42
TALES FROM THE BETTING RING
RACING AHEADISSUE 178Simon Nott spends the week at Royal Ascot
rain, shine and
colour of
Queen’s hat
Tuesday
The weather forecasters predicted a
miserable wet start to this year’s meet-
ing but for much of the morning it did
seem as if they’d got it wrong. They
hadn’t. All bar the first and last race
the betting ring got a soaking.
It started well for the bookmakers
when 14/1 Lord Glitters won the
opener, only for them to give it all back
with interest after Arizona was heavily
supported from 9/4 into 15/8 before
winning the Coventry Stakes. The
bookies thought they’d got it beaten
as the jolly looked the unlikely winner
in-running, but Ryan Moore got him
home for the punters by half a length
at the post. By the King’s Stand Stakes
it was teeming down, front row layer
Martyn of Leicester was screaming out
‘Come on down you cowards’ to the
punters sheltering in the stands, it
made a change from ‘Money without
work’. Those backers that did come
into the ring to bet mostly wanted to
be on Battash sent off the 2/1 favourite
or Blue Point the 5/2 second-in and
eventual winner.
Too Darn Hot was all the rage in the
St James’s Palace Stakes going off at
2/1 market leader under Frankie
Dettori. The combo’s backers did get a
thrill as they took it up inside the final
furlong only to be overhauled at the
business end. 10/1 winner Circus Max-
imus was a great result for the ring and
a double for Ryan Moore who did the
books a favour for a change. The 19-
runner Ascot Stakes where they bet
13/2 the field is never a race where the
punters want to wager much more
than shrapnel, it’s even harder to get
them betting when it’s lashing down.
Winner Grand Visir was a middle-pin in
the betting at 12/1, probably a small
winner for most layers. The rain relent-
ed for the concluding Wolferton
Stakes and the punters got stuck in.
Sadly, at least for the bookies a lot of
them wanted to be on Addeybb
backed from 13/2 into 5/1 before win-
ning. In doing so it did beat 9/2
favourite Magic Wand into second,
small mercies on a testing day.Wednesday
The Met Office website put people
away big style in the morning with
their quite cheery prediction for rain
around 1pm then clearing up. A further
check at 2pm as the Queen passed
and it was still pouring down showed
they’d changed their tune and the ring
was going to get another soaking.
None more so than those bookies bet-
ting down by the bandstand, poor
Tony Styles trading as Bob Stock was
up to his ankles in water as the
drainage system failed to cope. Luckily
the bookies cheered up when the
opening Queen Mary Stakes was won
by 18/1 shot Raffle Prize under Frankie
Dettori. The caveat being that that
particular jockey always has his follow-
ers so doubtful it skinned many books.
Dashing Willoughby winning at 6/1
was another fair result for the books in
the Queen’s Vase, 15/8 favouriteNorway was heavily backed but
appeared to not like the rain, finishing
out with the washing.
There was drama in the betting ring
in the next when Star Sport’s Ben
Keith laid a £100,000 bet on Magical in
the Prince Of Wales (not Whales)
Stakes. The commission agent betting
on behalf of a client struck the bet at
7/4. Luckily for Keith, the 13/8 jolly
found one too good in 3/1 shot Crystal
Ocean piloted by Frankie Dettori. The
Duke Of Cambridge Stakes was won
by 9/1 chance Move Swifty which was
another fair result for the bookmakers
with 7/2 favourite I Can Fly beaten into
third.
Given the weather conditions some
of the bookmakers had deserted the
glamour of Royal Ascot’s traditional
topper and tails for anything that
would keep them dry. Martyn of
Leicester, still goading punters hud-
dled in the stand, managed to cocoon
himself into some clear plastic. Quips
that maybe he’d been sponsored by a
well-known condom manufacturer
were later dismissed.
When taking on the punters in a race
like the Royal Hunt Cup where they
bet 11/2 the field the bookies are
hoping to fill the hod and miss the
winner. It’s a fair chance that 20/1 shot
Afaak fitted that bill, getting home by
just a nose from the fast-finishing
Jamie Spencer-ridden 16/1 shot Clon
Coulis. Bookies hoping to get the
double up in the 21-runner five-furlong
Windsor Castle Stakes were disap-