44
as did the dream as the colt quickened
past Turgenev eventually winning by
over a length.
The concluding King George V
Stakes saw the Aidan O’Brien yard
saddle the first three home. Judging
by the fact Star Sports laid £100,000 -
£13,000 and £65,000 - £10,000 each-
way the Ryan Moore-ridden eventual
11/2 chance Constantinople, not in the
order connections expected. The
gamble was beaten into a neck second
by 22/1 chance South Pacific. Mean-
while, the horse all eyes would have
been on had Frankie won the fifth,
Questionare, was sent off 7/2 favourite
but only beat two home.
Friday
The talk of the betting ring prior to
racing was still all about Dettori and
what might have been. Given the
prices of his winners it didn’t impact
too much on the on-course layers. If
anything, there was disappointment
that the off-course firms didn’t hedge
Turgenev on course. Times have
changed since 1996 though, sadly
BOG and Cashout have made fun-
nelling money back into the ring a very
rare thing. The bookmakers didn’t get
to keep the readies in the first when
4/1 favourite Daahyeh won.
Star Sports laid a huge bet of
£250,000 - £200,000 on Japan in the
King Edward VII Stakes. The colt won
easily under Ryan Moore despite drift-
ing to an SP of 6/4. Quite what that
price would have been if Star supremo
Ben Keith had changed his no hedging
policy and had it back on course is
anyone’s guess. The layers got some
back in Commonwealth Cup when
even money favourite Ten Sovereigns
disappointed. There were no huge
bets reported in the ring so it’s unlikely
Star Sports got theirs back. 8/1 winner
Advertise was ridden by Dettori so not
many books would have enjoyed a
skinner. It was a similar story in the
Coronation Stakes, even money
favourite Hermosa was beaten but this
time the 20/1 winner Watch Me really
was a good result for the layers.
Hayley Turner was the toast of the
bookies after springing a 33/1 surprise
in the Sandringham Stakes but they
were brought back down to earth
when Ryan Moore got the last
favourite, 7/2 shot Baghdad home in
the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes.Saturday
The big-punters attempted to hit Star
Sports in the opener when they came
in for bets of £200,000 - £160,000
and £100,000 - £80,000 Lope Y Fer-
nandez in the Chesham Stakes. This
time the good guys, sorry, bookmak-
ers kept the cash as 3/1 Pinatubo
proved far too good. 25/1 Space Trav-
eller was another excellent result for
the bookies beating 5/2 Space Blues
into second in the Jersey Stakes.
Star Sports were cheering favourite
11/4 shot Defore home in the Hard-
wicke Stakes, hardly surprising as they
laid bets of £135,000- £30,000 and
£180,000 - £40,000 Southern France,
both each-way only to watch it disap-
point in sixth.
That firm weren’t cheering for longthough as a bet of £70,000 - £40,000
on Blue Point was landed when the
horse won for the second time in a
week. It was beaten a stride after the
post but his backers got the money
where it mattered. You can forgive the
betting ring for getting stuck in,
maybe too deeply, on 7/2 favourite
Cape Byron in the 26-runner Woking-
ham Stakes. The punters backed it like
a good thing and so it proved to be.
So with 29 races done in rain and
shine over the week it was down to the
lucky last. I nipped to the loo and a
couple of refreshed chaps tried to buy
my top hat for £50, I was tempted but
declined and legged it before they
decided to take it anyway. Back in the
ring the punters appeared to be flag-
ging, there was a lull about 10 minutes
before the off of the concluding
Queen Alexandra Stakes, a bit like
watch and waiting for a kettle to boil
after a long week. The 7/2 second-
favourite Cleonte wasn’t a great result
for the bookies but it would have been
a winning week for most of them. So
that was it, a week that had it all.TALES FROM THE BETTING RING
RACING AHEADISSUE 178RAPatriotic
bookies