'If Auguste Rodin wins, I'll have a bad day' - rails bookmakers reflect on an up-and-down day one

Bookmaker Ray Mulvaney with Eoghan Fitzgerald on day two of Royal AscotCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

How much of the architecture of where the Royal Enclosure ends and where the rails bookmaking enclosure starts is tradition and how much by careful design is a matter of conjecture.

Let it be said that the boundary is almost directly under the Royal Box, which may or may not come in handy for those important attendees who are on official duty.

Ray Mulvaney has one of the prime pitches and, as a familiar face on racecourses across Ireland, knows he can rely on the travelling team to keep business brisk over the five days of the meeting.

There's nobody enquiring about a price on the opener at this hour so it seems the right moment to ask how day one went.

"My turnover was quite good, business was up five per cent," says Mulvaney. "A lot of Irish people congregate at my joint, whether it be owners, trainers or punters, they know me from home. I take lots of Euros.

"After a bad start in the first race, I managed to win a few quid. I lost on the first and I lost in the last but I had a couple of good races in between."

Despite fielding plenty of bets in Euros, Mulvaney was most keen to get Godolphin's day one hotpot beaten, and the St James's Palace Stakes turned out to be the pivotal race on Tuesday.

"Notable Speech was one we felt we wanted to lay and even though the second favourite won, that was a good race for us," says Mulvaney. "I laid Henry Longfellow quite well almost first thing when I got here. There were bits of 11-8 about Notable Speech on track and we laid him well at 6-4. We felt he was the one to go after.

"A lot of fellas backed Willie's in the last [Belloccio] with me. I thought two furlongs out he'd only be second but all of Willie's stay on. He's a phenomenal man with a phenomenal record and I can only say good luck to him."

Aidan O'Brien may hold the key to punters and bookmakers' fortunes on day 2 at Ascot

Aidan O'Brien may hold the key to punters and bookmakers' fortunes on day two at AscotCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Whether Wednesday smiles favourably on the layers or the punters must, to a great extent, revolve around the enigma that is Auguste Rodin. Mulvaney will be hoping not to get too burned, whichever version turns up.

He says: "I'll be trying to get Auguste Rodin in at 6-4 and we'll see how we go. Aidan [O'Brien] is the same as Willie yesterday, they tend to be at the top of their game and if he wins, I'll have a bad day. Because of the nature of the horse and that he'll be a 6-4 shot, I will have to stand him for something."

Mulvaney's key lieutenant Eoghan fancies Ain't Nobody for Kevin Ryan in the last, and his boss will be making sure to keep him onside.

Christian White of leading Scottish layers Macbet is not nearly so bullish about business on Tuesday, and is hoping that the technical gremlins which periodically afflicted parts of the racecourse do not re-emerge on day two.

"Turnover was very poor yesterday, turnover was down," says White. "There were connectivity issues with Wi-fi, while a lot of punters weren't betting very much. I'm not sure how many bought cash with them; it seems to be getting phased out rather worryingly. I think cash is important to this business and if we ever went to debit card-only, I don't know how we'll deal with payouts.

"Pre-Covid we would have taken a thousand bets in a day and now we're down to 400, so we've lost 60 per cent somewhere, while all our expenses have crept up."

White is yet to form his opinion of how hard to go after Auguste Rodin, but he is initially pessimistic when asked about his countrymen bouncing back from their Euro 2024 drubbing against Germany in Cologne this evening.

"I'm not a great bettor on football but, from what I've watched, I'd be surprised if Switzerland don't beat us," says White, before allowing a little bit of the spirit or Archie Gemill to creep into his thoughts. "It would be typical of Scotland to turn up and beat Switzerland before just missing out against Hungary. I'm a Hibs supporter and they and Scotland go hand-in-hand when it comes to glorious failures."

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