Best Horse Racing Betting Sites in Minnesota: Apps & Offers in the North Star State

Best Minnesota Horse Racing Betting Sites

Our top-rated advance-deposit wagering (ADW) apps for Minnesota bettors. Tap to open the operator’s official sign-up page. 18+. Terms apply.

• ★ EDITOR’S PICK
  TwinSpiresBest for coverage★ 4.7 / 5
  $200 Sign-Up Bonus · Promo Code BET200
  $100 in bonus cash for every $400 you wager, up to $200

  TwinSpires, the ADW of Churchill Downs, has some of the widest track coverage available to Minnesota bettors, with live video and a reliable app on big race days.

  Visit TwinSpires →Read TwinSpires review
  Key terms: Wager $800 within 30 days of opening your account to earn the full $200; Bonus paid in $100 increments for every $400 wagered; Show wagers don't count; bets count once the race is official; Credited within 10 business days; one per household. Full terms apply — see our TwinSpires review. Please play responsibly.
• Iron BetsRebates★ 4.1 / 5
  50% Deposit Bonus up to $300 · No Promo Code needed
  Half your first deposit added to your bonus account

  Iron Bets Racing lists Minnesota among the 30 states it serves, giving North Star State players a way to bet the national schedule year-round once the Canterbury Park and Running Aces summer meets wrap up. Accounts include free race video and replays, and the Iron Rewards program pays cash back on wagers. Lower-takeout bets are flagged under its Iron Values banner.

  Visit Iron Bets →Read Iron Bets review
  Key terms: 50% of your first deposit, up to a $300 bonus ($600 deposit for the maximum); 10% of each wager is released from the bonus account once the race is official; One bonus per email or mailing address; 18+ (21+ in AL, ND, WA). Full terms apply — see our Iron Bets review. Please play responsibly.

Horse Racing & Betting in Minnesota

Canterbury Park (Shakopee) for Thoroughbreds and Running Aces (Columbus) for harness, both running May-to-September meets.

Online wagering has been legal since 2016 — TwinSpires, TVG, FanDuel Racing, NYRA Bets and Xpressbet are among the licensed apps serving residents.

Canterbury Park’s summer Thoroughbred meet and its Minnesota-bred stakes program.

More on Racing in Minnesota

Minnesota horse racing fans can get live racing action from the flats quarter horses and the trotters and pacers during the summer months.

Canterbury Park offers live thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. The track also includes a casino and poker room and an event center featuring concerts and trade shows.

Fans of harness racing can take in the action at Running Aces. This track also features a 24-hour casino, card room, and hotel.

Popular Online Horse Bet Types & Races

With a win bet, if your horse wins the race, you win, too. On a place wager, if your horse finishes first, or second, you win. Show wagers cash as winners i​​f your horse finishes first, second or third. Betting a horse Across the Board means placing a win, place and show wager on the same horse. If the horse finishes first, you win all three bets.

Multiple horse bets include exactas, a wager that requires you to select the first two finishers of a single race in the correct order. A trifecta is a wager that requires you to select the first three finishers of a single race in the correct order. A superfecta is a wager that requires you to select the first four finishers of a single race in the correct order.

By boxing these bets, ​​the horses can finish in any order. For instance, if you bet a 2-3 exacta box, the horses can finish 2-3 or 3-2 and you win. Boxing a bet does cost more money, however.

A Daily Double wager requires you to pick the winner of two consecutive races. Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5 and Pick 6 wagers require a bettor to correctly select the exact number of consecutive race winners as are indicated by the number in the name of the wager.

You can select more than one horse in any given leg of a multiple race bet. The more horses you pick, though, the more expensive the wager.

Major US Horse Betting Events You Can Bet On In Minnesota

Canterbury Park offers no fewer than 27 thoroughbred stakes races during the track’s live racing season. These are highlighted by the $100,000 Minnesota Derby for three-year-olds and the $100,000 Minnesota Oaks for three-year-old fillies.

There’s also 15 stakes events for quarter horses. Feature events are the $100,000 Canterbury Park Quarter Horse Derby for three-year-olds and the $175,000 Mystic Lake Northlands Futurity for two-year-olds.

The cap of the racing season at Running Aces is the Minnesota Night Of Champions.

Minnesota Horse Racing Betting Legal Overview

As early as the late 1880s there was live standardbred racing being held in Minnesota on the state fairgrounds in St. Paul. A few years later, the Twin City Jockey Club began contesting thoroughbred racing at Hamline. Both of these tracks met their demise in 1895 when Minnesota outlawed wagering on horse racing.

In 1982, the state legislature passed a bill to put a pari-mutuel betting amendment on the ballot. The voters gave their approval to this measure during the November elections. Seven years later, the state government gave approval for simulcast wagering.

Canterbury Downs opened its doors in 1985. It was renamed Canterbury Park in 1995. Running Aces began operations in 2008.

Minnesota Racetracks

Canterbury Park · 1100 Canterbury Road, Shakopee, MN 55379
Offering live thoroughbred racing every May-September.

Running Aces · 15201 Running Aces Blvd, Columbus, MN 55025
Offering live standardbred racing every May-September.

Minnesota Horse Racing Betting Guide & Legal Apps

You can bet on horse racing online in Minnesota, where pari-mutuel wagering is legal and supported by both live tracks and mobile betting apps. Live racing runs seasonally at Canterbury Park for thoroughbred and quarter horse racing, and at Running Aces for harness racing. Minnesota bettors can wager on major U.S. races year-round, including stakes races hosted locally at Canterbury Park. You must be 18 or older to place horse bets in Minnesota.

How to Bet on Horse Racing

New to the windows? Start with the straight bets. A win bet needs your horse to finish first; place pays if it runs first or second; show pays for first, second or third. They are the cheapest way to learn the game.

From there come the exotics, where the real payouts live. The exacta asks for the first two home in order, the trifecta the first three, and the superfecta the first four. Multi-race bets — the daily double, Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 6 — string winners together across races, and the Pick 6 jackpot can roll into life-changing money. Our guide to exotic bets walks through each one, and the beginner’s guide to betting on racing covers the basics end to end.

How to Start Betting on Racing in Minnesota

1. Pick a racebook and sign up.

   Tap a “Visit” button above to open an ADW account. You must be 18+ and within state lines where required.

2. Claim the welcome offer and deposit.

   Fund the account by debit card, bank transfer or PayPal and activate any new-customer bonus before your first wager.

3. Find a race and place your bet.

   Browse the day’s cards, read the form, pick your horse and bet type, and confirm. Watch the live stream and collect if you win.

Minnesota Horse Racing Betting Sites and Apps (November 2026)

• TwinSpires
• Iron Bets

TwinSpires, NYRA Bets, Xpressbet, FanDuel Racing (TVG) and Iron Bets are the top horse wagering platforms in the North Star State.

Canterbury Park and Running Aces provide simulcast wagering from around the world to Minnesota horse players. As well, Minnesota horse bettors can live stream races via TwinSpires, NYRA Bets, Xpressbet, FanDuel Racing (TVG) and Iron Bets.

Minnesota Horse Racing Betting FAQs