A bookmaker at Royal Ascot has been stung by a 'painful' £100,000 wager placed by a punter on Wednesday. Star Sports, known for accepting large bets on course, took the biggest wager of the week when a customer asked to bet £100,000 on Auguste Rodin in the Prince of Wales's Stakes.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained favourite delivered, holding off French challengers Zarakem and Horizon Dore to win the £1 million prize. As a result, Star Sports had to pay out a total of £262,500, including the stake, to the unnamed punter.
Flynn Goward, managing director of Star Sports, said: 'It's by far the biggest bet we have taken so far this week. It's good to see that those bets are still flying around on course. It was £100,000 at 13-8 which wins the best part of £160,000, a little bit more, but that's why we're here.' He added: 'It has put us on the back foot so far, but we've still got three more days to get it back.'
Auguste Rodin, winning his sixth Group 1 race, scored by three-quarters of a length and a length under jockey Ryan Moore. However, punters on the track faced audio problems, with racecaller Stewart Machin's commentary intermittent due to technical issues.
The hiccup followed WiFi problems on day one of the meeting, causing bookmakers to accept only cash for over an hour. Ascot apologised for the sound difficulties, stating: 'We apologise for technical difficulties with the sound.' Goward remarked: 'It was like a static commentary... I didn't hear any of the race pretty much but managed to watch it on the big screen. Nevertheless, to do the guts of £160,000 whether you were watching or listening to it is still painful.'
