Royal Ascot Thursday: Simon Nott’s Tales from The Ring

ROYAL ASCOT DAY THREE: Simon Nott is back on course for day three. It’s 2-0 to the layers so far but not even at the half-time mark. Would the backers come out on top today?

Ladies Day dawned with a bit of a disaster, our video content filmed on the pitch and in the Star Sports box had been deemed an infringement of copyright, a complaint had been made and our twitter account suspended. Whilst all we are trying to do is promote the betting ring and bring some of the fun and colour of it to those at home, not lucky enough to be with us, the law is the law and we sadly have to cease bringing you video content for the time being. We hope the situation can be resolved but until then that’s sadly how it is.

We had a visit from legendary rails bookmaker Stephen Little before racing, if you don’t know of Stephen we interviewed him recently (CLICK HERE) – when asked if he missed standing up taking bets he just gave us a wry smile.

2:30 Norfolk Stakes (Group 2)

The crowd was noticeable bigger and buzzier than yesterday with betting very steady in the opener which looked wide open at around 9/2 the field.

The only bet of note we took was a monkey off the floor, sadly for us it was on the 5/1 winner Shang Shang Shang which scrambled home by a nose.

3:05 Hampton Court Stakes (Group 3)

The second on the day’s card looked equally competitive with Key Victory heading the market at 4/1. Once again, betting was steady but modest with no sign of commission agents or big punters.

And so it stayed, no bets of note just small and sweet. Such was the book that 5/1 well-connected winner Hunting Horn was a small winner both in the office and on the pitch. That was considered to be a get out of jail free result in what could have been a bad losing race.

3:40 Ribblesdale Stakes (Fillies’ Group 2)

The third race on the card picked up a bit for larger bets, a punter came in for £12,000 -£1,000 Athena which looked promising – then as they were going in the stalls a commission agent appeared under Ben’s shoulder with £50,000 at 10/3 Magic Wand. The phone started to buzz, floods of money in the office for the same horse, at the off the horse lost £500,000. It’s a shame I’m no longer allowed to film because I’m sure sadistic punters would love to watch a man lose half a million pounds on a horse race. You will just have to take it from me, Ben took it like a man.

4:20 Gold Cup (Group 1)

There was no respite, the big-hitters had the smell of bookies money in their nostrils and were soon back for more. This time Order Of Saint George £100,000 at 13/8 then £130,000 – £80,000 both on course with the phone buzzing with additional bets in the office, the total losses across the firm were way over the previous total.

Order Of St George only finished fourth in the end, the winner and joint favourite 7/4 Stradivarius got plenty despite being market leader, nowhere near enough to cover the previous race losses but a huge psychological boost as well as not doing over a million quid in two races.

Aye Aye 🙂

5:00 Britannia Stakes (Heritage Handicap)

With two huge handicaps to go the firm could breathe a cautious sigh of relief that the big-hitters had called it a day and there’d be no more gazing into the potential huge loss abyss today.

Bets were steady but small, at the off there four losers. 10/1 winner Ostilio wasn’t one of them.

5:35 King George V Stakes (Handicap)

The last saw a few decent bets off the floor, all in the hundreds and coming in a steady flow with people having one last go at a 5/1 the field handicap.

There was a very late withdrawal when Dubhe was pulled out of the race. Just after that a punter ambled up and asked what the price was Lucius Tiberius he was told he could have the 16/1 that was on the board previous to the withdrawal. He then asked for a monkey each-way. That wasn’t expected, you just never know. It turned out he didn’t either, his selection unplaced but plenty of punters did find the winner. Baghdad may Not be a popular holiday destination but it was with the punters a loser for over £3,000 in the book. It had been a losing day but not as bad as it could have been with the firm still well in front. Two days to go and the winning post is in sight – video evidence or not.