What is Rule 4 Deduction?

How Rule 4 Deductions Work

When a horse is withdrawn from a race, the remaining runners become slightly easier to beat, so the prices you took earlier no longer fully reflect the true contest. Tattersalls Rule 4(c) sets out a sliding scale that determines how much is deducted from your winnings based on the withdrawn horse's price at the time of withdrawal. The shorter the withdrawn horse's price, the bigger the deduction, because a shorter-priced horse is presumed to have been a stronger rival. Deductions range from 90p in the pound for a horse priced at 1/9 or shorter, down to 5p in the pound for one priced between 10/1 and 14/1. No deduction is made at all if the withdrawn horse was priced at over 14/1. The deduction is applied to winnings only — your original stake is always returned in full.

If more than one horse is withdrawn, the deductions are added together, but the total is capped at 90p in the pound. Some bookmakers choose to waive the smallest deduction of 5p as a goodwill gesture, though this is at their discretion. Crucially, the deduction only affects bets struck at a fixed price before the withdrawal occurred. If you took Starting Price (SP), no Rule 4 applies, because the SP is set after the field is confirmed and already accounts for any withdrawals. Board prices, early prices, and morning prices are all subject to Rule 4; SP bets are not.

Worked Example

Suppose you back a horse at 5/1 for £10. Your potential return is £60 — a £50 profit plus your £10 stake back. Before the race, a 1/3 shot is withdrawn. According to the Tattersalls scale, a withdrawn horse priced at 2/5–1/3 attracts a 70p in the pound deduction. That deduction applies only to your winnings of £50, not the stake. So 70p × £50 = £35 is removed, leaving you with £15 in winnings rather than £50. Your total return on a winning bet therefore becomes £25 (£15 winnings plus your £10 stake back), not the £60 you originally expected.

This can be a significant difference, particularly in small fields where one withdrawn runner may have been the clear market leader. It is worth checking whether a withdrawal has been declared before a race, and at what price the withdrawn horse was trading, so you can calculate your revised potential return using the published scale above.

Why Rule 4 Matters When Judging a Tipster

When assessing a tipster's record, Rule 4 deductions can quietly erode profit figures in ways that are easy to overlook. If a tipster consistently advises horses in small fields or races where short-priced favourites are prone to late withdrawals, a proportion of their stated wins may have been subject to heavy deductions. A tipster who records a winning bet at advised odds of 5/1 but whose followers actually received only the equivalent of 2/1 after a 70p deduction is presenting a misleading picture of their returns — even if unintentionally.

Responsible proofing services should record the actual settled return, not merely the advised price, wherever Rule 4 applies. When you review a tipster's profit and loss figures on TipsterCheck, check whether their results reflect settled returns inclusive of any deductions, or whether they are based purely on advised prices. If a tipster's stated ROI or yield looks attractive but their bets are frequently struck at fixed morning or early prices in races where withdrawals occur, the real-world returns for their subscribers may be noticeably lower than the headline figures suggest.

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