From Royal Ascot to Kentucky Derby: Why Horse Racing Still Defines Prestige in Betting

Betting today covers almost everything. Football, tennis, video games, even darts. Yet horse racing still feels different. The races may be short, over in a couple of minutes, but the anticipation builds all week. The noise of the crowd, the colors on the track, the sense that this is an event and not just a game. That is what keeps it special.

Royal Ascot’s Pull

Royal Ascot is theatre as much as it is sport. The carriages roll in, the grandstands fill with suits and hats, and the tradition speaks for itself. For many bettors, this is not just about chasing odds. It is about taking part in something that stretches back centuries. Whether you buy a card at the track or place a wager online through platforms like bet malawi, the feeling is the same. You follow the horses, make your pick, and when the gates open it feels like stepping into history. A win here is not only about the payout, it is about pride.

The Spirit of the Derby

Then there is the Kentucky Derby. Loud, quick, and impossible to ignore. People call it the most exciting two minutes in sport, and it earns that label. The stands are buzzing, mint juleps in hand, fashion on full display. Some fans only ever place one bet all year and this is the race they choose. Others come for serious money. Both groups give the Derby its mix of fun and high stakes, and that mix is what keeps it alive.

Betting as the Centerpiece

In most sports betting feels like an add-on. In horse racing it is the heartbeat. The ring is alive with shouts, odds boards change by the second, and friends argue over form before the race begins. The money that moves through Ascot or Churchill Downs is vast, but the real point is how central wagering is to the day. The bet and the race belong together.

The Occasion Matters

There is football every weekend. There is basketball every night. But there is only one Ascot week, only one Derby each year. That rarity creates weight. Dates are circled months in advance. Media coverage builds it up. Celebrities arrive. When the horses line up it feels like the whole day has been leading to that one moment.

Prestige That Lasts

Online betting means anyone, anywhere can follow these races now. A stream on your phone, a quick wager, a result in seconds. Platforms such as Betway make it simple for fans to join in no matter where they are. Yet the magic of the crowd, the thunder of hooves, the silks rushing past the post still matters most. Royal Ascot and the Kentucky Derby prove that horse racing can turn a bet into an occasion, and that is why these events continue to define prestige in the betting world.

Where, and when, did Highfield Princess win her first race?

At the last count, Highfield Princess had won 14 of her 38 races and a total of £1.67 million in win and place prize money. Her victories include no fewer than four at the highest Group 1 level and, most recently, she overcame a wide draw to justify favouritism in the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, run over 5 furlongs at Longchamp Racecourse on the same day as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, at the first time of asking. That was her first Group 1 win of 2023 but, in 2022, she completed a Group 1 hat-trick in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, the Nunthorpe Stakes at York and the Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh within a five-week period in August and September. This is a winning streak in action, the kind you get on casino no deposit bonus codes casinous.

Now a six-year-old, the daughter of Night Of Thunder, who won the 2,000 Guineas in 2014, is rated 125 by Timeform, which places her in the ‘high class’ category; if the 3lb sex allowance she receives from her male rivals is taken into account, she is bordering on ‘top class’ but, in any case, has bona fide claims of being the best sprinter in Europe. Any such claim is all the more remarkable for the fact that her owner, John Fairley, bought her dam, Pure Illusion, who was in foal with her, for just £18,000 in December, 2016.

Highfield Princess did not race as a juvenile and, on her first three starts as a three-year-old, was beaten an aggregate of 28¼ lengths in maiden and novice stakes races, over 7 furlongs and a mile, at Redcar and Thirsk. Sent handicapping, off an official mark of 57, she troubled the judge for the first time when third, beaten 1¾ lengths, in a lowly, 0-65 affair, over 7 furlongs, at Doncaster, before cosily opening her account, off a 1lb higher mark, at Ayr six weeks later. Her trainer John Quinn, who is based in Settrington, North Yorkshire, said of her, ‘Some horses get quicker – and that’s what she did.’ No kidding, John.

