Dettori the toast of bookmakers as Classic defeats save them from big payouts

There was an overriding sense of relief for bookmakers after the Saturday Classics as Frankie Dettori failed to weave his magic across the Epsom card for punters.

The mix of ITV's extended coverage and Dettori's high-profile rides saw punters latch on to the most recognisable name in racing to leave bookmakers fearful.

Michael Shinners of Sky Bet said: "Frankie's rides on English King and Frankly Darling were by far the worst results on the day for us, so the result of the Derby was an excellent one.

"Turnover has been very good since lockdown and even better when racing has been on ITV when it's really strong."

Watch the remarkable Derby again

Sky Bet are expecting that again at Sandown on Sunday with ITV covering the Coral-Eclipse and Enable expected to make or break their day.

Shinners added: "Our offer of money back [up to £10 stakes] on the fourth in the Derby took a little bit of gloss off with favourite Kameko finishing fourth, but it was a fantastic result.

"Love's win in the Oaks wasn't too bad as Frankly Darling would have been a far worse result."

Paddy Power confirmed the prevalent Frankie factor, with the firm's Paul Binfield reporting: "Our worst result was English King who was very heavily supported in the last hour, possibly because of Frankie or the fact he was proven over the trip and the course was unlikely to bother him.

"We were fearing the worst after Love easily justified favouritism in the Oaks, but Serpentine was a cracking result in the Derby and the placed horses were massively in the bookies’ favour as well. It was a good day for the books.

Serpentine (right): popular Derby winner with bookmakersCredit: Edward Whitaker

"Turnover on the Derby was very good but was much lighter on the Oaks. The Derby is the higher-profile race, but you could make a good case for a lot of the runners and it was difficult to know who’d go off favourite for a long time, but in the Oaks we had a short-priced favourite and few real contenders."

Ladbrokes reported Serpentine was friendless with them as their punters got behind Kameko, Russian Emperor and Pyledriver.

Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: "As Derby results go, we couldn’t have asked for a better result. Despite coming from the Aidan O’Brien stable, Serpentine was far down the pecking order among punters. Results weren’t going our way on Saturday, especially with the favourite winning the Oaks, but the Derby result saved the day."

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