Quinella Box Bet: How Boxing Quinella Wagers Works

The quinella box bet is a variation of the straight quinella that allows bettors to select three or more horses to finish in first and second place in any order.

A quinella box bet comes in handy when the bettor is sure three or more horses are head-and-shoulders above the rest of the field in a race but isn’t quite sure which two are the likeliest to win. With the quinella box, the bettor can pick three or more horses to ensure a win if any two of the selections finish the race in first and second place in any order.

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Quinella Box Betting Example

Where the straight quinella is limited to two horses who must win and place in any order, the quinella box can involve three, four, or more horses. For example, a quinella box on horses #2, #3, and #4 would win in each of the following outcomes:

• 2-3 or 3-2
• 3-4 or 4-3
• 2-4 or 4-2

In this example, the bettor was able to pick three horses and ensure a win if any two of the three take first and second place in any order. Another way to think of it is combining several quinellas into one ticket. In the example above, the bettor has essentially placed three quinellas: one on horses 2-3, another on horses 3-4, and a third on horses 2-4.

For a second example, consider a race in which the bettor likes four horses and wants to box them all in a quinella so that the bet wins if any two of the four horses finish in first and second place.

If the bettor in this example likes horses 5, 6, 7, and 8, he would visit the teller to request a “$2 quinella on the #5, #6, #7, and #8 horses.” If betting online, the bettor would simply login and build the bet by selecting quinella and adding horses to his selection.

This bet would cost $12 and it would win in each of the following 1^st-2^nd place outcomes:

• 5-6 or 6-5
• 5-7 or 7-5
• 5-8 or 8-5
• 6-7 or 7-6
• 6-8 or 8-6
• 7-8 or 8-7

How to Place a Quinella Box Bet Online

Although quinella box bets are a step up in complexity from straight quinellas, they’re still very easy to place at any quality horse racing betting site. As we noted in our quinella guide, the biggest sticking point is finding a track that accepts quinellas in the first place.

Bettors can place quinella box bets online the easiest by logging in to the betting site of their choice and choosing non-US tracks. International tracks are the most likely to offer quinellas, while US tracks rarely offer quinellas. Once you find a track that supports quinella box bets, placing the wager is simple.

First, visit the race program and use the betting menu to select quinella wagers. Next, you’ll see an options menu for the straight, box, and wheel quinellas. Select “box” and then add as many selection as you want. The racebook should also automatically update the cost of the wager so you can see how much you’re spending based on the number of selections you’ve added to the ticket.

In this example, we have selected a quinella and made three selections. The base cost is $1.00, which covers two horses for a straight quinella. Since we’ve added one selection and increased the number of winning combinations, this bet will cost us $3.00. See the next section for more on box quinella pricing.

Calculating The Cost Of Boxed Quinella Bets

A $2 quinella box bet involving three horses would cost the bettor $6 while a $2 quinella box on four horses would cost $12. As the number of winning combinations increases, so too does the cost of the wager.

The simple way to calculate the cost of a quinella box bet is to multiply the number of horses in the box by itself minus one. For example, calculating the cost of a three-horse quinella box (3×2) yields a $6 total cost on a standard $2 base wager. Likewise, a four-horse box (4×3) would cost $12.

The most important thing to consider when looking at the cost of a boxed quinella bet is how much the bettor stands to win. There’s nothing stopping a bettor from adding every horse in a race to a quinella box, but the cost of the wager would exceed any potential winnings.

In most cases, bettors tend to stick with three to four-horse quinella box bets to keep costs down and make the bet worthwhile.

The cost of a quinella box bet rises rapidly as more horses are added to the ticket:

• $2 quinella with 3 horses: $6
• $2 quinella with 4 horses: $12
• $2 quinella with 5 horses: $20
• $2 quinella with 6 horses: $30
• $2 quinella with 7 horses: $42
• $2 quinella with 8 horses: $56

Quinella Box Bets FAQ