Royal Ascot week
And so here we are, another year, another Ascot. That came around quickly didn’t it!
For me, it’s another declined invitation to attend. While that pains me, for the moment I’d still rather be on this side of the desk during one of the busiest weeks of the year. By next year my eldest will probably be in a position to take over! Subject to performance and enthusiasm!
Ascot is obviously a big deal and generally I target it to be at least the second biggest week of the year. I’ll look to do more in a week than I can normal do in a month, so it’s a significant meeting. Wall to wall, quality racing, from Tuesday till Saturday, It’s pretty much trading heaven!
The numbers
Last year Royal Ascot had matched bet turnover at post time of £58.6m. That’s an average of just short of £2m a race. The biggest race turned over £3.9m and the smallest £950k. Last year was down on prior years but that can be distorted by how short the favourite is. The general rule of thumb is the shorter the favourite the more money will be traded. If you contrast Ascot with Cheltenham, Chelts did an average of £4m a race this year. The biggest race was £8.3m and the smallest £1.8m. Like most major meetings you get a feature race or two surrounded by ‘other stuff’. Some can be good quality, but some not. Ascot usually gets off to a bang on Tuesday, so be well prepared. For more insight watch the video I have produced at the bottom of this post.
If you look at prior numbers matched bet turnover was – 2014 – £58m, 2013 – £59m, 2012 – £75m, 2011- £71m, 2010 – £49.8m, 2009 – £60.5m.
If we rebase all the numbers to strip out the effects of very short priced favourites you end up with a clearer picture of underlying liquidity. It’s been remarkably consistent over the years. Average field size is typically 16-17, so that’s way above the average for your normal UK racing.
Betdaq has traditionally performed well at Ascot and given its growth this year, I expect a repeat performance. The BETDAQ version of Bet Angel is completely FREE so there isn’t any excuse for not downloading it. It performed well four years ago and it’s in better shape than ever going into to this week, so I’m looking for a good performance. I’ll be watching both exchanges closely to see how that is holding up. I tend to trade on BOTH exchanges during the meeting and will be bringing in extra screen space to do that. It should be fun!
I’m open minded on how it will perform this year, it should be one of the biggest weeks of the year. I’ll keep you updated on the social media as to how things are going.
Of course the big question is, what colour hat will the queen be wearing? NOT!
Good luck Maam!
Category: Horse Racing
