California Horse Betting Sites

by Bob Duff

Updated: May 21, 2026

Is horse racing legal in California?

People often get confused because of general sports betting laws in the Golden State, but yes, California horse betting is, in fact, legal. It just comes with a few stipulations.

While horse race betting in California can be done on-site or using online applications, it must follow pari-mutuel betting rules. Contrary to general wagering, pari-mutuel betting in California is a system that pits every participant against one another instead of a bookmaker or “The House.” In this case, the money from all bets on a wager is pooled together.

When the event is made final, the company managing the pool takes a set percentage of money to cover taxes and fees. After that, the money remaining in the pot is divided up among the winners.

Now, for this last step, the winnings are distributed proportionally. Odds fluctuate in real-time for pari-mutuel wagering based on when bets are placed. Adjustments are made each time someone submits a bet on a certain horse or outcome. Probable payouts in pari-mutuel wagering can change until betting closes at the start of the race. Final payouts are calculated after the race is declared official, once the total betting pool is distributed and takeout fees are deducted, but depending on when someone else places their own bet on the same outcome, they could receive a smaller or bigger return.

California pari-mutuel betting can be done online or in-person. However, for online horse betting in California, you must use advance deposit wagering applications (ADW). As their name implies, these are accounts that must be funded before any wagers get placed. You cannot legally bet on horse racing in California while using lines of credit.

How horse betting is regulated in California

The body responsible for regulating all horse betting in the Golden State is the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB).

Founded all the way back in 1933, nearly 100 years ago, the CHRB oversees all aspects of wagering on horse racing. This includes regulating California off-track betting sites and at-the-track options, as well as online California horse betting sites.

The CHRB is a state-run agency that consists of seven members, all of whom are appointed by the California State Governor. With that said, the CHRB body is also made up of committees, which oversee the seven-member board.

The scope, scale and structure of the CHRB has one unifying goal: monitor horse racing betting in California to ensure consumers are protected against fraudulent and illegal activities. It is an overarching responsibility with a lot of moving parts.

Aside from green-lighting and regulating operations at specific locations (more on this later!), this above entails establishing and enforcing the rules of play. That means the bulk of their job is dedicated to monitoring ADW options and accounts.

As of May 2026, ten approved vendors listed on the board’s official website. These operators all allow you to deposit money into a California horse racing betting account. Once your transaction is cleared and the account is funded, you can then bet on California horse racing at any of the OTB and at-track options approved by the CHRB.

San Luis Rey Downs in Bonsall is listed by the CHRB as an approved training facility, not as one of California’s active racetracks.

The board is tasked with ensuring every operator follows the guidelines for pari-mutuel wagering as well. So much goes into this behind the scenes. For the most part, though, it entails providing assistance and oversight when it comes to distributing money to winners, the fees collected by operators and the taxes paid by OTB and at-track cashiers.

Best ways to bet on horse racing in California

If you are looking to bet horse racing in California, there is no shortage of options at your disposal. Just make sure you are using one that’s approved and regulated by the CHRB.

The CHRB currently lists 3 active racetracks in California:

1. Del Mar, Del Mar
2. Los Alamitos, Cypress
3. Santa Anita, Arcadia

For most people, however, simulcast betting facilities are more accessible than racetracks. The CHRB currently lists 27 simulcast-only facilities across California, and the full list can be found on the CHRB’s official site. Of course, before you bet on California horse racing, you will need to bankroll the account from which you do so. That is where you will need an approved ADW vendor to help. As of May 2026, ten of them are listed on the board’s official website:

1. TVG
2. TwinSpires
3. XpressBet
4. BetAmerica
5. Game Play Network (GPN)
6. WatchandWager
7. NYRA Bets
8. OffTrackBetting
9. AmWager
10. DraftKings Racing / DK Horse

If you ever have any questions about the legality of any horse betting options in California, we strongly suggest perusing the CHRB’s website. It is your one-stop shop for answers. Most critically, it has a bunch of different pages dedicated to mapping out all the licensed options across the state, both for ADW accounts and betting locations.

