Bookies on ropes after eight favourites win so far at Royal Ascot

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/18/bookies-eight-favourites-royal-ascot

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If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. The favourites have been winning here at Royal Ascot and the bookies are taking a pasting, or so they would have us believe.

A run of well-backed winners can dramatically lift the atmosphere on any day at any track. Ascot in high summer, on the other hand, looks and feels remarkably similar, regardless of what happens on the track. Unbridled revelry is item one on the agenda for most who come through the gates and the betting tends to be secondary.

But it was not hard to find people with plenty to celebrate, even two hours after the final race, as merry throngs continued to pass around champagne bottles on the lawns behind the grandstands. One especially boisterous group, first-timers from Cockfosters led by Anthony and Carly, claimed they had pooled their resources and stuck £100 on The Fugue.

Some of the winnings had then been played up on Integral and Muteela, making three winners from six races. The promised to return and give the bookies a chance to get some of it back.

This may be some consolation for the layers but the fact remains that eight of the 12 races here so far this week have been won by the favourite or a joint-favourite. “We’ve taken a kicking,” was the pithy summation offered by Jon Ivan-Duke, a spokesman for William Hill.

“It’s been a very, very tough couple of days for the bookies. The first day was shocking, Toronado and Kingman coming in. A lot of people had those in doubles. We’ve been hit badly.”

There was some respite when Treve was turned over at 8-13 in Wednesday’s feature race but even that was not an unequivocally good result for the oddsmen. The Fugue, who beat her, was backed down to 11-2 from the 9-1 that had been available in the morning.

Anything can happen at the races when the ground is soft but on fast ground, as any fule kno, the form stands up well and punters have half a chance. Ascot’s turf has been baking this week and a 4mm sprinkling of irrigation on Wednesday night, intended to keep it safe for the runners, will make little difference.

The Royal meeting is rarely good for bookmakers, at least according to one of their number here. The big-name jockeys do well, she groused, and they have many followers. Frankie Dettori, Ryan Moore and Richard Hughes have all found their way to the winner’s circle this week.

Still, things are not going so badly wrong that the bookmakers are tempted to name actual sums that have sailed down the Swanee. “We’ll wait to see how things go for the next few days before we look at profit and loss because there is still a long way to go,” Ivan-Duke said, adding that Thursday’s Gold Cup would be particularly important.

“Looking at Leading Light, that’s probably the best backed horse, ante post, of the whole of week. If we can get Leading Light beaten, then it may still be a positive outcome at Royal Ascot for William Hill.” So dry your eyes.

Add in the crucial England game against Uruguay and this becomes what Ivan-Duke expects to be one of the biggest turnover days of the year. “Personally, I’ll be cheering for England,” he offered, with something less than total conviction, “but every man and his dog will be backing them, so bookmakers will certainly be cheering for a different result. Maybe the draw.”

While punters may be banging in goals from every angle, one of the trainers who provided a winning favourite was relieved to be getting back on the scoresheet. Mark Johnston is one of the most successful trainers here, Muteela providing him with a 36th career victory at the Royal meeting, but her success meant a great deal after a rare blank year for the Scotsman in 2013.

Johnston said that May had been a disappointing month by the high standards of his Middleham yard but he felt that his string had come to themselves in the past fortnight or so. With the bit firmly between his teeth, he is now inclined to be ambitious; Muteela was entered on Wednesday in next month’s Falmouth Stakes, a Group One and a major step up from the Listed handicap she landed here.

Sir Michael Stoute has the same target in mind for Integral, who won him the Duke of Cambridge Stakes. “She’s a great filly and we’re delighted,” he said, already marching from the celebrations to saddle a runner in the following race. “She’s got a great engine and great speed. She could go well over shorter than a mile if you wanted.”