An emergency runner in horse racing is a horse accepted for a race as a reserve: it gets a start only if a horse in the field is scratched in time for it to come in. Once the scratching deadline has passed, the Australian Rules of Racing give the Stewards a discretion to let the next available emergency in, if they permit a scratching before the final list of scratchings is released (AR 58).
Emergencies are listed with the field on the race card, which how to bet on horse racing shows how to read. When a race is oversubscribed, the ballot decides which horses get a start in the first place.
The deadline for emergencies to come in
Before the scratching deadline, a scratching normally makes room for the next emergency. Racing Australia lists the race-morning times by state (local time, checked October 2026):
| Where | Interim scratchings close | Final scratchings |
|---|---|---|
| NSW, Victoria, SA, Tasmania, ACT, Queensland TAB meetings | 7:30 am | 7:45 am |
| Queensland non-TAB meetings | 7:45 am | 8:00 am |
| Northern Territory | 8:00 am | 8:15 am |
It lists a single 8:00 am time for Western Australia. In the 15 minutes between the two times, Racing Australia says, an emergency can still gain a start if there is a late scratching. In NSW, riders for emergencies must be declared by 9:30 am on race day (LR 35), and night meetings take scratchings until 10:00 am (LR 36A). A horse withdrawn after final scratchings is a late scratching that leaves a gap, not a replacement.
How bets on emergencies settle
- Fixed odds: under Queensland's Wagering Rule, a runner that is not scratched but does not become a starter counts as a late scratching, and a win or place bet on one struck after final acceptances is refunded (s 37(7)). Read plainly, that includes an emergency that misses out. NSW's Rules of Betting are plainer still for on-course bets: a bet struck after final acceptances on a horse that never comes under starter's orders is off, stake returned (BR 10(a)). An all-in futures bet on it is not refunded.
- Tote: under the 2010 WA-gazetted rules, any withdrawal before the start is a scratching, so a bet on an emergency that does not run is refunded, and in a quaddie or double the pick moves to the substitute.
- Online bookmakers set their own rules for runners listed as emergencies, so check yours before betting on one; horse racing betting shows whose rules apply where.
What an emergency does to the market
When an emergency replaces a scratched runner, one runner's chance leaves the market and another's joins. With illustrative prices, implied chance = 1 / price:
| Scratched runner | Emergency that comes in | Net change in chance | The rest of the field |
|---|---|---|---|
| $4.00 (25.0%) | $11.00 (9.1%) | 25.0 - 9.1 = 15.9 points leave | Prices shorten |
| $25.00 (4.0%) | $11.00 (9.1%) | 9.1 - 4.0 = 5.1 points join | Prices lengthen |
So bookmakers re-price the whole race when an emergency gets in, and a fixed-odds bet struck before the change can be settled under the deduction rules in scratchings and deductions.
Watching the field change
When an emergency gets in, the Terminal's price history (flucs) records the moves runner by runner. It sets prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports beside Betfair back and lay, refreshed on a repeating cycle, so a price on screen can trail the bookmaker's own; confirm it in your account before betting. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them. Betfair is a trade mark of its owner, and B337 is not affiliated with it.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A bet on an emergency can be refunded, lost all in, or left running in a re-priced field, depending on the rules. See responsible gambling for limits and support.