If you’ve ever glanced at a greyhound race card or checked results online, you may have seen the letters “SP” next to a dog’s odds. Those two letters do a lot of work, because SP helps decide how certain bets are settled.
Whether you’re placing your first bet or just curious about how odds work, getting to grips with SP makes the whole picture clearer. It isn’t complicated, but there are a few points worth knowing before you choose it.
Below, you’ll find how SP is decided, how it compares with other prices, and what it means for your returns on race day.
How Is The Starting Price Determined In Greyhound Racing?
The starting price, or SP, is set right before the race begins. It’s based on the odds offered by on-course bookmakers at the track and reflects where money has gone in the run-up to the off.
A panel looks at the prices shown by different bookmakers for each runner and uses a method known as “returns to £1” to capture a fair snapshot of the market. In simple terms, they consider the range of odds available and calculate an average that mirrors what was genuinely on offer to the public.
Once final bets are taken, the official SP is confirmed and published with the race result. If you picked SP rather than fixed odds, this is the figure your bet will use when it’s settled. With the basics in place, it helps to see how SP sits alongside other ways prices are set.
How Does SP Differ From Bookmaker Prices And The Tote
Bookmaker prices are set by individual firms and can change quickly as bets come in. If you accept a price you see at that moment, you’ve “taken a price”, and your payout is fixed at those odds regardless of what happens next.
SP is different. It isn’t a single bookmaker’s quote but an agreed figure settled at the off, reflecting the market across the track’s bookmakers at that exact point. It’s a snapshot of the closing market, not the prices you might have seen earlier.
The Tote works differently again. All stakes go into a pool, and the winners share what’s left after deductions. Because payouts depend on how many winning tickets there are, you only see the final return after the race.
Each route calculates returns in its own way, which brings up a natural question: what happens when the market moves late on?
How Do Late Market Changes Influence SP?
In the minutes before a race, betting can shift fast. If a wave of money arrives for a particular greyhound, bookmakers respond by shortening that runner’s odds and, in turn, easing others.
Because SP reflects the market at the off, these late moves are baked into the final figure. A runner that was a bigger price earlier may start shorter if interest builds close to the start. The reverse can also happen if support fades.
If you’ve chosen SP, your bet will be settled using that closing view of the market. In other words, it’s the prices at the off that count, not what was available earlier in the day. With that in mind, it’s useful to see how this feeds into your returns.
How SP Affects Your Payouts
If you opt for SP, the return on a winning bet is calculated using the official starting price announced at the off. That’s different from fixed odds, where your return is set the moment you place the bet.
If the SP ends up higher than the fixed price you saw earlier, your return could be larger than it would have been had you taken the earlier quote. If it ends up shorter, the reverse applies. Either way, your payout aligns with the final, market-wide view at the start.
Example Calculation Using SP
Suppose you put £5 on a greyhound to win and the SP is declared as 4/1. To work out your return, you multiply your stake by the odds, then add your stake back.
So, £5 at 4/1 returns £20, plus your £5 stake back, for a total of £25.
If the SP had instead been 6/1, your win would be £30, plus your original stake, giving you £35 in total.
Now that the numbers make sense, the next step is simply knowing where to spot SP before and after a race.
How To Read SP Odds On A Racecard
On a racecard, you’ll see odds listed next to each runner. If “SP” appears instead of a number, it means the starting price will be used to settle any bet placed at that time rather than a fixed quote.
Before the off, SP is often shown as a placeholder. Once the race begins, the official SP is locked in and then displayed with the result. You’ll see figures like 3/1, 5/2, or 6/1, which show the return for each pound staked, excluding your stake.
So when you see “SP” on the card, it simply signals that your bet will use the odds set right at the start of the race, not any earlier prices you might have seen. With that clear, it’s worth checking which bets actually use SP.
Does SP Apply To All Bet Types?
SP is commonly available for straightforward bets such as win and each-way. If you choose SP for an each-way bet, the win and place parts both use the starting price, with the place terms set by the bookmaker in advance.
More complex bets like forecasts and tricasts are usually settled using the computer straight forecast or tricast dividend. These don’t use SP, because their returns are calculated through separate models based on finishing order and market data.
Pool bets, including those on the Tote, also don’t use SP. Returns there depend on the total amount staked into the pool and how it’s divided among winning tickets. With that in mind, a quick sense-check before you place a bet can save confusion later.
What To Check About SP Before You Place A Bet?
Before choosing SP, consider how comfortable you are with not knowing the final odds until the off. SP reflects the closing market and can be higher or lower than prices available earlier.
If your bookmaker is offering fixed odds alongside SP, compare what you see with how the market seems to be moving. Fixed odds lock in the number on your slip; SP follows the market to the start. Neither is better by default, but one may suit how you prefer to bet.
Make sure your chosen market accepts SP. Pool-based bets and some specialist markets use different settlement methods, so SP won’t apply there. If you’re betting online, check your slip carefully, as many sites let you toggle between fixed odds and SP before you confirm.
If you want impartial guidance or feel you need support, organisations such as GamCare and BeGambleAware provide free, confidential help. Understanding how SP works gives you a clear baseline for how bets are settled, so you can make informed choices that fit the way you like to bet.
