Race odds to win Spain Sail Grand Prix 2026: Why better value is often found on SailGP side markets
Betting value is often talked about in gambling circles, but what does it actually mean? Why is it frequently found in more under-the-radar markets, and which side market this week offers a good example of betting value? Let’s find out.
Have you decided yet what type of gambler you are?
Ahead of the ROCKWOOL Germany SailGP Grand Prix, we looked at different types of gamblers when it came to betting on the Rolex SailGP Championship in terms of the sort of odds they like to bet on.
Favorite backers – as the name suggests – like to go for bets at short prices, say 1.6. Bets with a strong chance of winning but where payouts aren’t particularly big in relation to the level of investment.
Long-shot lovers prefer a 10.0 or 20.0 wager, knowing they only need one to come good every so often to be in profit.
Value-seekers, on the other hand, aren’t concerned as to whether a bet is at a short price or a long one, but rather that the price is a value price, representing a bigger payout than they feel it should be getting, should it go on to win.
Almost all pro gamblers – on SailGP or otherwise- come under this category, and most will argue that the best value bets come away from the main market, which in SailGP is the event winner market.
After all, that’s the question everyone is asking ahead of each event: who’s going to win the whole thing come Sunday afternoon?
The better value is often found away from the main market
Though betting value can be found on the main market- and we already highlighted Los Gallos SailGP Team as a superb value bet to win the Spain Sail Grand Prix here in Valencia at odds of 6.67 – it’s not often you get great prices on it.
The reason for that is that it’s slightly easier for bookies to price the winner market more accurately.
In addition to being able to study tonnes of data on past winners, both in general and at a particular venue in the past, bookies also know that winning a SailGP event is much easier said than done and that teams will need to show consistency throughout the event, in addition to being able to handle the big pressure of the Final. Something that the Bonds Flying Roos SailGP Team seem to be better at than most. That’s why they keep on winning them.
It’s also true that because bookies know that because the vast majority of punters will be betting on the event winner market, that’s by far the one they’ll be spending the most time on to make sure they get the odds as accurate as possible on each of the teams, so mistakes – offering inflated odds on one of them – are quite rare.
A little less care and attention on the other markets – or side markets, as they’re often called – is one of the causes for bookies to lay value odds. It’s also true that there’s more of an element of randomness to winning Race 1 than there is to winning the whole event, so that’s another reason why it’s harder to price these markets accurately.
Which side markets can you bet on?
Some bookies will only ever offer the Event Winner market ahead of and during an event, and the Championship Winner market in weeks between events.
But others also lay odds on side markets including: the winner of Race 1 for each of the two Groups, who will make the Top 3 in Race 1, which four teams will make the Final and who will win the various head-to-head markets on offer.
A reminder that a head-to-head market is where you bet on Team A to outperform Team B across the event as a whole, or vice versa. It doesn’t matter exactly how well the Team does; it just needs to get more points than the other.
Los Gallos a good bet to outperform Northstar this weekend
Speaking of head-to-head markets ahead of the action in Valencia, you could easily argue that Los Gallos are a value bet at 1.78 to have a higher finish here than the NorthStar SailGP Team, who are 1.95 on the same market.
In nine events this season, the Spanish finished ahead of the Canadians in six of them.
This season, Los Gallos have won twice and finished on the podium five more times, while NorthStar have had some solid performances but made the podium on just three occasions.
Los Gallos are second in the Championship standings, NorthStar are seventh, so you can see why the 1.78 on Diego Botin and his crew is a value bet.
You could also make a case for DS Automobile Team France to get the better of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team on the head-to-head.
Though Emirates GBR started the season strongly, getting enough points on the board to help them to their current fourth place (the French are sixth), DS Team France have beaten them in each of the last three events, so they’re certainly in better form.
It’s 1.85 on both teams, but the smart money this week might be on the French.
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