Royal Ascot
Royal Ascot is undoubtedly the UK's greatest flat meeting and there promises to be plenty of top quality action for spread betting fans to get stuck into. Horses like Canford Cliffs, Goldikova, Frankel and So You Think are all world class and the meeting gets underway with a bang thanks to three consecutive Group 1 races.
Goldikova has been an extraordinary mare and she will have plenty of followers on the spreads in the opening Queen Anne Stakes. The six-year-old won this race last year to the chagrin of those spread bettors that opposed her with Richard Hannon's Paco Boy in match bets. However, it has to be a concern that the last 26 winners were all aged four or five and spread supporters of Canford Cliffs will point to him winning well at the last two Royal Ascots.
The action continues apace after the Queen Anne with the King's Stand, featuring some of the world's fastest sprinters. Spread punters have tended to side with international runners in recent years and in particularly the Australians, who have won four of the last eight renewals. Interestingly, although this is a race for the speedsters, Ascot is a stiff five furlong track and nine of the past ten winners had won over six furlongs.
Wednesday's big betting race is the Royal Hunt Cup and sellers of SP's on the spreads will be concerned that only one favourite has won this race since 1997. Frankie Dettori came home in front 12 months ago on Invisible Man at a massive 28/1 and Richard Hannon won the race in 2008 with Mr Aviator at 25/1. Start Right and Green Destiny are vying for favouritism at the moment and supporters of either of them on the spreads will be pleased to hear that the last four winners were all four-year-olds.
The ladies will be flocking to the Berkshire course on Thursday and the equine highlight is undoubtedly the Ascot Gold Cup. Yeats was an extraordinary animal, winning the race four times between 2006 and 2009, and Ireland were celebrating again 12 months ago when Dermot Weld's Rite Of Passage scored at 20/1. That was a blow for spread SP sellers following three winning favourites, but sellers of distances were pleased as he only beat Age Of Aquarius by a neck. For such a long race, it's perhaps surprising for spread bettors that four of the last 10 winning margins have been a neck or less.
The Royal meeting closes with another Group 1 sprint on Saturday, the Golden Jubilee. Spread punters should keep a close eye on Tuesday's King's Stand as plenty who run in that will also line-up on Saturday. Choisir, in 2003, was the last to do the double, but both Les Arcs (2006) and Kingsgate Native (2008) won the Golden Jubilee having finished down the field in the King's Stand. Starspangledbanner was a hugely impressive winner last year as a four-year-old, but those who like a spread bet on these big sprints will be interested to learn that the two winners prior to him were both three-year-olds.
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