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What is a quinella?

A quinella bet requires bettors to select runners to finish 1st and 2nd in any order.

Unlike an exacta, the order is not important, so long as the nominated horses fill the first two places, the quinella bet will be deemed successful. Quinellas are most commonly available for betting on horse racing. A quinella is a tote betting product, so the winning dividend varies according to the amount of money placed on the correct first two selections.

What is a quinella box?

A quinella box is the same as a standard quinella. The bettor must select any number of horses to fill the first two placing’s, and; the order for 1st and 2nd is not important. A box quinella is also called a boxed quinella.

Quinella example

quinella betting explained

The example shows the cost of a standard quinella bet where three horses have been selected to fill the first two places. The selected horses are 4, 1 and 5.

Possible combinations:

As there are three possible combinations of those horses filling the first 2 places, the cost of the bet is $3.

  • 4, 1
  • 4, 5
  • 1, 5

Betting sites that offer quinella bets

Difference between a quinella and an exacta

A quinella bet is different from an exacta. Both a quinella bet and an exacta require you to select the first two runners, however, with an exacta bet, the order of those runners must be correct. The difference is more apparent when three horses are selected, the cost of a quinella bet is $3 while the cost of an exacta bet is $6, as there are more possible combinations with the exacta bet. The dividends will also be different.

A duet is another similar bet type; however, you only need to select two of the first three runners for it to be successful.

Quinella cost

The cost of a quinella depends on how many selections are included to fill the first two places. If 3 horses are selected, the quinella will cost $3, if 4 horses are selected $6, 5 = $10, 6 = $15. Quinellas can be combined with a flexi bet to reduce the cost of the bet.

Standout quinella

For a standout quinella, you must select one ‘standout’ runner to finish 1st or 2nd. You are then able to select 2 or more runners to fill the other place (1st or 2nd). Use our quinella bet calculator to calculate the costs of a standout quinella.