tabcorp, Luxbet is great for early markets and fixed bets on Greyhound Racing.

  Sportingbet – probably Australia’s biggest online bookmaker, and also one of the best around if you value a high level of customer service. Sportingbet lets you place all the Greyhound Racing bets you could ever want to.

  Ladbrokes – a new arrival in Australia with lots of work to do to establish themselves in the opinions of punters: and that means some great specials and one-off offers for you to make the most of.

  BetEasy – another new kid on the block with plenty to prove, BetEasy is Australia-owned and based, and will give you all the bets you’re after on Australian Greyhound Racing.

• Go to Greyhound Racing freebets.

Read more »20/08 by G Waldorf

AGRA National Distance Sprint Odds and Betting, tips, form and Final Field. Wentworth 24 August 2013

Zulu Zeus, Tomac Bale and Xylia Allen head the odds for the National Distance Sprint this Saturday at Wentworth

Read more »20/08 by G Waldorf

AGRA National Distance Final Odds and Betting, tips, form and Final Field. Wentworth 24 August 2013

Smart Valentino, Destini Fireball and Set Sail South head the odds for the National Distance Final this Saturday

Read more »26/07 by T J Dilfer

Greyhound Racing Australia online odds, tips, totes, live results. Bet on dogs at Sportsbet.com.au

Bet on Greyhounds in Australia online: odds, results, tips and totes

Read more »26/06 by G Waldorf

Australian Greyhound racing odds: Group and Listed races calendar for July 2013

Australia's biggest greyhound races: July calendar of races

• 1