Weekend Review: Bookies delight in final day of Cheltenham Festival
The Friday of the Cheltenham Festival saw the layers claw back earlier losses as punters switched to the Six Nations over the weekend
After the Lord Mayor’s show was perhaps the best way to describe this weekend’s betting activity once the hype around the Cheltenham Festival died down on Friday night.
The bookies somehow managed to claw it back on the final day of racing after several favourites were defeated, including Might Bite in the Gold Cup.
Punters had enjoyed success right up until the final day, with Shattered Love, 17/2 into 4/1 pre-race, romping home in the 1.30 on Thursday in a result that bet365’s Steve Freeth described as one of the worst in the operator’s history.
https://twitter.com/stevefreeth/status/974281564224974848
Freeth told EGR: “I’m just recovering from a busy week at Cheltenham where a late Friday fightback saw us claim the honours in a photo finish.
He added: “In the end we were really pleased with the business we saw over the four days.” Freeth’s colleague Patrick Cooney said 365 turned a small profit over the four-day festival.
Figures in here @bet365 for #TheFestival , small winning over the 4 days, highest t/o race=Gold Cup(by a long way), lowest t/o=4m NH Chase, best result=Kilbricken Storm, worst=Delta Work, won on 15 races, lost on13! @RacingPost @AtTheRaces @Racing_UK @irishracing @itvracing
— Patrick Cooney (@patcooney_365) March 18, 2018
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill described the festival as a “monster battle” between layers and backers, with day one the best for the punters.
He said: “Kindred just about squeezed ahead on the final day after a raft of big price winners and beaten favourites.
“The highlight was Farclas defeating Apple’s Shakira in the JCB for a huge swing in our favour.
“Then of course there was the blue riband event, the Gold Cup, where we avoided a monster pay-out on Might Bite and got ourselves ahead with Native River’s hard fought win,” he added.
It was a similar experience for BetVictor, where Charlie McCann said Friday’s racing helped the operator recoup some midweek losses.
Away from the racing, the Irish caused BetVictor a headache during St Patrick’s Day weekend as Rory McIlroy ended on -18 to win the Arnold Palmer, while punters took advantage of the operator’s 6/4 bet boost for Ireland to win the Grand Slam at Twickenham.
In the football, Kindred were relieved that only four Premier League matches went ahead after losing in all four, as defeats for relegation-threatened West Brom and Stoke City hit the hardest.