Bookmakers fear O’Brien hotpots

Aidan O’Brien remains the man bookmakers fear the most heading into this year’s Royal Ascot.

The Ballydoyle maestro may not have his usual firepower on an ultra-competitive opening day, but his overall squad this week still features a number of hot favourites.

The likes of Auguste Rodin, Kyprios, Opera Singer and Continuous are familiar names sure to prove popular with punters, while juveniles such as Whistlejacket and Fairy Godmother are other strongly-fancied market leaders.

Boylesports spokesperson Brian O’Keeffe said: “With a five-day battle ahead, Royal Ascot is very much a marathon and not a sprint, but if Aidan O’Brien starts racking up the winners and Kyprios passes the winning post in front on Thursday, we could be throwing in the towel at the halfway point!”

Stable jockey Ryan Moore is odds-on to be crowned the leading rider, but James Doyle has attracted support to top the table following a recent recruitment drive by his employees Wathnan Racing.

Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “It will be interesting to see who can step into Frankie Dettori’s shoes at Royal Ascot this week and although Ryan Moore is expected to come out on top, punters think James Doyle has enough good chances to outshine him.”

However, Tuesday’s top races do have a wide-open look to them and punters have been eyeing up some value away from the favourites.

William Hill spokesperson Lee Phelps said: “With no stand-out superstar in the Queen Anne, it looks like people are backing some bigger-priced horses in the curtain-raiser. Maljoom and Royal Scotsman are currently our worst results in the race.

“Later in the day, all eyes will be on the St James’s Palace Stakes, as Notable Speech faces off with Henry Longfellow and Rosallion. The (Richard) Hannon horse is the one for money at the moment.

“Big Evs remains our worst result for Tuesday, but Regional is now favourite in the King Charles III Stakes and it looks a very open renewal.”

Such is the global popularity of Royal Ascot, huge figures are expected to be wagered once more on the Hong Kong Jockey Club-run World Pool markets.

Last year’s Royal meeting saw records broken, with the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes setting a new mark for single race turnover in a World Pool event, with a total of £6.6million bet into the pool, while the overall week-long tally reached £154m.

Michael Fitzsimons of the HKJC said: “Royal Ascot are five of the biggest days in the global racing calendar and continue to be a brilliant showcase meeting for World Pool, having made our launch at the meeting in 2019.

“As usual, we are looking forward to five days of the highest quality racing, featuring some of the best international horses, jockeys and trainers.”

Alastair Warwick, chief executive at Ascot Racecourse, added: “World Pool will be in operation for the sixth time at Royal Ascot this week and we are delighted to once again be working with the Hong Kong Jockey Club to ensure racing fans around the world can bet into the world’s largest commingled pools.

“Four of the five highest World Pool turnover days so far have come at Royal Ascot, including the Saturday last year, when we welcomed Wellington to run in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, and we hope that turnover will be strong once again with many of the world’s best horses on display.”