An early quaddie is a second quaddie on the same race card, run over four earlier races than the main one. It is built the same way: one or more runners in each of four legs, and every leg needs a winner on your ticket.
Racing NSW's reference manual, last updated March 2025, says the main quaddie is usually the last four races of the day and that an early quadrella is offered on the four races before it. Both sit among the exotics in horse racing betting.
Which races the early quaddie covers
The legs are nominated meeting by meeting, so this table shows only the usual pattern, on illustrative cards:
| Races on the card | Early quaddie | Main quaddie |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Races 1 to 4 | Races 5 to 8 |
| 9 | Races 2 to 5 | Races 6 to 9 |
| 10 | Races 3 to 6 | Races 7 to 10 |
On that pattern the two never share a race. A meeting can differ, so read the legs shown in the form guide or on the bet slip, and check your bookmaker's terms if you take the bet there rather than on the tote.
Same cost maths as the main quaddie
combinations = runners in leg 1 x leg 2 x leg 3 x leg 4
With 3, 2, 5 and 2 runners, 3 x 2 x 5 x 2 = 60 combinations: $60 at $1 a combination, or $18 as a flexi of 18 / 60 x 100 = 30%. If it lands at an illustrative $366.40 per $1, the $18 ticket returns $366.40 x 0.30 = $109.92. The quaddie calculator counts any ticket.
The tote rules Racing and Wagering Western Australia adopted, as gazetted on 3 August 2010, define a quaddie as four races at one meeting and have no separate rules for an early one. A scratched pick moves to a substitute, and dead heats and abandoned legs settle as in any quaddie; quaddie betting works through each case.
Separate pools and separate dividends
Each quaddie on a card is its own pool, with its own commission, dividend and jackpot pool (rule 13.6). With illustrative dividends on one 10-race card:
| Early quaddie | Main quaddie | |
|---|---|---|
| Legs | Races 3 to 6 | Races 7 to 10 |
| Ticket must be on by | The jump of race 3 | The jump of race 7 |
| Dividend per $1 | $1,206.50 | $88.40 |
A long-priced winner in the early legs can lift one dividend while favourites in the late legs hold the other down. The two settle independently, so a winning early quaddie changes nothing about the main one, and nothing rolls from one into the next as it would in an all up. How to split a budget between them is covered in quaddie strategy.
Two quaddies, one set of race prices
The Terminal lines up prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports, though not every bookmaker prices every race, and its meeting tabs switch between the races at that track, with a countdown to the jump. Neither quaddie's dividend can be compared in advance.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Two quaddies on one card are two tickets that each need four winners, and either can land on favourites and return less than it cost. See responsible gambling for limits and support.