On the tote, the quaddie scratching rule is a substitute, not a refund. The tote rules that Racing and Wagering Western Australia adopted, as gazetted on 3 August 2010, set this out. Money on a scratched pick in a quaddie, a running or daily double, or a Big 6 moves to the runner with the most money on it in the operator's win pool for that race. For a Big 6 it is the most-backed runner in that leg of the Big 6 pool. In a trifecta, first four, quinella, exacta or duet, the part of your ticket that covers the scratched runner is refunded instead, and the rest of the ticket runs.
Those are the rules as gazetted in 2010, and an operator can change its rules. Tabcorp has moved its tote pools to a single national pool (reported from October 2026), so confirm which rules the pool you bet into runs under before you rely on a detail. Exotics sit beside win, place and each way bets on the horse racing betting hub, and fixed-odds win and place bets take a deduction rather than a substitute, as scratchings and deductions explains. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them.
How the tote picks a substitute
Rule 9.2(a) of the 2010 rules deems the money on a scratched selection in a running or daily double, quaddie or Big 6 to be invested on a substitute instead. Rule 9.3 decides which runner that is:
- Quaddie, running double and daily double: the runner with the greatest amount of money on it in the operator's win pool for that race, once betting on the race has closed and every bet has been collated.
- Big 6: the runner with the most money on it in that leg of the Big 6 pool (rule 9.3(b)). Queensland's Wagering Rule, in effect from 22 September 2026, uses that race's win pool instead (s 163).
- A tie between two runners: the one with the lowest list number.
- Feature double, which takes in races at two different meetings: no substitute at all, because the money on a scratched selection is forfeited (rule 9.2(b)). Queensland's 2026 rule counts a feature double as a double, so a scratched pick there moves to the substitute (ss 117 and 123).
The substitute is fixed when that race's betting closes, not when you bet and not when the horse is scratched, and the operator's choice is final (rule 9.3(d)). It is the tote favourite at the close, which need not be the runner bookmakers have shortest. The rule keeps your ticket alive, but it hands you the leg's most-backed runner: if many other tickets carry it too, a quaddie it wins is shared among many winners.
A quaddie ticket with one scratching, worked
Take an illustrative quaddie with 2, 4, 3 and 3 runners in its legs: 2 x 4 x 3 x 3 = 72 combinations. At $36 the ticket is a 50% flexi, so each combination carries 50c and a winning combination collects half the dividend. Quaddie betting covers how the cost and flexi work, and the quaddie calculator counts the combinations on any ticket.
| Leg | Your runners |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 and 7 |
| 2 | 1, 4, 9 and 12 |
| 3 | 3, 6 and 11 |
| 4 | 5, 8 and 10 |
Runner 6 in leg 3 is scratched after leg 1 has been run. When betting on leg 3 closes, Runner 1 in that race has the most money in the win pool, so it becomes your substitute. Leg 3 now covers 3, 1 and 11, and the ticket is still 72 combinations at 50%. With legs 1, 2 and 4 landed and illustrative dividends:
| Leg 3 result | What your ticket holds | Quaddie dividend per $1 | Your return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runner 11 wins | One winning combination at 50% | $1,640 | $1,640 x 0.50 = $820 |
| Runner 1, the substitute, wins | One winning combination, through the substitute | $560 | $560 x 0.50 = $280 |
| Any other runner wins | No winning combination | Not relevant | $0 |
The second row shows the trade-off: in this illustration more tickets carried the substitute, so its win was shared among more of them and paid less.
Had the leg's most-backed runner been Runner 3, already on your ticket, the money on Runner 6 would have moved onto Runner 3 instead. Every combination through Runner 3 would then carry $1 rather than 50c, so a Runner 3 win would collect two halves of the dividend: at an illustrative $480, 2 x 0.50 x $480 = $480.
Late scratchings after the first leg has started
Before the quaddie starts, you may be able to take your money back instead. Racing NSW's guide to betting (checked October 2026) says any bet containing a scratched runner can be cancelled until the first leg starts. Queensland's Wagering Rule, in effect from 22 September 2026, lets a quaddie be cancelled until the jump of the race before its first leg, or 30 minutes before the meeting's first race when the quaddie starts with it. It applies the substitute only if you do not cancel (ss 143 and 145). Online operators set their own cancellation rules.
Under the 2010 rules, sales on a race close when it starts (rule 5.1). Once the first leg of your quaddie is running, you cannot buy a new ticket into that pool, and the substitute rule handles any pick scratched in a later leg. Two things follow:
- You learn the substitute only when that leg's betting closes. Between the scratching and the close, the most-backed runner can change.
