Bookmakers had a challenging Royal Ascot meeting, with punter-friendly results affecting the bottom line and the World Cup hitting turnover.
Many on-course layers were left licking their wounds after some huge bets were landed and the off-course firms reported similar damage inflicted by 13 winning favorites, which was the second highest number in the last 10 years.
William Hill spokesman Lee Phelps said: "This year's Royal Ascot was certainly tough going from a bookmaker's perspective. Ten Bob Tony winning the Queen Anne at 50-1 and still managing to be a big loser for us set the tone for what would be a difficult week for the layers.
"We expected turnover to be impacted by the World Cup and that proved to be the case, although some of that was offset by a string of punter-friendly results which kept William Hill customers engaged. Whenever Ryan Moore and Aidan O'Brien have a great week at Royal Ascot, it's always going to spell trouble for the bookies."
The Commonwealth Cup (G1) proved to be William Hill's biggest betting race, followed by the Gold Cup (G1), and interest in the June 20 card was particularly high with the Jersey Stakes (G3), Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (G1), and Wokingham Stakes completing the top-five list.
Results on the final day meant the bookies ended on a bit of a high but wins for big-race favorites Bow Echo, Ombudsman, Scandinavia, and Venetian Sun were costly.
Paddy Power reported Ombudsman's 11-10 victory in the Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1) to be their worst outcome of the five days.
Spokesman Paul Binfield said: "We were pleased with our week despite results being challenging, with Wednesday being our worst day due to four winning favorites, including Ombudsman."
Royal Ascot normally clashes with the major international football tournaments every other summer, and even though this year's World Cup time difference left racing largely with the stage to itself, bookmakers still felt an impact.
"Royal Ascot staking was a bit below expectation but that's probably the World Cup effect," said Simon Clare, public relations director for Coral and Ladbrokes.
"The World Cup is such a big-staking event that it casts a big shadow even though the matches didn't clash directly with the racing.
"Results favored punters overall, but all in all, it was a solid Royal Ascot given it was running in parallel to the World Cup."
Betfred's turnover was similar to last year, and their end result would have been better had a huge gamble not been landed in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes.
"Without doubt the biggest winning market move of the week was for Bacio in Friday's finale after he was backed into 3-1 from 16-1 in less than 24 hours," said spokesman Matt Hulmes.