Which were the longest- and shortest-priced winners in the history of the Derby?

The most famous of the five British Classic horse races, the Derby Stakes was co-founded in 1780 by Edward Smith-Stanley, Earl of Derby and Sir Charles Bunbury and named after the former as the result of a (probably apocryphal) coin toss. Notwithstanding interruptions for the two world wars, when a substitute race, dubbed the ‘New Derby Stakes’, was staged at Newmarket, the Derby has taken place on Epsom Downs ever since. Back then there was of course no jokacasino online pokies real money or the like.

Of course, the Derby is a Group 1 contest, intended to test the class of three-year-old colts, who compete at level weights, and, theoretically, fillies, who receive a 3lb weight-for-sex allowance from their male counterparts. However, it is worth noting that no filly has run in the Derby since Cape Verdi, who was beaten favourite in 1998, and none has won since Fifinella. In any event, the nature of the Derby means that long-priced winners are typically few and far between.

That said, in 244 runnings of the Epsom Classic, so far, three winners have been sent off at treble-figure odds, although the last of them was over a century ago. In 1898, Jeddah, trained by Richard March and ridden by Otto Madden, belied odds of 100/1 to win, narrowly, by three-quarters of a length and, a decade later, Signorinetta, trained by Odoardo Ginistrelli and ridden by Billy Bullock, repeated the feat with a rather more convincing two-length win. The third and final 100/1 winner was Aboyeur, trained by Alan Cunliffe and ridden by Edwin Piper, who was awarded the race following the disqualification of the favourite, Craganour, in 1913; his victory in the so-called ‘Suffragette Derby’ was overshadowed by fatal injuries suffered by Emily Davison. At the other end of the scale, the shortest-priced winner in the history of the Derby was the hitherto unbeaten Ladas, trained by Mathew Dawson and ridden by John ‘Jack’ Watts, who, in 1894, made short work of just six rivals at prohibitive odds of 2/9.

Irish runners who could feature in the 2025 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

Ireland has long been a powerhouse in the world of flat racing, yet recent history shows how elusive Europe’s most prestigious middle-distance prize has become for Irish-trained horses. Found’s memorable win in 2016 remains the most recent triumph for the Emerald Isle—and just the fourth this century. But could 2025 be the year the drought ends?

With the autumn showpiece at Longchamp fast approaching, we’ve looked at the leading Irish contenders who could line up in this year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Whether you’re studying form or placing a quick bet, the LiveScore Bet app is designed for speed and simplicity—making it easy to stay on top of every development as the race draws closer.

Minnie Hauk

Minnie Hauk ended last year with a maiden fillies’ success at Leopardstown on her second start in October and has progressed into a very classy three-year-old.

The daughter of Frankel kicked off this campaign with a win in the Listed Cheshire Oaks at Chester, and she added yet another Classic to Aidan O’Brien’s CV when winning the Oaks.

Minnie Hauk just held off a fierce challenge from her stablemate Whirl by a neck to win the prestigious Epsom contest and is a worthy ante-post favourite for the Arc.

Whirl

Speaking of Whirl, she’s another potential runner for Ballydoyle as O’Brien and Coolmore seek to win their first Arc since the aforementioned Found almost a decade ago.

Whirl bounced back from a lacklustre reappearance at the Curragh when comfortably landing the Group 3 Musidora at York—beating Serenity Prayer.

After being narrowly denied by her companion Minnie Hauk, Whirl returned to winning ways again at the Curragh, winning a first Group 1 when scoring from Kalpana in the Pretty Polly Stakes.

Lambourn

Lambourn is a dual Derby winner this campaign, winning both the British and Irish versions of the race in fine style.

However, many pundits and punters are still questioning his ability based on the quality of the fields in those Classics this season.

However, if he were to win an Arc, there would be no doubt that Lambourn is as good as the races he has won this season.