California horse betting sites and apps

When it comes to the best California horse betting sites, the CHRB does most of the legwork for you. It lists all of the approved ADW options on their official site. As illustrated above, not every approved ADW provider operates a standalone mobile app.

Some California horse betting apps operate through CHRB-approved advance deposit wagering (ADW) providers rather than holding separate approvals under their own brand names.

FanDuel Racing

FanDuel Racing is a horse racing wagering platform connected to TVG, one of the CHRB-listed ADW providers. It should not be confused with FanDuel Sportsbook, since online sports betting remains unavailable within California.

TwinSpires

Best known as the official wagering partner of the Kentucky Derby, the TwinSpires California horse racing app is among the options that offer live video and analysis, as well as in-depth data for individual horses, jockeys, races, etc.

1/ST BET

The 1/ST BET app is associated with the tracks at Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields. They are operated by the same minds behind XpressBet, one of the approved ADW vendors listed above.

TVG

Yet another option that provides live-streaming on a wide selection of races, TVG is powered by FanDuel despite having its own separate application.

NYRA Bets

Known as one of the California horse racing apps with the broadest array of sign-up promotions, NYRA Bets is among the most popular options for those looking to bet on international horse races in addition to events taking place inside The Golden State.

DK Horse

Operated by DraftKings, one of the two biggest online sportsbooks in the USA, DK Horse first launched in California just ahead of the 2023 Kentucky Derby. It has since become one of the highest-volume horse betting apps in the state.

For anyone who prefers to bet in-person but can’t get to an OTB location, the CHRB has dozens of options listed on its website. They span from Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio to the Gas Lamp Tavern LLC in San Diego to the Cal Expo in Sacramento. As noted before, the full list features over 30 locations, excluding San Luis Rey Downs, which CHRB lists as a training facility rather than a betting venue, and can be found on the CHRB’s official webpage.

Because ADW approvals and app branding can change, California bettors should confirm the current provider list on the CHRB website before opening an account.

Santa Anita, Del Mar, Los Alamitos and other California racing venues

Looking for on-site horse racing betting in California that puts you right on top of the action? Well, then it behooves you to visit one of The Golden State’s primary racing venues. We have cobbled together an extensive list of all the California horse racing venues you need to know about, complete with all the vital information about each one.

One of the most iconic horse racing venues in the United States, Santa Anita Park has been around for nearly a century. It is known to be busiest during the winter and spring months, peaking right around when it hosts the Santa Anita Derby every April. More recently, the Santa Anita online horse betting has grown thanks to its affiliation with the 1/ST BET app.

The Del Mar Racing venue is perhaps best known for its ideal location. It is roughly 20 miles north of San Diego and 100 miles south of Los Angeles. As you can probably guess, it is among the California horse racing venues that generates the most foot traffic on an annual basis. Popularity surges during the summer months, when Del Mar hosts Grade 1 races such as the Pacific Classic Stakes, Del Mar Oaks, Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, Del Mar Debutante Stakes and the Del Mar Futurity.

Although the Los Alamitos Race Course does not have a turf track within its walls, it makes up for it by offering one of the longest homestretches in the United States. The venue is also set up with sprawling grounds. Spanning over 32 total acres, it is home to approximately 1,660 horses and 40 barns. While it hosts a handful of premier racing events each year, Los Alamitos Race Course is best known for its Champion of Champions spectacular, an event held every December that routinely attracts some of the best domestic competition. On top of that, it also hosts the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, another race held every December exclusively for two-year-olds that has a prize purse known for hitting $2 million.

Other California horse racing venues

Historically, California has been home to a number of other premier horse racing venues. The most popular among them are the Alameda County Fairgrounds and Golden Gate Fields. However, both locations have now shuttered their horse racing operations.

