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Ontario is the only province where you can bet a horse race inside a sportsbook. Since 2023 bet365 has carried Woodbine and Mohawk races in its Ontario app, and since August 2025 OLG has done the same on OLG.ca. HPIbet, Woodbine's own racing site, remains the deepest option for anyone who bets more than the big days.
All three sell the same thing: a ticket into a Woodbine-run pari-mutuel pool. Here is how each one works, who it suits, and what you need to know before your first exactor on King's Plate day.
Best for racing and sports from one Ontario balance
Woodbine-operated pari-mutuel racing inside bet365's Ontario app since August 2023, with Woodbine, Mohawk and Kentucky Derby day races.
Features: Woodbine and Mohawk pools · Derby Day races since 2024 · bet365's own racing interface · Age: 19+
Best for Ontario players who already use OLG
Live Horse Racing on OLG.ca and the OLG app since August 2025, powered by HPIbet. Racing bets cannot be mixed with other sports.
Features: Powered by HPIbet · Exactor and Jackpot Hi-5 · Ontario tracks and international racing · Age: 19+
Best for handicappers who bet many tracks
Woodbine's own racebook, with more than 450 tracks and SmartPicks AI handicapping. Mohawk is its most-bet track.
Features: More than 450 tracks · SmartPicks · Harness and thoroughbred · Age: 18+
| Option | What it is | Age and location | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| bet365 Ontario | Racing tab in an AGCO-registered sportsbook, operated by Woodbine Entertainment Group | 19+, physically in Ontario | Racing and sports from one balance |
| OLG.ca and OLG app | Live Horse Racing section, powered by HPIbet | 19+, physically in Ontario | Players who already have an OLG account |
| HPIbet | Woodbine's dedicated racing site | 18+, Canadian resident | Handicappers who want more than 450 tracks |
| Woodbine, Mohawk and Champions Off-Track | Betting in person | On site | A day at the races or simulcast with friends |
Woodbine described these as the only government-approved online and mobile ways to bet live Ontario races when OLG launched in August 2025, and they were still Woodbine's only sportsbook partners when Alberta opened its market in July 2026. FanDuel and DraftKings run racing brands in the United States, but in Ontario a sportsbook needs Woodbine's licence behind it to take a racing bet.
Racing arrived on bet365 Ontario on August 18, 2023, as part of a four-year deal that made bet365 the Official Online Sports Betting Partner of Woodbine Entertainment. bet365 account holders in Ontario can place pari-mutuel bets from the same balance they use for the Leafs or the Raptors. Open the racing tab and you will see it is "operated by Woodbine Entertainment Group."
bet365 suits a sports bettor who wants the King's Plate or a Saturday Woodbine card without opening a second account. A handicapper who bets several tracks a night will find more on HPIbet. Our bet365 Ontario review covers the sportsbook side.
On August 12, 2025, OLG became the first Canadian provincial lottery and gaming corporation to offer online betting on live horse races. The product sits on OLG.ca and in the OLG app as Live Horse Racing on the Sports page, alongside the PROLINE+ sportsbook. Woodbine runs it through a plug-in version of HPIbet, and every bet goes through Woodbine's tote as a pari-mutuel wager.
To be precise about PROLINE+: horse racing is part of OLG's online offering, not a fixed-odds PROLINE market. You cannot add a horse to a PROLINE+ parlay, and the price is whatever the pool pays.
HPIbet began in 1997 as Horseplayer Interactive, and Ontario has always been its biggest market: in 2022 it had about 38,000 customers who placed a bet, 25,000 of them in Ontario, and C$447 million of its C$592 million handle came from the province. It covers more than 450 tracks, from Mohawk and Woodbine to Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Japan and Hong Kong, and adds handicapping tools such as SmartPicks.
Mohawk is HPIbet's most popular track, followed by Ontario harness ovals Flamboro Downs and Western Fair. If you bet harness racing midweek, this is where you will spend your time. Read the full HPIbet review.
You can still bet the old way at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Woodbine Mohawk Park in Milton and Fort Erie Race Track, and at Woodbine's Champions Off-Track locations, which offer simulcast racing and betting closer to home. A live card at Woodbine on a summer Saturday, or a Mohawk night in June, is the best introduction to the sport there is.
Three bodies share the job. The federal Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency supervises the betting pools under section 204 of the Criminal Code. The AGCO regulates the racing itself and registers the sportsbooks. iGaming Ontario holds the operating agreements with private sportsbooks such as bet365. The CPMA, AGCO, iGaming Ontario and the Ministry of the Attorney General all signed off on the bet365 launch in 2023.
When Ontario's regulated market opened on April 4, 2022, sportsbooks that had been booking horse racing had to stop. Fixed-odds racing was left out of the 2021 law that legalized single-event sports betting, so racing can only reach an Ontario sportsbook through Woodbine's pari-mutuel system. That is why bet365 and OLG show tote odds, and why most other licensed sportsbooks show no racing at all.
| Race | Track | 2026 date |
|---|---|---|
| Pepsi North America Cup | Woodbine Mohawk Park | June 13 |
| King's Plate | Woodbine | August 15 |
| Prince of Wales Stakes | Fort Erie | September 7 |
| Woodbine Mile | Woodbine | September 12 |
| Breeders' Stakes | Woodbine | September 27 |
| Canadian International | Woodbine | October 3 |
The 2026 Woodbine thoroughbred season opened on April 18 and runs into December. The King's Plate drew a record C$1,242,081 into its win pool this year, when the filly Luster won as the 1-5 favourite. At Mohawk, Odds On Mr Mamba won the C$1 million North America Cup in June on a night when C$687,448 was bet on the race, a record for the Cup. See our Woodbine track guide for the venue.
For illustration: a C$2 win bet on a horse that pays 8.50 in decimal terms (7.50-1 on the tote, +750) returns C$17.00. The final payout depends on the pool when the gates open.
You must be 19 or older to bet with bet365 or OLG in Ontario. Use deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion in your account, and take a break when racing stops being fun. ConnexOntario offers free, confidential support around the clock at 1-866-531-2600, and iGaming Ontario publishes player-protection information for the regulated market. The Responsible Gambling Council is a national source of independent advice.
Offers, codes, fees and state lists are checked against the operators’ own pages and state or federal regulators. Last checked October 24, 2026.
