You may have heard about the anonymous punter patrolling the betting ring at Royal Ascot on day one of the festival on Tuesday.
According to reports, said individual tried to place a $500,000 bet – via a card payment – on Field of Gold to win the St James’s Palace Stakes.
They could find no bookmaker willing to lay their mammoth wager, and the individual was rebuffed once again when lowering their desired stake to $200,000. If they’d turned up with a briefcase full of cash, that might have led to a different result.
Even without that gamble taken, the odds-makers were still onto a hiding if Field of Gold – backed in from odds-against prices to 8/11 – managed to prevail in the St James’s.
And for once, the bookies were well and truly bashed…
Best In the Business
The sun was shining and the crowd was in its finery on day one of Royal Ascot, with the dress code remaining prim and proper despite yellow warnings of an incoming heatwave.
The code was temporarily relaxed back in similar conditions back in 2022, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if organisers allowed common sense to prevail for the rest of the meeting.
Bookmakers were certainly hot under the collar at the end of the St James’s Palace Stakes, with Field of Gold delivering on pre-race expectations with a huge run in the sun – no wonder the anonymous punter wanted that $500,000 on.
Jockey Colin Keane, who has been installed by John and Thady Gosden as their preferred rider, described the three-year-old as the ‘best I have ever sat on’, who despite running his race early still managed to make it look easy in a three-and-a-half length victory.
There was better news for the bookies when the much-fancied Rosallion was downed in the Queen Anne Stakes by 14/1 longshot Docklands, while King Charles’ charge Reaching High – inherited from Queen Elizabeth II – was backed into 7/2 from 10/1 for the Ascot Stakes but failed to even place.
However, two well-backed favourites – Gstaad and French Master – followed Field of Gold into the winner’s enclosure to cap a tough day for the odds-makers.
“Field of Gold was a bad race,” confirmed John Hooper, speaking on behalf of the Sid Hooper brand, while Geoff Banks took to X to reveal that he was more than £8,000 down on the day from his pitch in the Ascot betting ring.
Ascot bookie report
– gross loss £6917
– net loss inc exes £8147
– biggest single bet laid £6000 5/6 Fields of Gold
– exchange hedges. Zero. Perhaps we should ‘green up”
– unlucky St James Palace runners, none
– daft stewards enquiries when 10th horse home fails to weigh in?…— Geoff Banks (@geoffbanksbet) June 17, 2025
Simon Nott, meanwhile, took to the Star Sports blog to confirm that his employed had lost an eye-watering £58,155 courtesy of Field of Gold’s triumph.
Star Sports Hit for £260,000
Star Sports are known for laying sizable bets that other firms wouldn’t take, and that was perfectly exemplified at Royal Ascot 12 months ago.
A punter strode forward to their pitch in the betting ring and asked for £100,000 on Auguste Rodin in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
The firm’s chief, Ben Keith, was happy to take on the 13/8 favourite, so took the bet.
You could see why, given that Aidan O’Brien’s former Derby champion had shown little interest or aptitude for competing during the 2025 season. But the rarefied air of Royal Ascot seemed to breathe new life into the four-year-old.
He and Hans Andersen blasted clear of the field, before Zarakem joined them at the front with a powerful show.
But it was Auguste Rodin who stayed on to leave punters cheering… and Star Sports in a bit of a bind.
They paid out a mammoth £262,000 to the individual punter alone, as well as thousands more who backed the former Epsom scorer.
Apparently, Ben Keith made a polite but speedy exit from Ascot, while the firm’s dinner plans were cancelled after losing more than £200,000 in total on the day.