SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Ascot Saturday

Today at Ascot was family fun day, it was also Super Saturday so bigger punters were expected to be spread thinly around the country but the hope was the very respectably sized crowd of novice punters would fill the financial void, writes SIMON NOTT.

It was going to be hard work so luckily Star Sports fielded a strong team, Lofty and Tony on the rail and Kaan and camera-shy Dan in Tatts. Also spotted in the ring were two of racing’s top and arguably most eccentric characters and influencers SD and Jerry White. Were today’s families ready for these two (pictured)? One could only hope so.

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1:55 – Club 26 Heritage Handicap (Class 2) (3YO plus)

Today, I was sporting my Akubra hat gifted to me by my Australian mates at the McCormack firm; it was ideal with a warm breeze blowing through the ring. I’d have been chasing my Goodwood Panama around the racecourse had I been wearing it.

Having started this paragraph talking about racing millenary, you might have guessed there wasn’t much going on in the ring, but the firm did manage to take £1924 across the pitches. Dubai Bling winning at 12/1 copped the good guys £443 in a tricky race.

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2:27 – Juddmonte Summer Mile Stakes (Group 2) (Rnd) (Class 1) (4YO plus)

Next up and business appeared to perk up, but bet size was still small. During the run-up to the race, I learned that racecourse veteran Dave Seeley had been poorly enough to be admitted to hospital, I’m sure everyone who knows Dave will wish him a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, a punter bet £330 – £300 the jolly More Thunder which constituted a big bet so far today. The one the small punters latched onto was No Lunch which was a worse loser than the jolly as horses went to post. That was until a punter bet £1100 – £1000 the favourite which firmly put him back into the four-figure red.

Not long after that bet another backer gave Dan £290 to have on the jolly, his Dad might well have asked if the guy had ‘robbed his mum’s purse’ given the strange stake. We all miss Barry’s gruff banter!

The punters might not though, I hope the guy hadn’t scraped up his last money to have on the ‘good thing’ because he’s now potless Zeus Olympios winning at 7/2 was an excellent result but the jolly unplaced ensured the places were bad, the firm still copped £2534 from a £4186 book, though.

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3:02 – Juddmonte EBF Restricted Novice Stakes (GBB Race) (Class 2) (2YO only)

The field money for the third had been steadily building, just small bets accumulating to £3205 before there was drama at the start, 28/1 Mr Twig played up at the start to such an extent that he was withdrawn at the start just prior to colliding with an unseating 4/1 chance Dr Rascal which for a few minutes looked like he might be withdrawn as well as his jockey Kaiya Fraser looked to fall awkwardly but was soon back in the saddle.

Dr Rascal then lived up to his name proving mulish going into the stalls, to the extent that a mini Cheltenham roar went up when he finally conceded and raced. He only then went on to win it, copping £612 in the combined books. Amazing.

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3:34 – Ascot Hospitality Handicap (GBBPlus Race) (Class 3) (3YO plus)

What’s the phrase that non-racing people think is a racing term and always use but is never used by actual racing people? ‘On the nose’. There were lots of win-only bets in this six-runner heat, including £1400 – £800 Divine Knight and £750 to £500 Galilean Quality.

The latter was dwarfed by £6000 at 13/8 the same horse followed by £2000 – £1000 Divine Knight into a book that ultimately held £9936 with Galilean Quality losing £7985 in the win book. They knew. Bugger.

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4:12 – Side Glance Story Book Launch Handicap (GBBPlus Race)

The race before the penultimate was a straight eight race with Ernst Blofeld installed at 7/4 favourite, but business was slower than the previous race until a punter had a grand on at 15/8.

Stephen Darbyshire fancied Blue Hercules and tipped it to Ryan Conneely, who was here making a horse racing pilot version of the very popular Barking Mad Betting videos.

🗣️ @SimonNott has caught up with Ryan (@barkingmadryan) at Ascot, who is hoping to get on the winning side after ditching @racingoncourse‘s tips!

18+ | GambleAware pic.twitter.com/3X4Y3XpZqn

— Star Sports Bookmakers (@StarSports_Bet) July 11, 2026

Stephen and Ryan can consider themselves unlucky as their 18/1 chance was beaten into second by 22/1 chance Tryfan, which copped £1055 from a £2614 book, a bit back.

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4:45 – Racing To Zero Fillies’ Handicap (Str) (Class 3) (3YO plus)

The £300 at 13/2 Hot And Cold from a bookmaker was the first bet of any note in the book for the penultimate. Yes, it should have been a fraction bet at 100/15 but as the price was already the best in the village, the bookie was too much of a gentleman to ask. Business, which was otherwise small, ultimately amounted to £2071 across both firms.

It looked for a fair bit of the final furlong if the bogie Hot And Cold was going to win, well backed into 4/1, but was overhauled close home by the 9/4 favourite Rosa Inglesa, the punters had left the firm out, the book copped £936. A bit more back.

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5:20 – Thames Hospice Trunks Across The Thames Handicap (Class 4) (3YO plus)

Going into the lucky last, the firm were losing £2655 which wasn’t too bad considering the results. Anyway, it was all to play for in the concluding heat, but the fizz seemed to have gone out of the ring a bit.

The getting out stakes was a tough ask, a 5/1 the field is never easy to find the winner of, CanCan In The Rain headed the market, a £4000 – £100 each-way Lunario was an interesting bet to lay making that one a loser though as the horses arrived at the start the book was bereft of notable bets but still managed to hold nearly £3000 between the two pitches. I bet Red Hat Eagle at 14/1 on the advice of a shrewdie, the trouble was I bet it was Paul and Archie of Pickwick-Bevan my bogie bookies, they always give me the best odds, but I never win with them, but the prices….

Anyway, at the off, there were five losers in the book headed by Havana Blue for £1054 and Lunario losing £2523. Lunario won the race, Havana Blue was runner-up, the ring cheered the book had the ignominious delight of losing over a right result, I’m now on a 65 bet losing streak with Paul and Archie, I’m back here in a couple of weeks. Ready to go again.

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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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