SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Royal Ascot Tuesday

So, hot on the heels of the Greyhound Derby we’re back at another prestigious meeting in the sporting calendar, Royal Ascot, Star Sports fielded their top team, all suited and booted, writes SIMON NOTT.

Down on the lower Tatts rail Inlike Flynn, Lofty and Ricky were taking on the Royal Enclosure patrons while up in Tatts Kaan, Nick, Emily, Tony and Ben were on the pitch taking the readies and card payments.

Before betting got underway properly, I had a circumnavigation of Ascot and met up with Nigel Hawke, wife Catherine and some of his owners. They picked a lovely day for it.

---

🎩 2:30 – (Str) Queen Anne Stakes (Group 1) (Class 1) (4yo+) 1m

It was quite busy for an opener and Tuesday at Royal Ascot with decent bets laid on both pitches, they included £6500 – £1000, £15,000 – £3000 and £8100 – £1800 Notable Speech, £6000-£2000 and £4500 – £1500 Rosallion.

There wasn’t a lot for Docklands, the 14/1 nose winner from bogie Rosallion which ensured a winning race up in Tatts copping £7243, Lofty and Flynn down on the lower rail got £8000.

---

🎩 3:05 – Coventry Stakes (Group 2) (Class 1) (2yo only) 6f

Next up and first of the big field hard to fathom races that proliferate Royal Ascot. I say hard to fathom, but somebody will usually find the winner; you just have to hope it’s not to lumps. The first, bet of any note up in Tatts was a trade £9000 – £2000 Gstaad.

Before betting really got going Ben had a VIP visitor, Fred Done, see photo. Down in the lower rail they’d laid a bet of £8000 – £2000 over Postmodern.

Up in Tatts, they laid £1400 and £500 at 9/2 the same horse in another lively but not Greyhound Derby lively, betting heat.

The trade money knew, Gstaad the 7/2 favourite got the money in some style down the centre of the course, where the royal procession went, there might be something in that theory, they always take the best ground. Tatts blew £8000 and the rail £1800, Lofty said the places had been kind to them.

---

🎩 3:40 – King Charles III Stakes (Group 1) (Class 1) (3yo+) 5f

Next up, and another very big name came to the front of the joint, looked it up and down but didn’t have a bet, which was a shame, though I couldn’t have named him anyway.

Meanwhile, plenty of other people did so but to largely modest stakes. Harry Stewart-Moore came to the joint looking for AK, sadly not in morning dress he wasn’t able to visit him down on the lower rail. Meanwhile, and you never know what’s going to come at you, the Tatts pitch laid a £10,000 double, Diko the Legend in the 4.00 at Thirsk 10/3 doubled with Field Of Gold in the 4.20 here at 10/11. Betting on the current race hadn’t reached those levels with less than £4000 in the hod as the horses entered the stalls.

Once out of them, the quickest horse to the line was 12/1 winner American Affair, which copped £1615 down on the rail, news from Lofty was that the race had been quieter and that the worst winner in the book had won, a cop of £1200.

---

🎩 4:20 – (Rnd) St James’s Palace Stakes (Group 1) (Colts) (Class 1) (3yo) 1m

The punters had evidently been waiting for Field of Gold, having bets of £20,000 – £22,000, £10,000 – £11,000 £10,000 – £11,000 and £1000 – £1100 plus the double should the first leg cop, fair bets to lay before cutting the price. A trade bet of £10,000 – £12,000 followed swiftly after but stayed 5/6 which it did on most other joints too. Armaloft Alex commented that it had gone a bit quiet again, it had but with £60,000 in the hod and the first leg of the double just down at Thirsk, it hadn’t been a bad race already.

A further grand and two grand at 10/11 the jolly topped things up, back to 5/6 it was again, and a punter had £600 to win £500. Tom Waterhouse came over to the joint but to say hello to Ben, not to have a bet. Royal Ascot is an international draw, isn’t it?

By the time the field headed for the stalls, the jolly was 8/11. Punters were walking past trying to blag 5/6 and 4/5 but that ship had sailed, you can’t stand back and hope they get bigger, then beg the price when you miss it. No sir.

Well, what can you say, even the world’s top train stopper couldn’t put the kibosh on the impressive winner Field Of Gold. The book lost £58,155, Ben quietly and stealthily, probably quite sensibly, left the building and Tony and Emily to pay pay pay.

It got worse, Lofty’s team blew £6700 and the massive queue waiting to draw were crowing. It’s a long week, we’ll see if they are still singing on Saturday.

---

🎩 5:00 – Ascot Stakes (Heritage Handicap) (GBBPlus Race) (Class 2) (4yo+ 0-100)2m4f (2m3f210y)

The next race opened with a bet of £9000 – £2000 East India Dock from the trade, and a hello from previous #BettingPeople interviewee Brad Barry, who is always very nice to see. Betting after the initial £2000 was relatively slow, not helped by the number of people who were waiting to draw their winnings.

The message from Lofty was that it had gone quiet down on the bottom rail too, the old post-big-race lull effect. Ascending won the race at 20/1.

Lofty told me the bottom rail copped £2500, while Kaan’s crew snapped the elastic bands around £3737—or at least could have done, had they wanted to tempt fate, which of course they didn’t, but they were already losing £43,000, so what the hell.

---

🎩 5:35 – Wolferton Stakes (Listed Race) (Class 1) (4yo+) 1m2f (1m1f212y)

Next up, 9/2 the field and the sun was creeping closer to the joint. We moan about it in the winter when the betting ring can be degrees colder, but in the summer, it keeps the sun off and the need for factor 50 and stripping your clobber off too.

You might have guessed not a lot was happening with £3335 taken in total, with a bet of £15,000 – £900 Meydaan making up a chunk of it. Hasten won the race at 8/1, the Tatts book copped £110.

No news from Lofty could mean many things, no phone signal, they were paying out, under the cosh, or still counting it. It turns out they won a carpet, though I’m still not sure what the reason was, ‘worst winner’ so paying out is the guess.

---

🎩 6:10 – Copper Horse Stakes (Handicap) (GBBPlus Race) (Class 2) (4yo+ 0-105) 1m6f (1m6f34y)

The lucky last opened with a bet of £12,500 – £5000 followed by £5500 – £2000 both on French Master in the 16 runner handicap. While the team were tapping away a nice young chap came over and said that he reads my stuff in Australia, he hadn’t seen Rob Waterhouse and Warren Woodcock betting on the front row.

I might have cost Star Sports a punter when I told him where they were and he headed in that general direction, at least in the direction of Warren, Rob now has three pitches at Ascot. Meanwhile, I was told that someone had asked for $500,000 on Field Of Gold on a card on the lower rail, though he didn’t ask Star.

Lucky he didn’t ask Ben either! I’ll be interested to find out the strength of the rumour. Star Sports had joined stalwarts Tim Brown and Barry Pinnington and bet 1/4 odds a place but it didn’t appear to entice many more punters in, all the money was on the jolly to win, which at the off was losing £20226 in Tatts. French Master was last and had touched 20/1 in running turning for home, then found gear after gear to power down the home straight to win going away. They lost £20,806 on the race, which made it £64,000 down on the day in Tatts.

Luckily, the lower rail copped £3000, and softened the blow.

We’re back tomorrow. Send more readies!

---

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

---

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

---

STAR PROMOTIONS