An exacta bet pays if the two runners you name finish first and second in that exact order. Each order is its own combination: a straight exacta covers one, both orders of a pair take two, and a 3-runner box takes six, $6 at $1 a combination. Under the tote rules Racing and Wagering Western Australia adopted (WA Government Gazette No. 149, 3 August 2010), your two selections must fill first and second "in the order specified".
Naming the order is what you pay for. On the same pair, an exacta in the right order should pay more than a quinella, which pays either way round, and it returns nothing when your two finish the other way. It belongs to the exotics family covered on the horse racing betting hub.
Exacta box costs
A box covers every order of the runners in it:
box combinations = n x (n - 1)
Box Runners 1, 6 and 10 and you hold six orders: 1 then 6, 1 then 10, 6 then 1, 6 then 10, 10 then 1, and 10 then 6. At $1 a combination the ticket costs $6.
| Runners boxed | Combinations | Cost at $1 | Flexi on a $4 outlay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | $2 | 200% |
| 3 | 6 | $6 | 66.7% |
| 4 | 12 | $12 | 33.3% |
| 5 | 20 | $20 | 20% |
| 6 | 30 | $30 | 13.3% |
An exacta box always costs twice the quinella box on the same runners, because every pair appears in both orders: 4 runners make 6 quinella pairs and 12 exacta orders. A trifecta box adds a third place, n x (n - 1) x (n - 2), which for 3 runners also comes to 6.
Standouts for a strong opinion
A standout fixes one runner in one position and lets your other picks fill the other. For m runners beside it:
exacta standout combinations = m
Say you expect Runner 9 to win and think Runners 2, 5 or 12 could run second. With illustrative tickets:
| Ticket | Combinations | Cost at $1 | Lands when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runner 9 to win, 2, 5 or 12 second | 1 x 3 = 3 | $3 | 9 wins and one of the three runs second |
| 2, 5 or 12 to win, Runner 9 second | 3 x 1 = 3 | $3 | 9 runs second behind one of the three |
| Runner 9 first or second with the three | 3 + 3 = 6 | $6 | 9 and one of the three fill the first two |
| Box of 2, 5, 9 and 12 | 4 x 3 = 12 | $12 | Two of the four finish first and second, in either order |
The first ticket costs a quarter of the box because it spends nothing on orders you do not believe in, such as 5 then 12. The second suits a runner you expect to finish close without winning. The third covers the same results as a quinella standout on those runners, at two units a pair.
Exacta vs quinella on the same pair, worked
With illustrative dividends for Runners 4 and 11 of $9.80 for the quinella, $16.60 for the exacta 4 then 11 and $24.20 for 11 then 4, here is $10 spent three ways:
| $10 on | 4 wins, 11 second | 11 wins, 4 second | Any other result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quinella on 4 and 11 | $10 x 9.80 = $98.00 | $98.00 | $0 |
| Exacta 4 then 11 | $10 x 16.60 = $166.00 | $0 | $0 |
| Both exacta orders, $5 each | $5 x 16.60 = $83.00 | $5 x 24.20 = $121.00 | $0 |
Two rules fall out of the table. Covering both orders beats the quinella only in an order whose exacta dividend is more than twice the quinella's: 2 x $9.80 = $19.60, which the $24.20 order clears and the $16.60 order does not.
A one-way exacta beats the quinella on average only if you are sure enough of the order. Divide the quinella dividend by the exacta dividend: 9.80 / 16.60 = 59.0%. Unless Runner 4 beats Runner 11 in more than 59.0% of the races where the pair fills the first two, the quinella is the better bet. For 11 then 4 the bar is 9.80 / 24.20 = 40.5%.
The two dividends come from separate pools and move with the approximates until the jump, so the bars move too. Quinella betting covers the quinella's own costs.
Risk: Betting involves risk. The 59.0% bar rests on dividends that are not known until they are declared, and an exacta on one order loses outright when the pair finishes the other way round. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Flexi at a small outlay
Flexi lets you pay a fraction of a ticket's full cost and be paid that same fraction of any dividend it lands:
flexi % = outlay / combinations x 100
$5 on a 4-runner box of 12 combinations is 5 / 12 x 100 = 41.7%, about 42c on each order. With illustrative dividends:
| Ticket | Flexi | Lands at $31.40 | Lands at $9.60 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 on a 4-runner box, 12 combinations | 41.7% | $31.40 x 5 / 12 = $13.08 | $9.60 x 5 / 12 = $4.00 |
| $5 on a standout with three, 3 combinations | 166.7% | $31.40 x 5 / 3 = $52.33 | $9.60 x 5 / 3 = $16.00 |
When both land on the same result, the box collects 3 / 12, a quarter, of what the standout collects, and at $9.60 it returns less than its $5. At 41.7%, the box gets its $5 back only at a dividend of $12.00 or more, one dollar for each of its 12 combinations.
