Dreamfield defeat in the Wokingham spelt bacchic revelry for layers

Royal Ascot's fifth and final afternoon largely failed to grip the imagination of punters, a race-by-race turnover table supplied by Coral has revealed.

Four of Saturday's six contests were in the bottom five slots for the whole meeting, with the Queen Alexandra, Chesham and Hardwicke all suffering startling falls in popularity against 2017.

The Queen Alexandra fell from fifth spot to 26 in Coral's list, based on retail turnover, while the Chesham dropped from ninth to 27 and the Hardwicke from tenth to be bringing up the rear as the least popular race.

All three races – especially the five-runner Hardwicke won by 4-7 chance Crystal Ocean – had warm favourites, while another of Saturday's races, the Wokingham, also dropped, from fourth last year to eighth this time.

Coral's David Stevens said: "The Wokingham and Diamond Jubilee aside, Saturday's other races were all in the bottom five. There could be a variety of factors behind this – a rather uncompetitive Hardwicke, a pair of two-year-old races with not much form to go on, the World Cup, and the sunny weather all possible contributors."

He added: "The highest-placed handicap during the week was Friday's finale, the Duke of Edinburgh, won in good style by the extremely well-backed Dash Of Spice and coming at the end of largely positive day for the punters, while the Wokingham's position in eighth was very much down to the presence of Dreamfield, sent off at 2-1 but fortunately for us just denied by Bacchus, our biggest escape of the week."

Crystal Ocean's Hardwicke victory at 4-7 delighted connections but attracted less interest from punters, causing the race to take bottom place in Coral's turnover tableCredit: Mark Cranham

Dreamfield was a close call for all bookmakers, and his defeat, plus that of other Royal Ascot favourites including Cracksman, meant the industry had the upper hand over punters across the week.

Pat Cooney, for bet365, said: "We had a winning week and turnover increased each day. All six races each day being live on ITV or ITV4 is a big plus, along with the Racing UK coverage."

Dreamfield's neck defeat by 33-1 chance Bacchus was estimated on Saturday night to have cost punters industry-wide in the region of £3 million, but some firms on Sunday felt that figure could be higher.

Cooney added: "It was even better Dreamfield was placed as no-one backed him each-way, and so even though we went each-way to five places, in reality there were only four, with the other placed horses all good results.

"Worst result of the week was Agrotera in Friday's Sandringham Handicap. Best result of the week was Poet's Word's victory over Cracksman on Wednesday."

Sandringham gamble Agrotera was bet365's worst result of the weekCredit: Mark Cranham

Leon Blanche of BoyleSports reflected: "It was a good week overall mainly due to Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore not dominating as they have in previous years, despite finishing top trainer and jockey.

"The defeats of Order Of St George and Cracksman, coupled with the fact that none of Aidan's winners started favourite, meant a favourable week for BoyleSports."

He added: "There's no doubt had Dreamfield and Thomas Hobson won on the last day we'd have been looking at a different overall picture, and estimates of a £3 million industry swing would seem conservative based on our liabilities on Dreamfield.

"However, it wasn’t all one-way-traffic as Settle For Bay was a huge loser for us in the Hunt Cup, on the day and ante-post, and Alpha Centauri was also very well backed."

Coral Royal Ascot turnover by race

Members can read the latest exclusive interviews, news analysis and comment available from 6pm daily on racingpost.com