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Strategy guide

Swing trading pre-race markets

Taking larger positions on bigger price moves, and managing the wider swings.

Swing traders look for bigger moves than scalpers: several ticks or a meaningful percentage of the price, over minutes rather than seconds. The trade-off is fewer opportunities and larger adverse moves while you wait.

Setting targets and exits

Decide both the target and the exit in ticks before you enter. Use the back-to-lay calculator to see what each target is worth after commission, and the green-up calculator to see the cost of closing out if the price turns.

Reading the market's history

How far horses typically move in the final 15 minutes varies by course, race type and field size. Our race and course pages record the price at 15, 10, 5 and 1 minutes before the off for every GB and Irish race, so you can check what's normal before you trade.

Tools for this

18+. Trading on exchanges carries real risk and many people lose money. Set limits before you start. Support: BeGambleAware, GAMSTOP.