Weekend Review: Bookies clean up on Saxon Warrior’s Derby defeat
Derby shock delights bookies as Lost Voice Guy wins Britain’s Got Talent and England beat Nigeria at Wembley
It was a banner Derby day for the bookies on Saturday as the well-backed favourite Saxon Warrior struggled to a fourth place finish.
Warrior had been favourite for the race since winning the Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May and went of a 4/5 shot, despite being drawn in stall one.
But the Aidan O’Brien-trained horse never got going, with 16-1 shot Masar storming home to victory.
BetVictor’s Charlie McCann said: “The Derby was a good result with the previously unbeaten odds-on favourite Saxon Warrior finishing fourth, although racing punters have largely had a good week.”
The 2018 Investec Derby is a race full of talking points 🐎
⭕Masar – All credit, never thought it was possible after Newmarket
🎺Saxon Warrior – Terrible interference at a crucial stage/Did he stay?
🐎Young Rascal – Wide all the way #Epsom #Derby 🎩pic.twitter.com/nY6mRR6lxI
— Stephen R Power (@racingblogger) June 2, 2018
Paddy Power spokesperson Paul Binfield told the Racing Post: “Any horse winning bar Saxon Warrior, and possibly Roaring Lion and Young Rascal who also attracted some support, would have been good for the layers, but Masar was one of the least popular combatants in the book so it was an awesome result for the bookies.”
Betdaq MD Shane McLaughlin said: “The Derby Festival was unsurprisingly a big hit with punters, where a total of £14m was matched across the two days’ action.
“The Derby itself was the most popular race, with a total of £4.2m traded on BETDAQ in the colt’s classic.
“There were a lot of burnt fingers in the race with odds-on shot Saxon Warrior finishing only fourth. The largest single wager we had was a £9,173 back bet on Saxon Warrior at 1.85.”
In international football, England began their pair of pre-World Cup friendly matches with a 2-1 win over Nigeria at Wembley thanks to goals from Gary Cahill and Harry Kane.
Your @VauxhallEngland man of the match is @GaryJCahill! 🍾 pic.twitter.com/dZxCPa2vm1
— England (@England) June 2, 2018
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “This quiet weekend was dominated by international warm ups for the World Cup.
“With mass resting of players and experimental tactics, these games usually favour the bookmakers, and that proved to be the case after Spain’s draw with Switzerland and Belgium’s 0-0 with Portugal left us with a significant margin.
“England’s win over Nigeria also fell into this category as we squeezed out a decent black figure despite the favourite winning, BTTS coming in and the 2.5 goal line being beaten,” he added.
McCann described these friendlies as the “lull before the storm of the World Cup”.
He said: “England’s 2-1 win was a good result for punters but Gary Cahill scoring the opening goal was a help.”
The other big betting event of the weekend was Saturday night’s Britain’s Got Talent final on ITV.
Lost Voice Guy became the first ever comedian to triumph in the talent show, winning £250k in prize money and the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance.
Your winner of #BGT 2018 is… @LostVoiceGuy!!! ✨🎉🎊✨🎉🎊✨ pic.twitter.com/Dr5U7qB17X
— BGT (@BGT) June 3, 2018
“The jolly old favourite Lost Voice Guy (16s into 5/4) landed a gamble in Britain’s Got Talent, so overall it was a really good week for the punters,” said McCann.