Bookies Blog

It’s the eve of the Royal Ascot Festival and there’s plenty of excitement surrounding the greatest flat racing meet in the world, with over £3.5 million up for grabs in prize money and even more money up for grabs off the bookies.

Tomorrow kicks off with the Queen Anne stakes. It is measuring up to be an extremely competitive race with Gladiatorus, Paco Boy and Main Aim all very short at 9/4, 7/2 and 9/2 respectively whilst Aqlaam 10/1 and Alexandros 9/1 have both been backed in from 12/1 over the weekend. It’s a tough one to pick and bookies will be receiving wagers on all fronts, the only certainty it seems is that it will be a terrifically exciting start to the weeks racing.

Later in the day the St James’ Palace stakes seem to be a more punter friendly race. It has an odds on favourite in Mastercraftsman who has been backed in from 5/4 to 5/6 over the weekend. However, there will be heavy competition from both Delegator 9/2 and Evasive 11/2 who will both be challenging on the faster ground. In the 2000 Guineas in May Mastercraftsman convincingly beat delegator, however, the faster ground along with the bigger price at Ascot tomorrow is sure to attract a bit of money for the second favourite.

On Day 2 the Royal Hunt sees a huge field and all runners are still not confirmed so make sure you bet No Runner No Bet. As with most big fields there is the potential for some great each way betting. The favourite Forgotten Voice who is presently 9/2 is in great form, racing twice this year and winning both races. However, the fields in these races were far smaller than the one Forgotten Voice now faces and the competition will also be a lot fiercer on Wednesday. As far as favourites go Forgotten Voice is far from a banker and it may be wiser to back some of the bigger priced horses each way. Axiom at 16/1 with Tote and SkyBet is great value; betfair is presently trading him at 14/1. There has been money for a few other horses and it’s worth watching the markets to try and get some value before all the prices drop.

Thursday Brings the Royal Ascot Gold Cup and the feature race of the festival in the form of the Royal Ascot Gold Cup. Yeats is looking to make this his fourth win in a row at the Ascot Gold Cup and at 9/4 favourite the bookies seem to fancy his chances. However, there are some people worrying that he may not quite be the horse he once was. He ran poorly at the Vintage Crop Stakes in April and also failed to place in the Qatar Prix du Cadran in October. He faces some stiff competition in Patkai 3/1 who at four years old is half the age of the great Yeats, whilst both Geordieland 3/1 and Veracity 13/2 will be challenging for the Gold Cup as well.

The Coronation Stakes on the penultimate day looks to be a fight between Ghanaati 11/4 and Elusive Wave 3/1. This will be Ghanaati’s fourth ever race, but she has already begun to build an impressive CV with an emphatic victory at the 1000 Guinneas in May, winning by 1 ½ lengths. Meanwhile three year old Elusive Wave is also in impressive form this season and will be looking to challenge Ghanaati hard. However, as long as the ground stays fast it does seem that at 11/4 Ghanaati will be the horse to beat.

The final day brings the Wokingham Stakes and the Golden Jubilee. The Wokingham handicap can appear to be a bit of a lottery and with a 7/1 favourite that’s no surprise. However, in the last ten years three favourites have won and therefore a bet on either High Standing 7/1 or Jimmy Styles 8/1 might be sensible. The Golden Jubilee sees JJ the Jet Plane as 7/2 favourite. However, once again it is a difficult race to call as the race consists of just a six furlong sprint, which, along with the large field, can often result in shock outsiders victoring over classier horses.

We’re in for quite a week at Ascot this year, so make sure you keep up with the market fluctuations on bookies.com. Market fluctuations can be caused by the weather, by draws and by withdrawals so make sure you keep up to date by regularly checking the latest odds here.