Whether an exacta can be a flexi bet is the operator's decision. Under the 2010 gazetted rules, flexi beyond the trifecta, first four, quaddie and Big 6 is the operator's choice. Racing NSW's reference manual (last updated March 2025) includes exactas in its list of flexi bets. The flexi calculator works out the percentage for any box or standout.
Where you can bet an exacta
The exacta is a tote pool, and under the 2010 rules it runs on any race with at least 2 runners (rule 10.2). Some bookmakers take exactas too, paying a tote dividend under their own terms or quoting a price of their own, and those terms decide how scratchings, dead heats and any limits work. Read them before assuming the bet settles like the tote.
A fixed-price same race multi can cover the same results: a win leg on Runner 9 with a top-two leg on Runner 2 pays out on the same finishes as the exacta 9 then 2, at a price fixed when you bet. Weigh that price against a bookmaker's own fixed exacta price, or against the tote approximate, which keeps moving until betting closes, so the declared dividend can differ.
NSW on-course bookmakers work under a stricter rule. Racing NSW's Local Rules bar them from betting "one, two", one horse to win and another to run second. They may bet a quinella, the favourite and another horse to finish first and second in either order, only on an odds-on favourite whose price is displayed or with Racing NSW's special permission (LR 91(t)).
Scratchings and dead heats in an exacta
On the tote a scratched runner takes its combinations with it. Under the 2010 rules the part of a bet covering a scratched selection is refunded (rules 9.1 and 9.4(a)), and the rest stands at the same flexi percentage. There is no substitute.
Example: Illustrative. Runner 5 is scratched from the $3 standout of Runner 9 to win with 2, 5 or 12 second. The 9 then 5 combination comes back as $1, and the ticket runs on as 9 then 2 and 9 then 12 for $2. Had Runner 9 been scratched, every combination would include it and the whole $3 would come back.
The same rules share the pool on a dead heat. A dead heat for first pays the units on the two dead-heaters in either order out of the one pool (rule 12.7(a)), so 4 then 11 and 11 then 4 both collect. With a dead heat for second, the pool is cut into equal shares, one per backed combination of the winner followed by a dead-heater (rule 12.7(g)). A bookmaker's fixed-odds exacta follows its own terms on both.
Mistakes with straight and boxed tickets
- Boxing a pair when you are sure of the order. Half of a box backs the order you rate less likely. If c is the chance of 4 then 11 once the pair fills the first two, $10 on that order averages $166.00 x c, and $5 on each order averages $83.00 x c + $121.00 x (1 - c). The straight bet is ahead only when c is above 121 / 204 = 59.3%.
- Taking a straight exacta on a coin-flip order. If each order is equally likely, exacta 4 then 11 averages 0.5 x $16.60 = $8.30 per $1 when the pair fills the first two, $1.50 less than the $9.80 quinella.
- Spreading a small outlay across a big box. $6 across all 30 orders of a 6-runner box leaves 20c on each, so it needs a dividend of at least $30.00 just to return the $6.
- Overlooking the second-place standout. A runner you rate to run second costs the same placed second as placed first.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Each of these averages assumes the pair fills the first two; when it does not, the straight exacta, the box and the quinella all lose the whole outlay. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Checking the pair against the market
Before the jump, the two runners' win prices show which one the market rates more likely to win, a starting point for the order question an exacta adds to a quinella. The Terminal lines up prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports, runner by runner, with Betfair back and lay beside them and price history (flucs) to show which runners have firmed or drifted.
A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds. B337 does not rate runners or pick an order. Betfair is a trade mark of its owner, and B337 is not affiliated with it.
Risk: Betting involves risk. An exacta needs two runners in one exact order, so most tickets lose, and a flexi ticket that lands on a well-backed order can still come back short of its outlay. See responsible gambling for limits and support.