Scratching deductions are cuts to winning fixed-odds bets after a runner is withdrawn late, declared by the race-day Stewards in cents in the dollar and applied only to bets struck before the scratching. An illustrative 20c win deduction means a winning ticket pays 80c for every dollar of its face value, which is how the NSW and WA rule books apply it. Money on the scratched runner itself is refunded.
What you can check in advance is how your bookmaker applies a deduction, because two readings of the same figure pay different amounts. Horse racing betting maps the other settlement rules.
Why a late scratching changes every price in the race
A fixed price is set against a field. When a runner is withdrawn after betting has opened, its chance of winning does not vanish: it is shared among the runners left. Every price struck before that late scratching was therefore longer than the smaller field now justifies, and the deduction takes back the difference on winning bets.
The Stewards order the refund and declare the deduction for each race. Under BR 14 of the Racing NSW Rules of Betting, which cover NSW on-course bookmakers, betting auditoriums and betting premises, the figure comes from an algorithm approved by the Australian Racing Board, now Racing Australia.
From 1 August 2011, NSW, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Victoria adopted an algorithm that rebuilds the market so the runners left add up to the same market percentage the whole field did before the withdrawal. In WA, r 56 of the Rules of Wagering 2005 has the Stewards declare a deduction by formula or from a scale. NSW Stewards can also take another course, such as paying bets at tote odds or re-opening betting (BR 14(7)).
There is no single national formula, but some state rules tie the figure to the scratched runner's price. Under Queensland's Wagering Rule, in effect from 22 September 2026, a schedule keyed to that runner's odds caps the deduction on fixed-odds win and place bets struck with Queensland's licence operator after final acceptances (s 75 and Schedule 1). The operator may take less, or none.
A deduction the Stewards declare belongs to its race, and Racing Queensland's report on Eagle Farm, 21 September 2019, shows the range. After a late scratching at 1:29 pm, the Stewards ordered deductions on successful bets placed before that time. They were 16c in the dollar for the win and for the first two placegetters' places, and 13c for the third-placed runner's place. After another scratching that day, the deductions were 0c for the win and 1c to 2c for the places.
Applied to face value, that 16c leaves 84c of every dollar a winning win ticket struck before 1:29 pm would have returned, while one struck after 1:29 pm carries no deduction for it. The more of the market a scratched runner held, the further the other prices have to come in: WA's scale of deductions, for one, rises as the scratched runner's price shortens.
Face value or winnings only: the same 20c, two returns
How the cents come off is where rules differ. BR 14(4) pays a winning bet "the face value of the ticket less the amount of cents in the dollar deduction", and BR 1 defines face value as everything payable on a winning ticket, stake included. WA's r 56 also applies the deduction to the ticket's face value. An online bookmaker sets its method in its own terms, and a bookmaker may take the deduction off the winnings only, leaving the stake untouched.
With an illustrative $10 at $6.00 and a 20c win deduction:
| Face value (NSW BR 14(4), WA r 56) | Winnings only | |
|---|---|---|
| Formula | stake x odds x (1 - deduction) | stake + stake x (odds - 1) x (1 - deduction) |
| Working | $10 x 6.00 x 0.80 | $10 + $50 x 0.80 |
| Return | $48.00 | $50.00 |
| Profit | $38.00 | $40.00 |
| The price it amounts to | $4.80 | $5.00 |
The two readings always differ by the stake times the deduction, here $10 x 0.20 = $2, because the winnings-only reading leaves the stake out of the cut. The gap grows with the stake and the deduction, not with the price: on a $200 bet with the same 20c it is $200 x 0.20 = $40.
The deductions calculator works out both readings for any stake, price and deduction.
Win and place deductions are declared separately
The Stewards declare one figure for the win and another for each place, and the place figure can differ by placegetter, as the 16c, 16c and 13c at Eagle Farm did. An each way bet is a win bet and a place bet, so each half takes its own figure. NSW BR 17 pays each way bets subject to the BR 14 deductions, and WA's scale of deductions treats the win half as a win bet and the place half as a place bet.
With an illustrative $10 each way at $8.00 to win and $2.60 to place, a 14c win deduction, a 6c place deduction and the runner winning:
| Half of the bet | Face value | Winnings only |
|---|---|---|
| Win, 14c | $80 x 0.86 = $68.80 | $10 + $70 x 0.86 = $70.20 |
| Place, 6c | $26 x 0.94 = $24.44 | $10 + $16 x 0.94 = $25.04 |
| Total on $20 staked | $93.24 | $95.24 |
If the runner only places, the win half is lost and the place half returns $24.44 or $25.04.
The floor that protects your stake
A deduction cannot take a winning bet below the rule book's floor. Under NSW BR 14(8), except in the case of a dead heat, no order may leave a backer with less than their stake. WA's r 56(5) sets two floors at once: a paid bet returns at least the stake and at least 20% of the ticket's face value. After a dead heat, the floor is the stake divided by the number of runners in it.
