In horse racing, the number of horses you can bet on in one race is generally limited only by the number of horses participating in the race itself. Most horse races will have between 8 to 12 horses, but some races, especially stakes races, can have fields of up to 20 horses.
However, the number of horses you can bet on also depends on the types of bets you’re placing. Here are a few common types of bets and how they relate to the number of horses:
1. **Win, Place, Show:** You can bet on any single horse to win, place (finish in first or second), or show (finish in first, second, or third).
2. **Exacta:** You can bet on any two horses to finish first and second in exact order.
3. **Quinella:** You can bet on any two horses to finish first and second in any order.
4. **Trifecta:** You can bet on any three horses to finish first, second, and third in exact order.
5. **Superfecta:** You can bet on any four horses to finish first, second, third, and fourth in exact order.
6. **Box Bets:** With box bets (like exacta box, trifecta box, etc.), you can bet on multiple horses to finish in the top positions in any order. For example, with a trifecta box, if you bet on horses 1, 2, and 3, you are betting on all possible combinations of those three horses finishing in the first three positions.
Theoretically, you could place a bet on every horse in the race for any given type of bet, but this would be an expensive strategy and is not typically practical. The number of horses you bet on will depend on your betting strategy, your budget, and the types of bets you’re comfortable making.