SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Ascot Saturday

It was an excellent start to the day not having to worry about if Ascot was on or off as opposed to Wincanton and Haydock holding inspections though both happily subsequently on, writes SIMON NOTT.

I had a safe run up in a hire car, definitely not designed for three hour drives but arriving in one piece albeit crampe,d was another winning bonus. Star Sports fielded two pitches today, Tony and Eddie in Tatts and Lofty and Kieran on the rail. The forecast was dry though a tad nippy and all was set for an excellent day on the turf.

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1:15 – Betfair Novices’ Hurdle (GBB Race) (Class 2) (5YO plus) 2m3½f

The first race today featured a short one in Mondoui’Boy, which the punters latched on to in the hope of getting them off to a flyer. Eddie and Tony laid £1250 – £1000 and £1100 – £1000 in Tatts and on the rail Lofty and Keiran took £1250 – £1000, and even grand and £2000 – £2200. There’s quite often a flurry of decent bets when there’s an odds-on shot in the first with punters keen to get off to a flyer.

That’s certainly what they got off to today, the jolly absolutely hosed in and returning 8/11 relieved the bookmaking industry of plenty in the process, though you could have got plenty on at 4/5 at the off on-course. The Star Sports’ Tatts pitch lost £2884 and the rail where Lofty ‘got some back on the forecasts’, knocked out £4700. Keiran gave a quiet cheer, he’s on the winner at 50/1 for the Albert Bartlett, he’s a bit of a shrewdie on the quiet, is our Keiran.

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1:50 – Injured Jockeys Fund Ambassadors Programme Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase (Grade 2) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (5YO plus) 3m

You might expect some punters would spin their winnings up on the bottle-on The Jukebox Man in the next. They did! One of Lofty’s customers came to draw £2000 and had it all on the jolly, while over on the Tatts pitch, they laid £4000 – £7500 to a punter not spinning up but just meaning business. Those bets were it as far as lumps went which in hindsight was just as well, the second jolly of the day went on to justify its position in the market and bolted up, Tatts blew £4000, the rail £1500 in what you’d probably call cold blood if you couldn’t think of another metaphor.

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2:25 – Betfair Exchange Handicap Hurdle (GBB Race) (Class 2) (4YO plus) 2m3½f

The punters were going to need a bit more nous to find the winner of the next, where they bet 4/1 the field. Funnily enough, nobody was opening their shoulders this time around. There were plenty of small bets though, there was a large crowd here today, many clad in the sponsors’ scarves and keen to have their fivers on. One intrepid little group even laid out their picnic blanket and tucked into the contents of a wicker basket; it was hardly al fresco weather, they must have been made of stern stuff. ‘Loads of small bets, ’ Ed told me, backed up by Keiran on the rail, though Tatts had taken £2100 double that of the rail. Fiercely Proud winning at 8/1 was a mixed result for the firm Tatts won £1300 but the rails blew £700 thanks largely to a £100 each-way bet the winner.

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3:00 – Betfair Swinley Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (5YO plus)

Andrew Boardley, senior betting ring manager mused that had it not been for Invades here today the crowd would have been very light, sage that he is he could have been right, their presence certainly brought an additional buzz to the place. They were betting too, modestly and responsibly, mind you the sort of clients that pitch up a picnic complete with copious champagne on a frigid February Saturday are certainly potential patrons of the future. The fourth race in the card was another trickier to solve looking event where they bet 11/4 the field with Jipcot heading the market.

Ed was a little surprised when laying £7000 – £500 each-way Invincible Nao in the hole, which was the only bet of any size between the two pitches. Meanwhile, there was an incident, Ed had mistyped a punter’s £156 place instead of £15 John Barbour in the previous race, he noticed the mistake on the payout but before he could alert the betting ring manager, the punter drew the money on the rails pitch, evidently a professional. While that was a reversal, Montregard the 10/3 second-in winning here would usually have been a bad result but was a winner for both book, Tatts copped £350 and the rail £600.

Dishonest people thinking Bookies are fair game? Read all about it after the last. @StarSports_Bet pic.twitter.com/nfOYKLhk8V

— SimonNott (@SimonNott) February 14, 2026

Then, a real turn-up for the book, well at least it looked like it. The punter who had claimed the previous erroneously issued ticket came up for his winnings from the last race. I was dispatched to get Andrew the betting ring manager, he explained the situation very politely to the punter that he’d been overpaid, which he evidently knew. The punter point-blank refused to give the money back, there was nothing anyone could do to appeal to his better nature, he obviously didn’t have one, so he walked away with effectively stolen money in his pocket, defiant that it was the firm’s mistake. The only honour guaranteed in the betting ring is from the bookmakers, punters think the layers are fair game.

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3:35 – Betfair Ascot Chase (Grade 1) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (5YO plus) 2m5f

Next up, basically nobody wanted to be on Jonbon, that despite the fact that the bigger staking punters had already made it known they were in attendance. A late bet of £1000 – £2000 at least made the race interesting. Well, what can you say, if that two grand punter was of nervous disposition, his ring would have been twitching two out when the jolly looked in trouble, class told in the end though, Jonbon battled to win, but the punter certainly had his money’s worth of excitement. The Tatts pitch won £1100 on the race, the rail lost £1500 thanks to a successful £300 straight forecast, topping up the liabilities which was unfortunate.

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4:10 – Betfair Handicap Hurdle (Challenger Stayers Hurdle Series Qualifier) (Class 3) (4YO plus 0-125) 2m7½f

The penultimate 18-runner handicap didn’t look the type of race which would attract massive field money, Tatts were losing £3800 and the rail £8000 so with this heat and a bumper to conclude chances of getting out on the day looked marginal to say the least. Still, as we often say, there’s no last race. I spent most of the betting for the race talking to Trev from Midsomer Norton who wished me well after last week’s post race motoring mishap which was very kind of him, he also said he enjoys the blogs, thank you and good luck with your ante-post portfolio mate.

Betting had been fairly light as anticipated, at the off both Star Sports books had the same bogie, Kalium thanks to small but steady money, including a couple of hundreds and a bottle each-way at 7/1. The each-way side of the bets on Kalium, which sneaked into fourt,h proved costly for the rails pitch. They copped £400 when 20/1 into 14/1 Walden won the race but that profit was kiboshed into a loss of £350 when the places were taken into account. It was a different story in Tatts, most of their bets on the bogie had been win only so, they copped £1200 with the places as opposed to the £1024 before they were tallied.

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4:45 – Betfair Mares’ Open National Hunt Flat Race (Category 1 Elimination) (GBB Race) (Class 2) (4-6YO) 1m7½f (SKY)

You never can tell, just as betting in the last got underway a punter ambled up to Lofty on the rail and bet £4000 on Shearer over at Haydock, taking the tips-on he was offered. Unexpected Party winning the race was an unexpected chunk of money back when it was least expected. Meanwhile, back here at Ascot, the concluding bumper looked a competitive affair where they bet 7/2 the field. Surprise again, a punter bet £3500 One Dimensional at that price only to see it take a walk in the market shortly after, 4/1 was freely available though nothing else was forthcoming for anything much.

At the off the rails held £5000 and Tatts £500, which included a £1500 – £250 hedge bet the delightfully named Grizzled Squirrel. Keiran the shrewdie backed the 17/2 winner Martini Majesty, he was allowed to cheer it home because the rails book copped £4800 and Tatts a bottle on the race. It was still a losing day, but some comeback from the firm. I’m back in a couple of weeks. Thanks for reading.

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

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