With illustrative bets on the face-value reading:
| Bet | Deduction | Face value less deduction | NSW on-course pays | WA bookmaker pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10 at $1.40 | 30c | $14 x 0.70 = $9.80 | $10.00, the stake | $10.00, the stake |
| $10 at $9.00 | 85c, two runners scratched at once | $90 x 0.15 = $13.50 | $13.50 | $18.00, which is 20% of $90 |
On short-priced runners the stake floor is what stops a winning bet becoming a loss. WA's 20% floor only bites once deductions add up to more than 80c. On the winnings-only reading the stake is never cut, so these two bets would return $10 + $4 x 0.70 = $12.80 and $10 + $80 x 0.15 = $22.00 without any floor. A dead heat is the exception to the NSW floor, which is why a deduction and a tie together can return less than you staked; dead heat rules work that case.
Two or more scratchings in one race
Each late scratching brings its own deduction, and the time you bet decides which ones you carry. Under NSW BR 14(6), where withdrawals happen at different times, a winning bet placed before each withdrawal is paid less the deduction for it, and BR 14(5) sets one deduction for withdrawals that happen together. WA's scale of deductions adds the rates of runners withdrawn together, and charges a bet struck between two scratchings only the later one's rate.
Under a rule that adds the figures, as WA's scale does, take an illustrative race with late scratchings at 1:52 pm (9c) and 2:14 pm (4c), and a winning $10 bet:
| Bet struck | Deductions it carries | Return on the face-value reading |
|---|---|---|
| 1:40 pm at $7.00, before both | 9c + 4c = 13c | $70 x 0.87 = $60.90 |
| 2:00 pm at the re-priced $6.40, between them | 4c | $64 x 0.96 = $61.44 |
| 2:20 pm, after both, at the shorter $6.20 then on offer | None | $10 x 6.20 = $62.00 |
The last row is the trade you make by waiting: no deduction, but a price already cut for the smaller field. How a bookmaker combines several deductions, and whether it caps the total, is set in its terms.
Deductions inside multis
A deduction on one leg of a multi changes that leg's price, and the legs then multiply. For NSW on-course doubles, BR 21 takes late-scratching deductions off the face value of a winning ticket, using the win and place deductions from BR 14(4). On the face-value reading it makes no difference whether the cut comes off the leg or off the whole ticket, because the legs multiply. On the winnings-only reading it does.
With an illustrative $10 multi of $3.00 and $2.50, where the first leg carries a 12c deduction and the full return would be $75:
| Method | Working | Return |
|---|---|---|
| Face value, on the leg or the ticket | 3.00 x 0.88 x 2.50 x $10 | $66.00 |
| Winnings only, on the leg | (1 + 2.00 x 0.88) x 2.50 x $10 | $69.00 |
| Winnings only, on the ticket | $10 + $65 x 0.88 | $67.20 |
Three methods give three returns, up to $3 apart on a $10 multi, and your bookmaker's terms say which applies. A leg whose own runner is scratched is a different case, settled under the bookmaker's multi rules rather than by a deduction. On the tote, a scratched quaddie or running double pick moves to a substitute instead, as exotic scratching rules explain.
Tote bets and futures work differently
Tote bets are not deducted. Under the tote rules that Racing and Wagering Western Australia adopted, as gazetted on 3 August 2010, a bet on a scratched selection is refunded. The pool is shared among the winning bets that remain, so the dividends absorb the change. Multi-race pools are the exception: in a quaddie, running or daily double, or Big 6 a scratched pick moves to a substitute, and in a feature double it is forfeited.
Futures bets can sit outside both rules: online bookmakers set their own futures terms, and horse racing betting rules sets these cases beside the rest.
How to check your bookmaker's deduction method
- Find the late scratching or deductions clause in the bookmaker's racing rules by searching its terms for "deduction", "late scratching" and "face value".
- Work out which reading it uses. A clause that takes the deduction off the return, dividend or face value is the first column above; one that reduces only the winnings is the second. Test it on $10 at $6.00 with 20c: $48 or $50.
- Check each way bets and multis: whether the place half takes the place figure, and whether a multi leg is cut on its price or the ticket on its winnings.
- Check how several scratchings combine, and whether the terms cap the total.
- Check the time of your bet against the time of the scratching. A bet struck after it should carry no deduction for it.
If a settled bet does not match your working, ask the bookmaker which deductions it applied.
Mistakes that shrink a payout after a scratching
- Reading the slip as the payout. $10 at $6.00 shows $60, and a 20c deduction pays $48 or $50.
- Betting just before a pending scratching to beat the re-price. The 1:40 pm bet at $7.00 carried 13c and returned $60.90, less than the $62.00 the shorter $6.20 paid after both scratchings.
- Applying one figure to an each way bet. The 14c and 6c cut the halves to $68.80 and $24.44 on the face-value reading.
- Counting on the stake floor in a dead heat. BR 14(8) leaves ties out of the NSW floor, so a deduction plus a dead heat can return under your stake.
Comparing a price before the scratching with one after it
Waiting out a pending scratching swaps a deduction for a shorter price, as the 2:20 pm row shows. The Terminal puts prices from 40+ bookmakers, across racing and sports, beside Betfair back and lay, and each runner's price history shows the price before the scratching and after the re-price. Those prices are collected on a repeating cycle, so a figure on screen can lag the bookmaker's own; check the price in your bookmaker account before placing the bet. 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.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A deduction can shrink a winning bet to little more than its stake, a dead heat on top can take it below, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.