Royal Ascot: The traders’ view

The biggest festival of the entire UK Flat season, Royal Ascot, is just around the corner and ahead of the five-day spectacular, we spoke to the William Hill traders to get their view on how the markets are shaping up.

Which horse/s is/are the worst results ante-post?

Noble Style in the Coventry Stakes has been very well backed since his easy debut win at Ascot in May and Ehraz in the Commonwealth Cup has been well-backed from an opening price of 50/1 to 10/1 currently.

Which races do you usually take the most on?

In the last couple of years, the King’s Stand Stakes and the Commonwealth Cup have proven to be the most popular races for punters.

At what price did you first lay Baaeed at in the Queen Anne and would he be a bad result?

The first price we laid him at was 2/1 back in October 2021 and he’s has been popular ever since. He would not be a good result though at this stage, him winning would be categorised as a survivable event.

In terms of turnover, how has this Royal Ascot compared to previous years

Robust in relation to recent years, but in terms of interest in ante-post markets, it pales by comparison to Cheltenham.

There are a lot of international runners this year, are they harder to price up given we know less about the form?

The information required to assess the foreign runners is freely available, it doesn’t present a serious issue.

Any horse/s being backed as if defeat is out of the question?

The bets for Hurricane Lane in the Hardwicke Stakes suggest confidence is very high.

Biggest ante-post mover so far?

50/1 to 10/1 Ehraz in the Commonwealth Cup is one of the more noteworthy movers and a strong move for Perotto in the Wolferton Stakes would also rate highly( 20/1 to 6/1).

The Gold Cup looks wide open – where is the money going?

At the moment Kyprios and Straidivarius are equally priced and equally popular. That may change next week if the rain arrives to help Trueshan .

There are plenty of odds-on or close to odds-on shots, how do you see them faring and are you longer/shorter as a result?

Baaeed and Hurricane Lane are very strong favourites and will probably both win. In that respect they will continue to be priced accordingly.

The Frankie factor…Fearing costly multiples? Does everything he ride at Royal Ascot get backed? Money for top jockey?

Frankie multiples are always a big concern at Ascot, and it will be one of the factors we take into account as we price and trade markets. The level of support for his runners varies depending on the profile of that particular race. At the moment, Frankie is available at 3/1 in our top jockey market. The level of support at that price can be characterised as steady.

The Queen – summarise her chances of a winner at her favourite meeting

With Reach For The Moon likely to figure prominently in the betting for the Hampton Court stakes she certainly has a chance of capping her Platinum Jubilee with a winner at the royal meeting.

Finally, give us a winner over the five days!

Boosala in the Royal Hunt Cup should go well at decent odds.