Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien combine to hammer bookies at Royal Ascot

The Ballydoyle team of Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien once again dominated Royal Ascot, topping the jockey and trainer tables respectively, hitting the bookies hard.

Royal Ascot 2026 is done and dusted, and punters have enjoyed a fantastic week’s action. Those who found Ten Bob Tony at 50/1 in the Queen Anne got the week off to the best possible start, and all the action that followed was right out of the top drawer.

However, results for the bookmakers were far from ideal, with a string of well-fancied horses leaving the leading bookmaker facing big losses during this year’s Royal meeting.

Spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps, said: “Royal Ascot was certainly tough going from a bookmaker’s perspective this year. Ten Bob Tony winning the Queen Anne at 50/1 and still managing to be a big loser for us set the tone for what was a difficult week for the layers. It’s fair to say we never really got any momentum going.

“We expected turnover to be impacted by the World Cup and that proved to be the case, although some of that was offset by a string of punter-friendly results which kept our customers engaged. Whenever Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien have a great week at Royal Ascot, it’s always going to spell trouble for the bookies.

“Scandinavia and Precise were particularly heavy outcomes for us, not least because both were featured as Epic Boost selections on their respective days. Illinois and Causeway’s narrow victories were also painful watches from the trading room with Ryan Moore looking to be riding better than ever.

“Despite the challenges, Royal Ascot once again generated strong engagement, with the Commonwealth Cup proving our biggest betting race of the week, followed by the Gold Cup, the Jersey, the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee and the Wokingham.”