Denman cheers the bookies

Bookmakers were able to toast the Gold Cup victory of Denman after Kauto Star was heavily backed to retain his crown.

The race had been billed as a match between the pair but punters only had eyes for Kauto Star, who was sent off 10-11 favourite.

David Williams, of Ladbrokes, spoke for most layers when he said: “Denman was our saviour. We thought the betting and the race would be a lot closer but we were under siege from Kauto Star fans all day.

“In the end we’ve come out on top. We were staring down the barrel of a horror result and have dodged the bullet. We’re still catching our breath."

Ladbrokes laid one bet of £200,000 to a high-rolling Kauto Star fan and industry predictions of a record-breaking betting race were proved accurate.

Williams said: “It was a crazy day in betting shops up and down the land. We were packed out and the mega bets we saw made even our stony traders go weak at the knees.”

Some lucky punters gained consolation by backing top trainer Paul Nicholls to saddle the first three home in the Gold Cup at odds of 5-1.

“We only offered it as a bit of fun but it’s backfired,” Williams said. “It’s great news for punters on what’s been a pretty grim day for them.”

Damian Walker, of totesport, said: “Denman proved easy to back and all the money was for Kauto Star, so the result was a winning one for the sponsors, although Denman was a loser in our ante-post book.”

The Gold Cup attracted matched bets of £10,155,968 on Betfair. His SP on the exchange was 3.25 and, not surprisingly, he never traded bigger in running.

Overall, punters definitely came off second best at the Festival. All six favourites, including the well-backed pair of Sizing Europe and Noland,  were beaten on day one and  Thursday’s “banker”, Inglis Drever, was easy to back because of fears over his wellbeing.

Today, Kauto Star’s failure to deliver was compounded by the defeat of hot favourite Franchoek in the Triumph Hurdle.

In-running backers also had their fingers burnt. Refinement traded at 1.01 in the mares’ hurdle but got beat, while Kicks For Free was touched off in the Coral Cup after hitting 1.06.