SIMON NOTT: Royal Ascot Wednesday BETTING REPORT

Royal Ascot has to be the most glamorous and prestigious meeting of the flat racing calendar, at least it is for me. I remembered yesterday in yesterday’s report that back in the early 1990’s I first experienced it with bookmaker Jack Lynn. He was lucky enough to fall into a great pitch which had been overlooked down at the bottom end of Tatts, fun was had by all. It was and still is a fond, if increasingly hazy memory.

Fast forward to 2006 and I was incredibly pleased to be asked to work by Ian Metcalfe of Torquay bookmaker Jack Bevan and Co (Est 1897). Ian’s firm had pick number three in Tattersalls but due to the bookies in front of him choosing to bet elsewhere he was betting in the number one spot. The team was Ian, his son Paul and me. What an experience that was, the first time I’d worked at the Royal End of Tattersalls. I was mainly on the bag next to Ian giving change and paying over the winners. After the first few races of each day Ian gave me the honour of taking the bets. So, there I was, about 15 years after working at my first Royal Ascot, stood on the Number One pitch taking bets, as the bookmaker at Royal Ascot. I know I was just on wages, it wasn’t my money or even really something I’d earned but I have to say that for those races I felt the proudest bloke in racing. I’ll always be grateful to Ian for giving me that experience that not many will ever have.

⭕ Just let yesterday, ‘Inlike’ set the stall out for the afternoon ahead and the early money horses …..

2:30 – Queen Mary Stakes (Fillies’ Group 2) (Class 1) (2YO only) 5f

Twilight Gleaming was well-backed in the office for the opener. The biggest bet was £80,000 – £40,000 plus several four figure wagers too. Flynn’s big punters on course from yesterday were conspicuous by their absence, the biggest bet he had to report was £1000 – £400, on the favourite too. Quick Suzy proving to be just that, despite the owners tempting fate when naming her, did the books a real favour by winning at 8/1. That especially as Twilight Gleaming was runner-up. The office reported that the winner was a good result but they did run into three monkey bets at 9/1 which took a few quid out of the book.

📈 Toby at Star Spreads was the epitome of happiness prior to the first, his miserable mantle from yesterday long gone. He told me that ‘Desert Dreamer is the loser on the race we have buyers of Double Numbers, double the cloth number each winner, so we’d like low numbers to bolt up.’ Quick Suzy was number 18.

3:05 – Queen’s Vase (Group 2) (Class 1) (3YO only) 1m 6f

Compared to yesterday business on the second race was relatively light in the office. Bets included Dancing King £11375 -£1750, plenty of monkey bets for the well-supported elsewhere jolly Wordsworth but most importantly a £34,000 – £8000 single wager the winner Kemari making it the worst in the book for them. Flynn on course laid a bet of £3000 – £1000 the runner-up but also reported Kemari was a small loser. There was a 15p Rule 4 deduction for the late withdrawal of Kyprios who tried to make an early break for it through the front of the stalls as the rest were still loading. Not a great result but if the bogie is going to win then it’s best when it’s a low take out one.

📈 Toby from Star Spreads told me. It was a bad start on the double numbers 140 is their target, we’re 36/1 we just needed a low number there really, Kemari was number six so we’ll take that’

🌠 One of the Star Sports betting shops laid a monkey the withdrawn Kyprios at 11/1 so the punter got their money back. Incidentally, the betting shop estate was added to today with the opening of a new branch in Clapham FULL LIST OF SHOPS CLICK HERE. Just on the off came through the news that a betting shop punter bet an £80,000 – £20,000 Wordsworth.

3:40 – Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (Fillies’ & Mares’ Group 2) (Str) (Class 1) (4YO plus) 1m

They were still going down when JB from the office told me that they had just laid a £50,000 double, on Queen Power at 10/3 and Love at 5/4. Things were beginning to hot up after a slow start. Business was brisk thereafter if not colossal, as they were running JB in the office told me ‘Queen Power is the one they all want. Laid plenty of monkeys all day at 5/1 all the way to 7/2. Also, a £5500 – £2000 each-way, £8000 – £2000 and £6000 – £1500 plus a bet of £10,000 – £100 Champers Elysees. Double Bubble was a loser in book too – lots of people taking advantage of the Star offer this week of a free bet based on average win stakes’.

Indie Angel winning at 22/1 under Frankie Dettori was a great result for the bookmakers, not least the office with the £50,000 double going down in the first leg. There was no ‘Dettori factor’ reported in the office to dampen things either, the biggest bet they laid the winner was £120.

🌠 One of the Star Sports betting shops took a £20,000 bet on the runner-up Lady Bowthorpe so that was handy for them. One of the shops also laid a bet of £5000 – £1000 Queen Power, you can’t eat value.

⭕ Not to be outdone, Lofty on the rails at Royal Ascot for Star Sports reported laying a bet of £11,000 – £2000 each-way Double Or Bubble which went off at 7/1 and finished 9th. There’s not a lot that’ll make Lofty smile when working but I’m guessing that one did.

