Exacta, trifecta and superfecta bets
An exacta asks for the first two finishers in a race in exact order, a trifecta the first three and a superfecta the first four. A quinella asks for the first two in either order. They pay far more than a win bet because they are far harder to hit, and the cost of a ticket grows quickly with every horse you add.
Four bets, one idea
Each of these bets has its own pari-mutuel pool, just like the win pool. The track takes its share, and the money left is split among the tickets that have the right horses in the right places.
Say the exacta pool on a race is $40,000 and the takeout is 20 percent (an example; the track publishes its own, and on these bets it is usually higher than on win, place and show). That leaves $32,000. If $1,600 was bet on the combination that comes in, each $1 on it gets back $20. A $2 exacta ticket pays $40, and a $1 ticket pays $20. Nobody knows that figure until the race is over, any more than they know the win price.
Here is what you are up against in an ordinary field of eight horses:
| Bet | What it needs | Possible results with 8 horses |
|---|---|---|
| Quinella | first two, either order | 28 |
| Exacta | first two, in order | 56 |
| Trifecta | first three, in order | 336 |
| Superfecta | first four, in order | 1,680 |
The quinella is the easy one, and not every track offers it. The superfecta is the one people remember, because a few cents can turn into a few thousand dollars. At 1,680 possible results, it should.
Straight, boxed or keyed
How to bet a trifecta, or any of these, comes down to how many combinations you buy. A straight ticket is one combination: 4 over 7 over 2, in that order, and nothing else. A box covers every order of the horses you name. A key puts one horse in one spot and lets the others fill the rest. A wheel, or part-wheel, names a set of horses for each position.
Each combination costs one base stake, and most of these bets can be played for $1 a combination (some tracks take superfectas for as little as 10 cents, which pays a tenth of the $1 price). The table is for $1.
| Ticket | Combinations | Cost at $1 |
|---|---|---|
| Exacta box, 3 horses | 6 | $6 |
| Exacta box, 4 horses | 12 | $12 |
| Trifecta box, 4 horses | 24 | $24 |
| Trifecta box, 5 horses | 60 | $60 |
| Superfecta box, 5 horses | 120 | $120 |
| Superfecta box, 6 horses | 360 | $360 |
The rule behind it: an exacta box of n horses is n times (n minus 1), a trifecta box multiplies in (n minus 2) as well, and a superfecta box (n minus 3) on top of that.
A part-wheel is where a ticket starts to say something. Say you think horse 1 or horse 2 wins, second goes to the other of those two or to horse 3 or 4, and third to any of the four still left or to horse 5. That is 1, 2 over 1, 2, 3, 4 over 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Put horse 1 on top and there are 3 horses left for second and 3 for third, so 9 combinations. The same again with horse 2 on top makes 18, or $18 at $1. A box of all five horses would cost $60 and spend most of its money on orders you don't believe in.
At the window, call it in this order: the race, the amount, the bet, then the horses. "Sixth race, $1 trifecta box, 3, 5, 8." On a wheel, say the positions out loud, first, second and third, and read the ticket back before you walk away.
The trouble with a box
A box feels safe, and that is what you are paying for. A $1 exacta box of three horses costs $6 and, if it hits, pays one $1 exacta. The other five combinations lose. If you were sure of the order, the same $6 on the one combination would pay six times as much. The box is a fee for not knowing.
I don't mind the fee when you really can't separate the horses. What I'd avoid is boxing by habit. If you have one horse you like best, a key or a part-wheel spends your money on what you actually think. How to bet on the Kentucky Derby works a keyed trifecta through in a 20-horse field.
The quinella against the exacta box is a sum worth doing. A $2 quinella on two horses and a $1 exacta box of the same two both cost $2 and both cash whichever of them wins. The quinella pays the $2 quinella price. The box pays the $1 exacta price, which is half the $2 one. So the box is the better buy only when the $2 exacta pays more than twice the $2 quinella. Where the track shows probable payouts before the race, look before you choose.
Scratches and small fields
If a horse on your ticket is scratched, most tracks refund the combinations that include it and keep the rest of the ticket alive, but the rules differ by track and by bet, so I'd read them before building a big ticket around one horse. Some tracks won't offer a trifecta or superfecta at all when the field is too small, and in a short field the payouts shrink anyway, because there are fewer orders to spread the money over.
What they cost you over time
The takeout on these pools is usually higher than on win bets, so the bettors as a group get back less of each dollar. A ticket that hits one race in twenty also needs a bankroll that can sit through nineteen losers without flinching. I'd stake less on exotics than on win bets, not more, and keep records of them separately, because they are where most players lose without noticing. The rest of the thinking is on horse racing betting strategies, and how the pools are priced is on how horse racing odds work.
The big payout is real. So are the nineteen tickets in the bin that paid for it.