An exacta box is a way to bet on two or more horses to finish in first and second place in a race.

Whereas the straight exacta is a wager on two particular horses to finish in first and second place in that exact order, an exacta box bet can include more than two selections and covers every possible combination of those horses finishing first and second.

A two-horse exacta box functions similarly to a quinella in that it covers both possible outcomes for the selected horses finishing in first and second place. However, exacta box bets cost more, can pay more, and can include more than two horses to cover even more winning combinations.

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Exacta Box Example

To illustrate how an exacta box bet works, imagine a nine-horse race, and you have narrowed down horses #4, #5, and #7 as the likeliest first-second place finishers. If you’re not confident in narrowing down the results any further than that, you can place a 4-5-7 exacta box wager.

This 3-horse exacta box would cover all six possible combinations of those horses finishing in first and second place:

  • 4-5
  • 4-7
  • 5-4
  • 5-7
  • 7-4
  • 7-5

To put it simply, any two of the three selections need to finish in first and second place for your exacta to win.

Because this wager covers six combinations, it would be six times the cost of a single bet. In this case, a $1 wager would become $6. The more horses you add to an exacta box, the faster its cost grows because the number of winning combinations also multiplies.

How to Place an Exacta Box Bet Online

Boxing an exacta bet online is a lot like placing a standard exacta aside from a couple of minor adjustments along the way.

As with all horse racing wagers, boxing an exacta begins with logging in to your online racebook and selecting an upcoming race. Once you’ve chosen the race you want to bet on, you’ll see the race program with a list of horses, jockeys, trainers, track conditions, odds, a wagering menu, and much more.

The next step is to open the wagering menu and select “Exacta.” The layout may vary, but you’ll usually see all the betting options near the top of the page. Next, your racebook will display additional options to adjust the bet size, choose different types of exactas, and select horses. Racebooks always offer the straight exacta first, so you’ll need to use the secondary menu to select the “Box” option:

exacta box bet example 1

The last step is to select two or more horses for the exacta, while keeping in mind the cost of the wager. A $1 straight exacta with two horses costs $1.00, while a $1 box exacta with two horses costs $2.00 because it covers two combinations (1-2 and 2-1). Adding just one more horse bumps up the cost to $6.00, and it only gets more expensive from there.

So, use the wagering interface to keep track of your bet sizes. If your exacta starts to become uncomfortably expensive, you can try keying it instead to emphasize some horses over others and reduce the cost (see the next section for more on the exacta key box).

exacta box bet example 2

Exacta Box Bet Combinations And Costs

The following chart shows how the number of horses added to an exacta box changes the number of winning combinations and wager’s cost. The prices below reflect a minimum $1 base wager.

# of HorsesCombinationsExacta Box Cost
2 Horses2$2
3 Horses6$6
4 Horses12$12
5 Horses20$20
6 Horses30$30
7 Horses42$42

Betting With The Exacta Box

Exacta box bets are attractive to bettors because they are much easier to win than straight exactas but still provide healthy payout potential. Experienced horse racing handicappers have a hard enough time identifying the two best horses in a race, let alone predicting their exact finishing order.

Newer bettors who would like to venture beyond the basic straight bets should look into boxing an exacta. The wager is not terribly expensive, even with a handful of horses, and the payouts can be quite significant. By contrast, picking the exact finishing order of two horses in a straight exacta, trifecta, or even superfecta is exceedingly difficult even for skilled handicappers.

An exacta box bet is a great starting point to play with more advanced wagers without breaking the bankroll or dealing with overly complicated bets.

The main thing new bettors should keep in mind when using box exactas is that adding too many horses can make the cost exceed the payout even if one of the combinations does hit. It is not a pleasant experience to win a bet and still lose money with it.

Keying An Exacta Box Bet

Adding a key horse to an exacta box allows the bettor to emphasize their confidence in a particular horse while picking two or more horses to cover the second-place finish.

Consider another example, but this time you are seriously looking at horses #4, #5, #7, and #8. If you feel particularly confident in horse #4 winning but are not as sure about the others for the second-place spot, you can key horse #4 to take first place and cover the remaining horses to finish in second place.

This bet would cover all of the following outcomes:

  • 4-5
  • 4-7
  • 4-8

The result is a wager that wins if #4 finishes in first place and any of the other selections (#5, #7, and #8) take second place. This bet costs half as much as the three-horse exacta box and still provides a sizable payout as long as #4 comes in first.

Exacta Box Bet FAQ

An exacta box is a horse racing bet that covers all possible outcomes on the selected horses to take first and second place. It can include two or more horses and differs from straight exactas because it covers every possible winning combination.

For example, a straight exacta only wins if the bettor selects the first and second place finishers in the correct order. In contrast, a two-horse exacta box covers both possible outcomes (1-2 and 2-1). Similarly, a three-horse exacta box covers every possible combination in which two of the three selected horses can finish the race in first and second place. The thing to keep in mind is the exacta box cost rises quickly as bettors add selections.

First, note that a quinella involves selecting two horses to win a race and it pays regardless of their finishing order. A straight exacta also involves selecting two horses, but it only pays if the bettors get the exact order correct.

An exacta box bet accomplishes the same thing as a quinella by covering every possible combination. For example, a 2-horse exacta covers two outcomes: 1-2 and 2-1. One difference is that exacta box bets cost more because they have to cover every winning combination to win the underlying exacta (where the order matters). However, bettors can still approximate a quinella by reducing the base wager of their exacta wager. If you want to place the equivalent of a $2 quinella, place a $1 two-horse exacta.

Few US racetracks offer quinella bets, so bettors often use exactas to accomplish the same goal. For example, fans can box Kentucky Derby exactas to bet on two horses they view as equally likely to win even though Churchill Downs doesn’t offer quinellas.

Exacta box bets are handy for bettors who have a favorable view of two or more horses but can’t decide the finishing order. In that case, the bettor can box an exacta to cover all possible finishing orders.

Exacta box bet payouts are identical to standard exacta payouts. An exacta box bet is essentially multiple exactas rolled into a single wager, so winning an exacta box horse racing wager results in an identical payout. However, exacta box bets cost significantly more than straight exactas, so the ROI is lower.