Starting price explained: what SP means and how it is set

What does SP mean in horse racing?

SP stands for starting price, the official price of a runner at the moment the race starts, and a bet placed at SP is settled at that price rather than at any price available earlier in the day.

On a betting slip, SP means you have not taken a fixed price. If you bet £10 at SP and the horse wins at 7/2, you are paid at 7/2, whatever the price was when you placed the bet. The SP is also the price recorded in results and form, so it is the standard reference for how the market rated each horse.

The favourite in form statistics is the horse with the shortest starting price, and joint favourites are possible when two or more share it. Results show the SP next to each runner, often with a marker such as F for favourite, JF for joint favourite and CF for co-favourite when three or more share the shortest price.

Who decides the starting price in British racing?

British starting prices are returned under the oversight of the Starting Price Regulatory Commission, using a sample of bookmakers' prices at the off, and the returned price is close to the middle of the sampled prices for each horse.

For decades the SP came from the on-course bookmakers' boards, sampled by independent returners at the racecourse. When racing was held behind closed doors in 2020, returns moved to a sample of off-course bookmakers' prices, and in 2022 the Commission set out rules for which bookmakers can supply prices. The on-course market now accounts for only a small share of racing betting, which is why the method changed.

The key point for anyone reading results is that the SP reflects the whole market at the off, not one bookmaker's price. It can differ from the best price available in the final minutes, which is often bigger for outsiders.

Should you take a fixed price or the starting price?

Take a fixed price when you think the horse will shorten, and leave it to SP when you expect it to drift, unless the bookmaker pays the bigger of the two under a best odds concession.

A fixed price, also called an early price or board price, locks in the odds at the time of the bet. If the horse is heavily backed and starts at a shorter price, you are paid at the bigger price you took. If it drifts, you are stuck with the shorter price. Best odds concessions remove the downside on eligible bets by paying the SP if it is bigger than the price taken.

One detail matters with fixed prices: if a horse is withdrawn late, a Rule 4 deduction can reduce winnings on bets struck before the withdrawal, while SP bets are affected only if the withdrawal came too late for a new market to form.

How does the industry SP compare with Betfair SP?

Betfair SP is worked out separately from the exchange market at the off, and for most horses beyond the first few in the betting it is bigger than the industry SP, though winnings are subject to exchange commission.

The gap is small for favourites and grows for outsiders, because bookmakers' margins are loaded more heavily on longer-priced horses. That is why results can show a horse at 20/1 SP with a Betfair SP of 30 or more. Form data that stores both prices lets you judge how strongly the market supported a horse on two different measures.

Does a late withdrawal affect a bet at starting price?

Usually not, because the SP market re-forms after a withdrawal, but if a horse is withdrawn at the start with no time to form a new market, a Rule 4 deduction applies to SP bets as well as to fixed-price bets.

When a runner is withdrawn early enough, bookmakers reprice the race and the SP reflects the smaller field, so SP bets are paid in full. When a horse refuses to enter the stalls or gets loose at the start, the market cannot re-form, and the deduction is applied to all bets on the remaining runners. The size of the deduction depends on the withdrawn horse's price.

Why is the starting price used in form and statistics?

Public racing records and results from Britain and Ireland.

Statistics such as favourite win rates, win rate by price and actual versus expected all start from the SP. The table on this page splits favourites into odds-on and odds-against over the same ten seasons.

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