Betfred Rule 4: How Tattersalls Deductions Are Applied (Plus the BOG Interaction)

When Rule 4 applies

Rule 4 deductions apply when:

• A horse is withdrawn from the race after you've placed your bet (typically due to going lame in the parade ring, a vet's intervention, or refusal to enter the stalls).
• The withdrawal happens after the final declarations (so the field has already been published and prices have settled).
• The other prices in the market haven't been re-priced to reflect the withdrawal — Rule 4 is the bookmaker's way of mathematically adjusting after the fact.

If a non-runner is announced before final declarations or before you place your bet, no Rule 4 applies to your bet — the market re-prices and you're betting at the post-non-runner odds.

The Tattersalls Rule 4 deduction scale

This is the standard scale used across UK and Irish bookmakers (including Betfred):

Withdrawn horse's price	Deduction per £1 of winnings
1/9 or shorter	90p
2/11 to 2/17	85p
1/4 to 1/5	80p
30/100 to 2/7	75p
4/11 to 2/5	70p
9/20 to 12/25	65p
11/20 to 4/7	60p
8/13 to 8/15	55p
4/6 to 8/11	50p
4/5 to 5/6	45p
20/23 to 19/20	40p
Even (1/1) to 6/5	35p
5/4 to 6/4	30p
13/8 to 7/4	25p
15/8 to 9/4	20p
5/2 to 3/1	15p
100/30 to 4/1	10p
9/2 to 11/2	5p
6/1 or longer	No deduction

Reading the table: if a 5/2 horse is withdrawn after your bet, every £1 of winnings on your bet is reduced by 15p. So a £10 stake at 10/1 that wins would normally pay £100 profit; after a 15p Rule 4, it pays £85 profit (£100 × 0.85).

Cumulative Rule 4 (multiple non-runners)

When multiple horses are withdrawn after final declarations, Rule 4 deductions are cumulative — but with a published cap. Most UK operators apply a maximum cumulative deduction of 90p in the £.

So in a race where two horses (say a 2/1 favourite and a 4/1 second-favourite) are both withdrawn:

• 2/1 withdrawal: 30p deduction
• 4/1 withdrawal: 10p deduction
• Cumulative: 40p (within the 90p cap, so no clip)

In a race where a 1/9 favourite and a 5/2 are both withdrawn:

• 1/9 withdrawal: 90p
• 5/2 withdrawal: 15p
• Cumulative would be 105p, capped at 90p

Worked examples

Example 1. £10 win bet at 10/1. The 5/2 second-favourite is withdrawn. Rule 4: 15p in the £.

• Original profit (if horse wins): £10 × 10 = £100
• After 15p Rule 4: £100 × (1 - 0.15) = £85
• Total return: £85 profit + £10 stake = £95

Example 2. £10 each-way at 10/1, 1/5 places, 3 places paid. The 5/2 second-favourite is withdrawn (15p Rule 4).

• Win leg (if horse wins):
  • Original profit: £10 × 10 = £100
  • After Rule 4: £85
• Place leg (if horse places):
  • Original place profit at 1/5 of 10/1 = 2/1 → £10 × 2 = £20
  • Effective place odds after Rule 4: place leg uses the deduction-adjusted win price — 1/5 of (10/1 reduced by 15%) = 1/5 of 7.5/1... actually settlement-engine specifics vary. Pragmatic: Rule 4 is applied as a multiplier to total winnings, including each-way place portion.
  • After Rule 4: £20 × 0.85 = £17
• Total returns:
  • If wins: £85 (win) + £17 (place) + £20 stakes = £122 (vs. £130 without Rule 4)
  • If places: £17 (place) + £10 place stake = £27 (vs. £30 without Rule 4)

Example 3. Cumulative Rule 4. £10 win bet at 8/1. The 9/4 favourite (20p) and 100/30 third-favourite (10p) are both withdrawn. Cumulative deduction: 30p.

• Original profit: £10 × 8 = £80
• After cumulative Rule 4: £80 × 0.7 = £56
• Total return: £56 + £10 stake = £66

The maths is automatic at settlement — Betfred's settlement engine applies the deduction calculation. But understanding the mechanic lets you sanity-check large each-way settlements where multiple non-runners stack.

Order of operations

The crucial mechanic at Betfred (and most UK operators):

Rule 4 is applied to your taken price BEFORE BOG kicks in.

This is the standard UK approach. Get the order wrong and you'll calculate the wrong settlement.

Worked example — the order in detail

You take 10/1 at 09:00 on a 7-runner race. The 5/2 second-favourite is withdrawn at 11:00 — Rule 4 of 25p in the £ applies.

Step 1: Rule 4 reduces your taken price. Your effective taken price drops from 10/1 to 7.5/1 (10/1 × 0.75).

Step 2: Compare to SP for BOG.

• If SP at the off is 8/1: settle at 8/1 (BOG kicks in — SP is bigger than your Rule 4-adjusted taken price).
• If SP at the off is 7/1: settle at 7.5/1 (your Rule 4-adjusted taken price, because SP is shorter).
• If SP at the off is 6/1 (with a further Rule 4 from a separate withdrawal): the second Rule 4 applies to SP. If second Rule 4 is 10p, the adjusted SP is 5.4/1. Compare to your 7.5/1 — settle at 7.5/1 (your adjusted taken price, since adjusted SP is shorter).

The cleaner mental model: Rule 4 reduces your taken price; BOG promises you'll never settle below SP (also subject to its own Rule 4). The settlement is always the larger of the two adjusted prices.

What if Rule 4 happens AFTER BOG should have applied?

In the rare case where Rule 4 is announced AFTER the off (a horse refuses to enter stalls and is officially withdrawn at the start), most UK operators include this in the Rule 4 logic. Betfred follows the standard practice — the deduction is applied to the settled odds, including BOG-enhanced settlements where applicable.

What about Lucky-X products?

Rule 4 deductions apply to Lucky 15s, 31s, and 63s in the same way they apply to singles — proportionally to the winnings on each leg. However, Lucky-X products are excluded from BOG at Betfred (and most UK operators), so the Rule 4 + BOG interaction simplifies: only the Rule 4 component applies; you'll always settle at your taken price reduced by any Rule 4, never at the BOG-enhanced SP.

What about ante-post?

Ante-post bets have a different non-runner mechanic — typically Non-Runner-No-Bet (NRNB) on the major festivals, or no protection at all on smaller markets. Rule 4 applies to ante-post bets too, but only if the non-runner is from the post-final-declarations field; horses dropped from the entry list weeks before the race aren't subject to Rule 4 (because the market re-priced).

Why this matters for settlement checking

If you take a bet that should have BOG'd UP at SP and you're settling lower than SP, the most common reason is Rule 4. Most punters' first reaction is "the bookmaker shortened my price" — actually the maths is:

1. Take 10/1.
2. 5/2 horse withdrawn → 25p Rule 4 → adjusted taken price 7.5/1.
3. SP at the off: 8/1.
4. Settlement: 8/1 (BOG kicks in because SP is bigger than 7.5/1).

Without understanding the Rule 4 step, you'd see "I took 10/1, SP was 8/1, why is BOG only paying me at 8/1 instead of 10/1?" The answer: because Rule 4 reduced your effective taken price first.

The settlement is correct; the mental model often isn't. Understanding the order lets you sanity-check accurately. For more on the broader BOG mechanic at Betfred, see our Betfred BOG explainer.