You'll see us recommend "each-way" on some NAPs and "win-only" on others, and the reasoning behind that split is worth explaining properly, because it isn't random.
What an each-way bet actually is. An each-way bet is really two separate bets of equal size — one that the horse wins, one that it places (finishes in the paid positions, typically the first two, three or four depending on the field size and race type). If the horse wins, both parts pay out. If it places but doesn't win, only the place part pays, usually at a fraction of the odds — commonly a quarter or a fifth. If it finishes outside the places, both parts lose.
Why field size and place terms change the maths. A small field might only pay out on the first two places, which makes the each-way part far less likely to be useful than in a large handicap paying four places. Before an each-way bet makes sense, it's worth knowing not just how many horses are running but how many places are being paid, and at what fraction of the odds — the value in the place part varies a lot depending on both.
Why price matters as much as the concerns on the card. At a short price — anything around evens or shorter — the each-way part of the bet barely adds anything, because a small fraction of an already-small number is negligible. That's why we tend to recommend win-only at very short odds, even on a NAP with a genuine concern attached: there's simply no meaningful each-way value to capture. At a bigger price, in a bigger field, the place part starts to do real work, which is why you'll see us lean each-way more often on longer-priced selections carrying more than one flagged concern — it's a way of managing the risk of those concerns rather than ignoring them.
The short version. Each-way isn't a hedge you add automatically — it's a tool that fits certain races (bigger fields, bigger prices, more uncertainty) better than others (small fields, short prices, cleaner cases). We try to make that call explicitly on every NAP rather than defaulting to one or the other.
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