- If every pick you have in a leg is scratched, each pick's money moves to the same substitute, so the leg runs on the substitute alone, carrying all of it.
Trifecta, first four and other single-race exotics
Single-race exotics refund rather than substitute. Rule 9.1 of the 2010 rules refunds the money on a scratched selection, and a selection in those rules can be a combination. So in a quinella, exacta, duet, trifecta or first four, the combinations that include a scratched runner are refunded while the rest of the ticket runs.
Rule 9.4(a) gives the same refund on a field bet, one that takes every runner in a position. On a flexi ticket the refund is the number of combinations that include the scratched runner times the amount on each, so the flexi percentage stays the same while the outlay shrinks. With illustrative outlays:
| Ticket | Before the scratching | Combinations that include the scratched runner | Refund | What still runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trifecta box of 6 runners, $42 | 120 combinations at 35% | 120 - 60 = 60 | 60 x $0.35 = $21.00 | A 5-runner box, 60 combinations at 35%, $21 |
| First four box of 5 runners, $18 | 120 combinations at 15% | 120 - 24 = 96 | 96 x $0.15 = $14.40 | A 4-runner box, 24 combinations at 15%, $3.60 |
| Trifecta standout: Runner 2 first, any of four others second and third, $6 | 12 combinations at 50% | 6, when one of the four is scratched | 6 x $0.50 = $3.00 | 6 combinations at 50%, $3 |
| The same trifecta when Runner 2 is scratched | 12 combinations at 50% | All 12 | $6.00 | Nothing |
If the 5-runner trifecta box then lands at an illustrative $236.80 per $1, it returns $236.80 x 0.35 = $82.88. The first four row shows how far a box can shrink: one scratching from a 5-runner box removes 96 of its 120 combinations. Trifecta betting has the box and standout counts these rows start from.
A field can also fall too low for a pool. If, after final scratchings, fewer runners remain than a pool needs, the race is treated as abandoned for that pool and its bets are refunded. The minimums are 3 runners for a trifecta or quinella, 4 for a first four, 2 for an exacta and 5 for a duet (rules 10.2 and 10.3). A duet is not run at all on a field of 7 or fewer at final scratchings (rule 3.7(c)).
Fixed-odds exotics and doubles follow their own rules
An exotic or double that a bookmaker prices at fixed odds is that bookmaker's own product, and its scratching rule can differ from the tote's on the same race. The Racing NSW Rules of Betting, written for NSW on-course bookmakers, show how far apart the two can sit:
- Quinellas (BR 14 and BR 15): if the late scratching was odds-on, every quinella on the race is void and refunded. If it was even money or longer, quinellas that include it are refunded, and winning quinellas struck before it take a deduction from the BR 15 scale.
- Doubles (BR 20): a double stands even if a horse does not start, unless the parties agree otherwise. For doubles other than feature doubles struck on the day of the first leg, a scratched first-leg horse sends the stake onto your second-leg horse at starting price. A scratched second-leg horse means a winning first leg is paid at its starting price.
Online bookmakers publish their own rules for fixed-odds exotics, doubles and same race multis. When a selection is scratched, a rule can refund the whole bet, void the scratched part and settle the rest at a recalculated price, apply a deduction, or follow the tote's substitute where the bet pays a tote dividend. Which one applies is in the bookmaker's terms, so read them before you build a ticket you cannot rebuild once the first leg has started.
Mistakes that cost money when a runner is scratched
- Expecting a refund once the quaddie is under way. After the cancellation cut-off, the 50c a combination on a scratched pick stays in the pool on the substitute, so the ticket costs the same.
- Treating the substitute as the bookmakers' favourite. It is the runner with the most money in the tote win pool when that race closes.
- Not checking a box after a scratching. A refunded box covers only the runners left, so a first four box of 5 that loses one runs as $3.60 on 24 combinations; if you still want five runners in it, that takes a new ticket before the race.
- Assuming a fixed-odds exotic settles like the tote. A NSW on-course quinella can be voided by an odds-on scratching, where the tote would refund only the part that included the scratched runner.
- Assuming every tote follows the 2010 rules. They forfeit a scratched feature double pick, which costs the whole stake on it, while Queensland's 2026 rule moves it to the substitute and takes the Big 6 substitute from the win pool.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A substitute keeps a quaddie alive, but a ticket that needs four winners can still miss in any leg, and a refund on a trifecta or first four only returns the part of the outlay that covered the scratched runner. See responsible gambling for limits and support.