Weekend Review: Bookies enjoy Epsom Derby delight

Bookmakers enjoyed a profitable weekend thanks to good results through the Epsom Derby card and French Open tennis finals, during what was broadly a quiet punting weekend ahead of the start of Euro 2016.

Sky Bet said the Epsom Derby proved to be a “great day” for the bookmakers. “Stakes on the Derby were fantastic and Harzand getting the measure of US Army Ranger meant that overall we still made a profit on the race despite paying out on two more places than most of our competitors,” said Sky Bet’s Sandro “Di Michele.

“The day was rounded off nicely with two more decent results in the final two races on the card,” he added.

Ladbrokes was also relieved Harzand was able to hold off US Army Ranger to win the big race. “That would have been a ?10 million swing across the industry and we’ve ended up escaping a caning,” said Ladbrokes’ Jessica Bridge.

“Harzand was backed at much bigger prices all the way down to his 13/2 SP so it wasn’t exactly a skinner but we’re mighty relieved and pretty pleased with the end result,” she added.

It was a “generally good day” for Betfred, but the Derby result was “balanced” for the firm. “We didn’t want US Army Ranger to win as that would have been a big loss for us,” said Betfred’s Peter Spencer. “We paid four places in the Derby, which was unusual for us,” he added.

Several bookmakers enjoyed a good weekend with the French Open finals taking place, with Serena Williams’ surprise defeat to Garbi?±e Muguruza in the women’s final delighting the layers.

“Serena Williams’ loss in Paris on Saturday was a decent result and knocked out any number of doubles with Novak Djokovic in the men’s,” BetVictor’s Charlie McCann said.

Andy Murray’s loss in the men’s final was a good result for Sky Bet, as punters piled on the Scot to win the match and its price boost of Murray to win and both players to win a set from 10/3 to 4/1.

Unibet’s William Vickery said: “We saw a good margin from another final where Murray came up short and in the woman’s we managed a small positive from the well backed Muguruza.”

Elsewhere, Sky Bet enjoyed a “cracking result” with William McGirt taking his first PGA Tour title at the Memorial Tournament, while Matt Fitzpatrick is now 1-20 to make the Ryder Cup side after winning the European Nordea Masters.

Despite the gains, both Betfred and Ladbrokes described the weekend as the “calm before the storm” with Euro 2016 set to get underway this Friday.

Betfred revealed it had seen heavy interest in France over the weekend, laying more than ?250,000 on the host nation to win this year’s tournament.