O’Brien hasn’t dismissed a crack at Longchamp either, saying: “He could be a King George or an Arc type of horse.

“The way he races, I’d imagine he’d race that way regardless of the trip. You’d imagine he’d get further, but he has lots of class.”

Jan Brueghel

Another potential runner for O’Brien, Jan Brueghel is versatile over a range of distances, and his recent Coronation Cup success could set him up nicely for an Arc tilt.

After rounding off last season with a win in the St Leger, beating stablemate Illinois by a neck, but was beaten on reappearance over one mile and two furlongs at the Curragh.

He was back to his best on return to a mile and a half at Epsom, staying on gamely from French raider Calandagan to win the Coronation Cup.

Has a filly ever won the 2,000 Guineas?

Traditionally the first Classic of the season, the 2,000 Guineas is run over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket in early May each year. The 2,000 Guineas was inaugurated in 1809 and, although often referred to as the ‘first colts’ Classic’, remains open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies (who receive a 3lb weight-for-sex allowance from their male counterparts), as it always has been. However, despite advantageous conditions, the 2,000 Guineas is rarely on option for top-class fillies, these days, with modern trainers preferring the 1,000 Guineas; the latter race has co-existed with the 2,000 Guineas since 1815 and, nowadays, offers an identical prize of £500,000.

While conventional wisdom dictates that fillies are more likely to win against their own sex, in the 1,000 Guineas, historically, a total of seven (including the dead-heating Formosa in 1868) have been victorious in the ‘original’ Guineas. That said, the last of them, Garden Path, owned by Lord Derby, saddled by his private trainer Walter Earl and ridden by Harry ‘The Head Waiter’ Wragg, won a wartime renewal run, not on the Rowley Mile, but on the adjacent July Course, at Newmarket, in 1944. She also contested a wartime substitute for the Derby, known as the ‘New Derby Stakes’, also run at Newmarket, but finished unplaced after suffering an injury.

For the first filly ever to win the 2,000 Guineas, we need to leaf back through the history books just over a century, to April 23, 1822, when Pastille, saddled by ‘Emperor of Trainers’ Robert Robertson, justified odds of 4/6 by beating just two male rivals with consummate ease. Next up, in 1840, came Crucifix, trained by John Day Sr., who became one of just four horses, ever, to complete the 1,000 Guineas – 2,000 Guineas double. Indeed, she also had the distinction of being the shortest-priced winner in the history of the 1,000 Guineas, justifying odds of 1/10, before taking the supposed ‘colts’ Classic’ just 48 hours later.

The aforementioned Formosa, trained by Henry Woolcott, had her first ‘moment in the sun’ when dead-heating with Moslem, a colt trained by Alec Taylor Sr., in the 2,000 Guineas in 1868. However, she, too, won the 1,000 Guineas two days later and went on to win the Oaks and the St. Leger, thereby completing both the Fillies’ Triple Crown and the Triple Crown proper. A decade later, in 1878, Pilgrimage, trained by Joe Cannon, was another filly to complete the Guineas double and only beaten in the Oaks, going down by a length. In 1882, Shotover, trained by John Porter had the distinction of beating the colts in both the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby, but was beaten at long odds-on in the 1,000 Guineas and again in the St. Leger. Both those defeats came at the hands of fillies, though, and with the Oaks, obviously going to a filly, all five Classics were won by the ‘fairer sex’ for the one and only time in history.

Probably the most famous filly to win the 2,000 Guineas, though, was Sceptre, who was owned and trained for her three-year-old campaign, in 1902, by Robert ‘Bob’ Siever. Despite being narrowly defeated, under 6st 7lb, in the Lincolnshire Handicap at Lincoln, the daughter of Persimmon went on to contest all five Classics, winning four of them. She followed her victory in the 2,000 Guineas with another in the 1,000 Guineas two days later and, having been beaten in the Derby, won the Oaks two days after that, too. Thereafter, she also won the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on the way to another Classic victory in the St. Leger.

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