Belmont Stakes 2015: What is a Superfecta?

Looking to make an exotic wager on the Belmont Stakes? We have you covered with an explanation of the biggest bet of all.

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The superfecta is the mother of exotic wagers in horse racing. The payouts are almost always huge, with five figures being common and six figures not outside the realm of possibility – especially on big days like the Kentucky Derby or the Belmont Stakes when a horse is vying for the Triple Crown.

For example, the superfecta payout for the 2007 Kentucky Derby, which was won by shot Street Sense, was $29,046 on a $2 ticket. In 2005, when it was won by 50-1 shot Giacomo, the $1 payoff was a ridiculous $864,253.20.

You should be convinced by now that playing the superfecta is definitely worth it, especially if you know what you’re doing. First off all, the superfecta, like the trifecta and exacta, involves betting that a certain amount of horses will finish in the right order. Whereas a trifecta picks the first three finishers, the superfecta picks the first four finishers. Much like other exotics, the superfecta is normally a $1 bet. However, in recent years, some tracks have lowered the minimum superfecta bet to as low as 10 cents.

The key with superfectas, as with a trifecta, is to cover as many of the likely outcomes as possible without spending a million bucks. So likewise, another key is to have strong feelings towards at least one of the horses in your bet, and preferably two. This is important because in an eight horse field such as the 2015 Belmont Stakes, there are 1,680 possible combinations of a winning superfecta. Let’s take a look at some of the ways to bet a superfecta.

The simplest is the straight superfecta. This is where you bet, for example, horses 5, 3, 6, 8 to finish first, second, third and fourth in that order. Obviously predicting this type of finish is extremely difficult, more like a lottery ticket than a horse race. So the next possiblity is the superfecta box. This is where you bet horses 5, 3, 6, 8 to finish in any order in the top four finishers. Boxing four horses like this for a $1 wager offers 24 possible combinations and thus costs $24. You can also box more than four horses, but beyond four and it gets expensive quickly. Adding only one more horses makes it a $120 ticket.

The only way you’d want to make a large superfecta box bet is if you either had money to throw away or were extremely certain that one or two favorites were going to finish out of the money, thus upping the pot and making it worth it.

The superfecta wheel is more cost effecient than the box and relies on some good handicapping. For example, let’s say you like the 3 horse to finish first or second and you can narrow the rest of the field to five possible contenders. You could play 3 to finish first or second over the remaining five. Using this method, you could put in the 3 to finish first and then any of the other five to finish second, third and fourth. This creates 60 total combinations for a cost of $60.

Whatever you choose, it’s going to be hard to leave American Pharoah out of this one.