Alameda closed their stables back in March 2025. The move was seen as a cultural shock. Built in 1858, the Alameda County Fairgrounds dirt track was deemed the oldest on record. Meanwhile, after debuting in 1941, Golden Gate Fields closed their doors back in 2024. The move was a long time coming. They had slowly and surely shut down certain tracks. Located between Albany, California and Berkeley, California, there is speculation that it could reopen, or instead be turned into a public park.

Other horse racing venues in California include the Cal Expo in Sacramento; the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa; the Ventura County Fair in Ventura; and the Fresno Fair in Fresno. San Luis Rey Downs in Bonsall is listed by the CHRB as an approved training facility, not as one of California’s active racetracks as it is mostly used for training purposes.

How OTB and online horse accounts work

If you are new to the off-track betting in California scene, do not stress over learning the ropes. The entire process is pretty straightforward. Below, we walk you through all the necessary steps and questions so that you’ll have no trouble jumping right in if you so desire.

How do you make deposits for California horse betting?

In reality, signing up for California off-track betting sites is no different than joining a typical sportsbook. The real difference boils down to your number of options and how deposits work.

First and foremost, you must sign up with an operator licensed and regulated by the CHRB. We have already gone through the full list up top, and you can find the same list on the CHRB’s website.

As for making deposits, unlike general sportsbooks, you are not able to place wagers using lines of credit. Every California horse racing betting option requires advance deposit wagers. This means that you must make your deposit and have it fully processed before processing any bet slips.

Fortunately, this process is identical to any other sports betting experience. The list of accepted deposit methods may vary by ADW sites, but overall, you should be able to use debit cards, banking transfers and e-wallets to fund your account. Some operators may support alternative payment methods, but availability varies by platform.

What types of California horse race bets can you make?

There are three primary types of horse race bets that you can make in California. They are known as win, place or show wagers. Let’s break them down one by one.

How do California horse racing pools and payouts work?

In the realm of California race betting, few questions are as popular as “How do the pools and payouts work?” It comes with the territory of pari-mutuel wagering.

When most people think of placing bets, their mind immediately goes toward a “Me against the house” mentality. This is understandable. It is how wagering works for most sportsbook and casino bets. You place a bet on an outcome. If you win, you receive the prescribed payout. If you lose, the house (or the company offering the bet) collects all the money.

In pari-mutuel wagering, however, you are not betting against the house. In actuality, you are wagering against other competitors.

Here’s how it works: The money from every bet is placed into one giant pool. Displayed odds are only probable odds until betting closes. However, these betting lines fluctuate depending on how frequently the same wager is made by others.

Once all of the bets are placed and the event in question finishes, the company/entity managing the event removes what is called “the take.” This is a flat fee they extract to cover taxes and their services. The remaining money in the pool is then distributed to the winners. Final payouts are calculated from the final betting pool after takeout fees are deducted.

Horse betting vs sports betting in California

Despite over 40 states rewriting their gaming laws, the status of sports betting in California remains illegal. That leaves many people thrown when they find out that California horse betting is legal. Understandably so. If it isn’t confusing, this setup is at least a little cognitively dissonant.

Still, horse race betting in California cites a key distinction in its legality: the pari-mutuel nature of its transactions. As we have now discussed ad nauseam, the money from horse race bets is pooled together and then proportionally distributed to the winners. The companies and entities operating these pools do not collect all of the money from your losses. Instead, they take a percentage of the pool, before doling out the rest to the winners.

General sports betting follows a completely different format. You wager on an outcome. If it is successful, you collect your winnings. If you lose, the company or entity who offers the bet keeps all of the money you put up. Legalizing sports betting in California would likely require a voter-approved constitutional amendment, whether placed on the ballot through the Legislature or the initiative process.

Even though there have been numerous attempts to change the laws, the sports betting California legal status remains the same. You cannot do it inside state lines. So long as you are using a CHRB-approved operator, though, you are allowed to wager on horse races.