• Opening day was worst day for a generation for layers • Gold Cup winner Rite Of Passage a 20-1 blow for punters After an opening day at the meeting described in one quarter as the worst for a generation, the bookmakers have inched their way back into the Royal Ascot struggle. Fast summer ground is generally held to lead to more predictable results, but Rite Of Passage’s 20-1 Gold Cup win meant the layers finished the third afternoon ahead, though some insisted that the profit was only marginal. “The Norfolk Stakes [which opened the card] was pretty good with Approve winning at 16-1,” George Primarolo, Totesport’s spokesman, said, “and the Gold Cup was obviously a very good result. “Ransom Note [the winner of the Britannia Handicap] was well backed this morning, but we’ve clawed some back today. Overall on the three days, I’d say that the punters still just have their noses ahead, which means there’s all to play for. The card on Friday looks very tricky, and the racing here is so competitive that we could easily be behind after four days and then get it all back on the Saturday.” William Hill also reported a small profit on the day, while there was a significant reverse for one Betfair betting exchange punter, who managed to lay Ransom Note, the 9-1 winner of the Britannia Handicap, for £15 at their ceiling price of 999-1 just as the stalls opened. The bizarre bet, apparently a result of clicking the wrong button at precisely the wrong moment, cost the punter £15,000, and also contributed to a freak Betfair starting price about Ransom Note of 24-1. Betfair’s technicians were believed to be investigating the precise circumstances of the bet. In addition to Hibaayeb in the Ribblesdale Stakes, the other winning favourite on the day was Luca Cumani’s Afsare in the Listed Hampton Court Stakes, who got up to deny the Queen’s runner Quadrille in the final stride. The Queen, watching the race from the Royal Box, seemed unsure whether her runner had held on, but managed to raise a smile of sorts when the result of the photograph was announced. Dandino, who took the closing event, the King George V Handicap, was also among the market leaders for his race, but he denied a significant gamble on John Dunlop’s Berling, who finished unplaced after coming from a very poor position in the 20-runner field. “The first two days were dreadful for the layers,” Simon Clare of Coral said , “but there was a really good spread of bets in the Gold Cup, so to get all of the horses that attracted money beaten was a real result. We would have made about £300,000 on that race, which probably equates to between £2m and £3m for the off-course industry as a whole. “That said, it’s still been a very good meeting for the punters. We’ve been relying on the World Cup to come to our rescue, and Spain’s defeat by Switzerland was a particularly good result. Nearly every day, in fact, there’s been a bookie-friendly result which helps to knock out all the doubles and trebles in the shops.” Horse racing Royal Ascot Greg Wood guardian.co.uk
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Bookies claw their way back after dreadful start to Royal Ascot
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