📈 Toby from Star Spreads told me before the race ‘Not much action here, however, we’ve had a big buyer on Favs (25/10/5 1st/2nd/3rd), two races in, two seconds if this one places, the banker of the day in the fourth could provide us an edgy latter half of the day.’ After Queen Power finished third, he added, possibly hinting at a penchant for carpentry ‘That’s handy, not perfect, but handy, slowly slowly, chip away.’

4:20 – Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Group 1) (British Champions Series) (Class 1) (4YO plus) 1m 2f

📈 Toby was the first to get in touch prior to the next, he told me, ‘Anything but Love, would be a double whammy for us, favourite and a high number. Love hurts.’ He then sent me a video link to the song of that name. I’m not that cruel as to share it.

Love was all the rage in the office, sadly I wasn’t privy to all the bets, those that we can share are £20,000 a brace of £10,000, £5000 a couple of £2000 and loads of £500 all at 6/5. Her winning was a terrible result just on that evidence but am guessing it was much worse.

⭕ It wasn’t a great story on-course with Flynn and Lofty either, they laid bets of £5000, £1200 and £1000 all on Love at 5/4.

📈 Then of course there was Star Spreads Toby who would not be happy. I almost didn’t open his message for fear of the crime to music video link he’d sent this time. I need not have worried, his message was a very stoic ‘We’re uphill for the last three’.

🌠 One of the Betting Shops laid an even £1000 Love but also took a few quid out of a couple of less fancied horses at good prices, £400 My Oberon at 18/1 and £250 Sangarius at 20/1. in short, Toby was right, Love hurt.

5:00 – Royal Hunt Cup (Heritage Handicap) (Str) (Class 2) (3YO plus) 1m

As you might expect, betting for the Royal Hunt Cup was relatively modest though punters did wade in for bets of £85,000 – £10,000 Haqueeqy and £70,000 – £10,000 Matthew Flinders. JB in the office said that the biggest bet for the supposedly badly drawn runaway 18/1 winner Real World was just £100 at the price.

🌠 One of the shops laid a bet of £800 at 13/2 the runner-up Astro King which stayed in the till.

📈 Toby had told me anything but Astro King would do for Star Spreads, I was a little worried though as the winner was number 28. But he came back with a stiff upper lipped ‘Astro King outweighs it, but yeah, not the perfect result’.

5:35 – Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed) (Class 1) (2YO only) 5f

The feature of the penultimate was the gamble on Kaboo, it had been 28/1 the night before. Star Sports often get away with these early priced gambles but not today. JB told me they’d laid £70,000 – £3500 each-way, £21,000 – £1500 each-way and lots of people chipping away at smaller prices.

There was opposition to both of them with Flynn of course, he’d laid £7500 each-way Golden Bell at 8/1 and £7500 each-way Spring Is Sprung at 16/1 on the pitch.

📈 Star Spreads Toby said ‘There’s no love for the Americans at Ascot from the Star Spreads sellers getting stuck into Ruthin. Oddly we’re with them, a high number and a fav. We’d like to rob from Peter to pay Paul here’.

The race was a hectic betting heat, the messages came in thick and fast, the office laid a bet of £40,000 – £1000 each-way Silks Pass as well as ‘plenty’ of £1500 – £500 bets the jolly then another £1250 on the gamble Kaboo at 8/1 plus a late £2500 each-way and £1000 win top-up Ruthin at 3/1 and a bet of £1200 on Armor at 11/1. Flynn came in late to confirm that Ruthin was no good on either pitches on course either. Phew, and they were off.

Chipotle winning at 22/1, well what can you say? Oh yes, Aye Aye! Nothing of any note on that one was the word from the office. A slightly more upbeat Flynn said ‘That’s some result for us on course’. Even Toby from Star Spreads was sort of positive telling me, ‘We are down on the race, but that’s a real help everywhere else’.

6:10 – Kensington Palace Stakes (Fillies’ & Mares’ Handicap) (Rnd) (Class 2) (4YO plus) 1m

📈 Going into the lucky last Star Spreads Toby was first to get in touch, telling me ‘Just small bets here and there, but we really just want the favourite turned over, Stunning Beauty would be a stunning finish.’

Ed Dark came bounding into the conversation like the bloke that joins a stag party in the eighth pub telling me that despite bets of £8000 – £2000 Dreamloper and £14,000 – £1000 each-way – mostly it had been a quiet race compared to yesterday.

Lola Showgirl winning the lucky last at 12/1 a good result to end the day but as Ed said the betting was quiet compared to yesterday’s maelstrom of big bets. Love would have knocked the day bandy but the best of course is yet to come.

After all that, Toby and Star Spreads ended with a winning day too. We’re back tomorrow.

Simon Nott

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Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.

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Simon Nott is author of: Skint Mob! Tales from the Betting Ring
available on Kindle CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

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