Aidan O’Brien was the toast of Royal Ascot on Thursday after recording his 100th winner at the prestigious meeting when Scandinavia won the Gold Cup under Ryan Moore. The heavily backed 11/8 favourite got up in the final strides to deny Trawlerman back-to-back victories in the two-and-a half-mile contest. Bookies were hit hard by the result, with Star Sports reporting a £120,000 win bet on O’Brien’s four-year-old at odds of 5-2. Flynn Goward, Managing Director at Star Sports , said: “It’s been another bruising day
in the ring at Royal Ascot. Scandinavia’s win in the Gold Cup was a real sucker punch, with us having taken £120,000 on Aidan O’Brien’s runner at 5/2. “That left us with a big hole to fill, one we simply couldn’t make up in the remaining three races, and once again we’ve been on the wrong end of a six-figure loss. “Online business has been better, with the opening Chesham our only losing race on the day, but it’s on course where punters are making
hay and we’re seriously down heading into Friday’s card.” On-course bookmaker Geoff Banks also explained how the Gold Cup was costly for the layers. He told ITV Racing : “When it was 5-2 each of two (Scandinavia and Trawlerman) you’re thinking it was going to be an open race between the pair of them and we were almost looking for a result, but the punters got it right and the bookies got slaughtered! “Scandinavia was 5-2 into 11-8, it was a ding-dong battle up the
straight and a fantastic race, but the bookies have done their money.” Meanwhile, Ladbrokes spokesperson Alex Apati said: “Thursday was another day for short-priced winners at Royal Ascot , and even though the favourites didn’t clean up, we saw plenty of support for the likes of Scandinavia, Enceladus and Earth Shot. It leaves us with some serious work to do over the next two days.” Click here to sign up to our racing newsletter for the latest news and tips from the biggest meets .
Royal Ascot, Aidan O'Brien, Scandinavia, Ryan Moore, Gold Cup, Trawlerman, Star Sports, Flynn Goward, Geoff Banks, Ladbrokes, Alex Apati