Star Sports dodges £100k single bet payout on Royal Ascot day one

Independent bookmaker Star Sports avoided a costly £100,000 single bet payout on day one of Royal Ascot.

Star Sports had laid £30,000 on Ruling Court at 10/3 and £15,000 on Henri Matisse at 4/1 in the St. James's Palace Stakes.

The bookmaker was able to breathe a sigh of relief when odds-on favourite Field Of Gold beat Henri Matesse by three and a half lengths while Ruling Court came third.

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'We were holding our breath'

Flynn Goward, Managing Director at Star Sports, said: “Day One of Royal Ascot had us dodging some big bets placed with us online.

“We had to hold our breath in the St James’s Palace Stakes with two sizeable bets — £30,000 on Ruling Court at 10/3, as well as £15,000 on Henri Matisse at 4/1 — from two brave punters.

“We were cheering on Field Of Gold in that one which kept morale high until a sizeable bet landed on French Master in the finale which made for a less welcome finish to the day.”

Field Of Gold was beaten by Ruling Court at Newmarket in the English 2000 Guineas last month.

Colin Keane then replaced Kieran Shoemark as the jockey at the Irish 2000 Guineas three weeks later and rode him to victory at Ascot on Tuesday.

Royal Ascot Continues

Royal Ascot continues into day two today with seven more races, including the Group 1 race, the Prince Of Wales's Stakes.

There are also two handicap races, the Royal Hunt Cup and the Kensington Palace Stakes.