What were the most - and least - bet on races at Royal Ascot?

Punters gave the cold shoulder to the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot this year as the under-pressure Group 1 fell from a place inside the top ten most engaging races last year to just outside the bottom ten this time round.

Turnover figures for all 35 races at the meeting provided by Coral highlighted the significant impact this year’s Euro 2024 tournament had on betting at the fixture, with the first day of Ascot benefiting from no 2pm kick-off in Germany.

The St James’s Palace Stakes, Coventry Stakes, King Charles III Stakes and Queen Anne Stakes all improved their performance relative to other races this year. The St James’s Palace Stakes, which was billed as one of the races of the meeting and won by Rosallion, was a notable mover up to third in the turnover table from 13th in 2023.

However, the Commonwealth Cup proved to be a turn-off for bettors this year as it plummeted from ninth in 2023 to 24th place this year. The 6f Group 1, won by Inisherin, is under threat of being downgraded next year by the European Pattern Committee depending on how this year’s race is assessed.

The most popular race with Coral punters was the Jersey Stakes, won by the Wathnan Racing-owned Haatem, while the Chesham Stakes and Albany Stakes, which featured spectacular displays from Bedtime Story and Fairy Godmother respectively, were also popular, ranking second and fifth this year. Four of the top ten races were staged on Saturday, with the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee and the Wokingham joining the Jersey and Chesham. 

The Jersey Stakes, won by Hatten, was Coral's biggest betting race of Royal AscotCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Simon Clare, PR director at Entain, the parent company of Coral, said: "The impact of Euro 2024 was a major factor in the performance of Royal Ascot staking versus 2023 overall, as well as the relative turnover performance of races within the week.

"Tuesday was the only day not to have a 2pm kick-off, and the races staged before the 5pm kick-off all benefited, in relative terms, versus the rest of Royal Ascot's races. From then on the Euro 2024 factor was even more pronounced as turnover on the opening races of each day held up well year on year, but staking then dropped markedly as the football took hold."

Clare’s comments echoed those from Barry Orr, head of horseracing PR at Betfair, who said turnover levels at Royal Ascot dropped once terrestrial television coverage switched from ITV to ITV4.

Clare added: "The presence of a summer football tournament always has an impact on Royal Ascot turnover, given the huge popularity of the event and the coverage across terrestrial TV channels. Given the winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Royal Ascot has only had to compete against football once in the last five years in 2021 [the delayed Euro 2020 tournament]."

Royal Ascot 2024 races ranked by Coral's turnover

Read these next. . . 

These horses are on my radar post-Royal Ascot - including a 66-1 ante-post poke for Glorious Goodwood 

Jamie Spencer to miss Newmarket's July meeting after receiving eight-day whip ban for Royal Ascot ride 

Racing Post Members' Club: 50% off your first three months 

The Racing Post is now available to follow on WhatsApp channels!

Follow Racing Post Insider on WhatsApp and you can now start receiving messages and alerts for the latest news, tips, insights, live reactions and much more. Click the group link and get Racing Post notifications straight to your phone via WhatsApp.