Royal Ascot Is Here
The champagne is on ice, the hats are on the hat stands and purses and wallets are bursting with cash for the biggest flat racing betting bonanza of the year. Royal Ascot is almost upon us and Tuesday kicks off with some fantastic racing for spread bettors to get immersed in. The speediest animals in the world line-up for the King's Stand Stakes at 3pm and England will be hoping for their first win in the race since 2004. Spread betting at Royal Ascot is argued by many to be easier following the relaying of the track a few years ago, but not many would have bought last year's winner - the Spanish trained Equiano - in the Sporting Index win index. He was a three-year old then and three from that age bracket have been successful in the past decade which augurs well for those supporting likely favourite Amour Propre on the spreads.
There are a number of spread betting punters who, similarly to many at Cheltenham, swear by taking on the favourites in the big Ascot races. Well, they would have done very well in this race in the past 10 years, as Miss Andretti, the 3/1 jolly in 2007, has been the only successful favourite in that time. Half of the winners have at least started off a single figure price, but those spread bettors buying SP's will be encouraged that the other half have been returned between 16/1 and 25/1 - including Equiano at 22/1 last year. In fact, there was carnage on the Sporting Index trading floor on this day last year thanks to the SP's market. With Missoula, winning the penultimate race at 20/1, the traders were praying for a more favoured runner to take the Windsor Castle, but the final race of the day was won by 100/1 rank outsider Flashmans Papers � leaving the traders and SP spread sellers crying into their cravats.
Wednesday holds just as much excitement for those who like a spread bet and the big betting race of the day is the Royal Hunt Cup, a cavalry charge over the straight mile. This normally isn't a very easy race for punters, with only two of the last 23 favourites obliging, although that does make it an attractive proposition for spread SP buyers. There have only been six single-priced winners in that time, but sellers on the spreads can at least be compensated by only two winners returning bigger than 16/1 in the past decade. Some punters may remember Royal Oath's four-length romp here two years ago, but buyers of winning distances should also be aware that the other four winning margins in the past five years have been three necks and a head. With so many horses going to post, spread bettors often have to decide which side of the track they will shoot for. The draw bias is much debated at Ascot, but winning distance sellers will be pretty happy with the facts in the past decade - six of the last 10 running have been won by 1/2 a length or less.
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