Muwatta Malik 1003
موطأ مالك#1003SahihThese are the words of a Successor — the generation after the Companions — not of the Prophet ﷺ.
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ سَعِيدَ بْنَ الْمُسَيَّبِ، يَقُولُ لَيْسَ بِرِهَانِ الْخَيْلِ بَأْسٌ إِذَا دَخَلَ فِيهَا مُحَلِّلٌ فَإِنْ سَبَقَ أَخَذَ السَّبَقَ وَإِنْ سُبِقَ لَمْ يَكُنْ عَلَيْهِ شَىْءٌ .
Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said heard Said ibn al-Musayyab say, "There is no harm in placing stakes on horses if a third horse enters it. The winner takes the stake, and there is no fine against the loser
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
In-book reference: 21:45