Bookies reflect on Royal Ascot so far

The bookmakers fought back on the fourth day of Royal Ascot after enduring a torrid time on the previous day following the victory of 7/2 favourite Estimate for The Queen in the Gold Cup.

There was a huge gamble on Sandiva in the opening Albany Stakes and Richard Fahey's filly was sent off the 7/4 favourite having opened up at 5/2 in the morning.

However, she could only finish second behind eventual winner Kiyoshi (8/1) and the layers were firmly on the front foot after 10/11 favourite Battle Of Marengo was worn down by 15/2 shot Hillstar in the King Edward VII Stakes in the second race.

Sky Lantern's victory at 9/2 in the Coronation Stakes and Leading Light's success at 5/4 in the Queen's Vase gave punters some respite but overall the bookmakers were chipper after the fourth day of the Royal Meeting.

Paddy Power said: "We were up a small amount today after Charles Hills's Kiyoshi gave us a crackerjack result in the opener, although Leading Light pretty much abated that. We're still down on the week and hoping for some final day salvation."

Betfred spokesman Andrew Griffiths was also in a sanguine mood.

"We can't complain after day four," said Griffiths. "Kiyoshi and Hillstar got us off to a flyer and even Sky Lantern didn't do too much damage as all the money was for Big Break.

"Leading Light took the shine off what would have been a great day, but we're still in good shape heading into Saturday."

Stan James were also smiling at the end of the fourth day.

"We've had a much better day after yesterday's humbling with Charlie Hills' Kiyoshi doing us a massive favour in the opener by beating favourite Sandiva and Frankel's half-sister Joyeuse," said their spokesman Rory Jiwani.

"Hillstar then turned over Battle Of Marengo in the King Edward VII Stakes which was an excellent result for us."

However, Ladbrokes' David Williams was more reflective following an indifferent set of results for his firm.

"It was a mixed bag," said Williams.

"We're still a bit behind going into the final day but we're still in play and haven't given up hope of turning it all around on the biggest betting day of the week."