2012 Belmont Stakes Field

Television: NBC, 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.; NBC Sports Network, 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

 6/8/12      How to Place an Exacta Box Bet on a Horse Race 

1   Choose the winners. An exacta consists of two parts: the horse that wins and the
horse that comes in second. When you box an exacta, it means that you can choose
as many horses as you want to come in first and second, and any combination of
those horses wins. The better the odds, the better the payout. Include whoever youthink has a chance of winning: maybe the favorite, maybe the second choice, ormaybe a long shot. Whoever it is, put them on top.

2   Decide who’s coming in second. You’ll need to handicap the race and figure who
will finish behind your winner. Will it be a leader who fades but holds on to second,
or maybe a closer who gets up for place? Either way, choose who has a chance of
coming in second and write them down.

3   Think strategy. An exacta box bet means that any two horses in your bet can finish
one-two and you win. So if you bet an exacta box using the 1, 2 and 3 horses, you
win if the results are any of the following: 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2. If your
horses come in first-third or second-third, you do not win. So think strategy when
you make your exacta box bet.This means that if you are going to include the
favorite at low odds, it won’t be worth it to include a lot of horses. Exacta boxes,
like straight exactas, come in the $1 or $2 form, and it’s $1 or $2 per combination
of horses. So a three-horse exacta costs either $6 or $12. With three horses, there
are six combinations, so it’s either 6 x $1 = $6 or 6 x $2 = $12.

4   Make your bet. When you go to the betting window, you should know the lingo so
you don’t slow the line down. Have your bet ready when you approach the window
and be ready to make your wager. Here is what you say: In the _____ (number of
race) at _____ (race track), I want a _____ ($1 or $2) exacta box with __, __ and
__ (say the program number of the horses you want to include).Remember, it’s
either $1 or $2 per combination of horses.

So a $1 exacta box would cost:

        2 horses= $2,  3 horses = $6,   4 horses = $24,   5 horses = $120, and so on … so have your money ready.