/ Editor / 19 August 2007 /

Ascot racecourse stages its three-day Festival meeting during the last week of September, an event that has gained betting notoriety since Frankie Dettori defied incredible odds and triggered one of the biggest betting plunges in history when riding all seven winners on the card in 1996.

That day saw bookmakers lose fortunes as masses of winning bets rolled up on Dettori's winners and consequently the odds of his last three runners were significantly shorter than they would otherwise have been.

The highlight of the fixture is the Group1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes which has been won by horses of the very highest class over the years, including the great Dubai Millenium in 1999 and recently the top class pair of Rakti and George Washington. All three carried plenty of public confidence and serious bets were noted and reflected in the betting markets.

Trainer Saeed bin Suroor has landed the prize three times in the last 11 years, but recently Luca Cumani has defied the odds to win two of the last four renewals with Rakti and Falbrav. Kevin Darley also has a good recent record in the race scoring twice in the last seven years to reward those who like to bet on the former champion jockey.

There are four other group races at the Ascot Festival all of which attract solid bets and plenty of serious betting interest. The Group 1 Fillies Mile tends to be a strong indicator to the classic chances of the fairer sex in the season to come and frenetic betting activity is often the order of the day after the race is concluded as ante-post odds setters scramble to tempt punters in.

Another classy juvenile race is the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes for juvenile colts, but one of the strongest betting heats is the Group 2 Diadem Stakes for seasoned sprinters which is often won by a decent horse, although not always out of the top drawer. The Group 3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes is the betting highlight of Sunday's card

The Ascot Festival meeting also provides the betting public with plenty of classy handicap action, whilst on the Friday of the fixture the valuable Watership Down Sales race tends to attract plenty of runners, but the betting odds often reflect support for only a handful of runners and the money is never too far from the mark.

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