Quaddies Explained

Quaddie Bet Explained

A quaddie bet can provide very lucrative dividends to punters that make a series of correct predictions on nominated races at the same track. This guide explains what a quaddie bet entails, how the dividends are calculated and the steps you can take to place a quaddie today.

What is a Quaddie Bet?

A quaddie bet is short for quadrella. It requires you to pick the winning horse in four nominated races at the same track on a particular day.
The races featured within a quaddie bet are normally consecutive. If you correctly guess the winner of each race, you will be paid out a dividend.

How Does a Quaddie Work?

A quaddie is an exotic bet that requires you to predict the winning horse in each of the four nominated races. A standard quaddie bet is placed on the final four races of an eight-race program at a particular track. For example, you could predict the winner of races 5, 6, 7 and 8 at Flemington.
However, you can sometimes place an “early quaddie” bet on the initial races at selected meetings, and some quaddies also run in the middle of race programs too.
You need to pick at least one horse for each race. If you were to select just a single horse in each of the four races, that would leave you with one combination. A $1 unit stake would therefore result in a total bet cost of $1.
However, it is difficult to predict the winner of four consecutive races, so most punters make several selections for each race. They then place a series of quadrella combinations on those selections.

Quaddie Bet Examples

You can select multiple horses in each race and place a series of combinations on them. You will still earn a profit if one of the combinations proves to be correct, provided you do not add too many horses.
For example, let’s say you want to place a quaddie bet at Caulfield. You might decide to select three horses for Leg 1 of your quaddie bet (Race 5) – the favourite, the second favourite and a promising roughie. For Leg 2 (Race 6), you might opt for two horses that you believe to be stronger than the field. You could then choose three horses for Leg 3 (Race 7) and four horses for Leg 4 (Race 8).
That would result in 72 different combinations. A standard unit stake of $1 would therefore lead to a total bet cost of $72. You would earn a profit if one of your 72 combinations proved to be correct and if the dividend was greater than $72.
Your chances of success increase with every additional horse you add. You can also choose the field in certain races, meaning you cover every horse. However, it is a delicate balancing act, because the total bet cost could outweigh the eventual dividend if you add a very large number of horses.
For example, let’s say you click on six horses for Race 5, seven horses for race 6, five horses for Race 7 and six horses for Race 8. That would lead to 1,260 combinations, so a $1 unit stake would result in a total bet amount of $1,260. If one of those 1,260 combinations proved to be correct, but the dividend was lower than $1,260, you would incur an overall loss.
Lots of punters opt for a sweet spot of three or four selections per race. That allows them to hedge their bets by covering a few options in each race, but it does not result in too many combinations. However, the beauty of the quaddie bet is the flexibility it affords you.

What is a Flexi Quaddie?

A standard unit stake on a quaddie bet is $1. That means you receive 100% of the dividend as a payout if one of your combinations proves to be correct. If you were to bet a $1 unit stake and the dividend paid $5,120.50, you would receive $5,120.50.
However, you can also bet a fraction of the standard unit stake to keep your costs down. That is known as a flexi quaddie. For example, you might choose to make your unit stake $0.50 instead of $1. That would mean you receive $2,560.25 instead of the full $5,120.50.
However, it means your total bet cost will not be so high if you add lots of selections to your quaddie. For example, let’s say you make four selections in Race 5, three selections in Race 6, four in Race 7 and three in Race 8. That leads to 144 combinations. If you do not wish to bet $144, you could place a flexi quaddie for a $0.20 stake, resulting in a total bet amount of $28.80.

Quaddie Bet Dividends

All the money wagered on a quaddie goes into a pool. The racetracks and the industry take a small cut, and the pool is then divided among punters with winning tickets.
The size of the pool and the number of winning tickets determine the dividend that the quaddie pays. It tends to be larger when less popular horses win certain races. The dividend for every $1 wagered on the quaddie will then be revealed. This is pari-mutuel betting.
If you bet $1 and one of your combinations was successful, you would receive the full dividend. If you only bet a 10% flexi quaddie, you would receive a tenth of the dividend. If you happened to bet $10, you would receive 10 times the dividend.

Famous Quaddie Bets

The largest quaddie bet dividend on record is the $1,391,968 payout on MacKinnon Stakes Day in 2007. It began when $101 roughie Tears I Cry saluted in the Group 1 MacKinnon Stakes, which was known at the time as the Emirates Stakes.
Hidden Strings, a $51 outsider, won the second race, followed by Zavite ($14) in the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. The final race went to a photo finish between Montechoro ($15) and Muzdaher ($10), and Montechoro was ultimately declared the winner. That unlikely combination of winners resulted in the $1,391,968 dividend in NSW and a $1,198,15.80 dividend in Victoria.
The winners earned a percentage as opposed to the full dividend. In Melbourne, friends Chris Grayling and Jonathan Paul won $188,000 after choosing four horses from each race. They went for Tears I Cry, Hidden Strings and Zavite. They also had Montechoro, but not Muzdaher, so they were delighted by the result of the final race.
In 2021, there was another huge dividend at Flemington. Star of the Seas ($4.20 win), Lunar Fox ($172.20), Capriccio ($53.80) and Chaillot ($3.90) all saluted, resulting in a dividend of $549,335 in NSW. One punter placed a $70 total bet amount for 6.66% of the quaddie dividend, resulting in a $36,621.97 payout.

How to Bet a Quaddie

Visit the racing section at Topsport.com.au and click on any Australian track to see a list of betting options on that day’s race program. “Quadrella” is the final option on the toolbar menu at the top of the page. Click on it to see a list of horses running in Race 5 (Leg 1). You can either click “Field” to select every horse or click the boxes next to individual runners to add them to your bet.
Then click on “Leg 2 – Race 6” to repeat the process, followed by “Leg 3 – Race 7” and “Leg 4 – Race 8”. When you have made your selections, it will tell you the number of combinations. Enter a unit stake, and you will be informed of the total bet cost. You can then click “Add To Betslip”.
The betslip will then appear to the right of the page, reminding you of the unit stake and the total bet amount. You can change it at this point if you like. The potential return will be “TBD”, as it depends on the dividend payout. Click to confirm the bet, and any winnings will be credited to your account if you succeed.

Quaddie Bet FAQs

How are quaddies calculated?
A quaddie bet is calculated on a pari-mutuel basis. All the money wagered on the quadrella goes into a pool. The industry takes a small cut, and the remainder is divided up among punters with winning tickets. You will see a dividend on the board for every $1 wagered on the quaddie, and you can multiply that dividend by your stake to calculate your return.

Where can I place a horse racing quaddie bet?
You can visit Topsport.com.au to place a horse racing quaddie bet today. Choose a track and click on the “Quadrella” option to see a list of the four races covered. You can then select the winner of each race to form your quaddie bet.

How much do quaddies usually pay?
The payout you will receive varies from one quaddie bet to the next. Dividends per $1 can go into six figures or even seven figures. The record for a quaddie was $1,391,968 on Mackinnon Stakes Day at Flemington back in 2007, but they are usually a lot smaller than that.

What is an early quaddie?
This is just like the normal quaddie bet, but it is available on the earlier races at a select series of meetings. It can apply to all codes. The concept is the same as a standard bet: choose the winner of four nominated races and earn a large dividend if successful.