How much did the bookies lose with Igugu?

If any you guys know how your bookie done in the july,post here and i will try and find out from a few...

from a local bookie in Pretoria, the July race was bad but other results on the day were fair however the big T was a nightmare..............so a bad day was had by this particular turf accountant

Horrific day for bookmakers.

besides igugu, there were plenty lost on fort vogue and brown penny..

and princess victoria

How much did they lose on Igugu? It probably depends upon which book you are quoted!

Remember - there are TWO July books - the ante-post book and the final field book. I am always royally amused by the 140% they bet to on the ante-post book - it often comprises about double ( or even triple ) the number of horses that can or will run in the race so they are betting to 140%+++++++++++++ !

When Igugu was supplemented into the race she was almost immediately installed as outright favourite so bookmakers can hardly claim that she was backed from, say, 20s into favourite. Secondly - they all wanted to take her on. Thirdly - Interbet records confirm that there was huge money for the next two in the betting ( who both went missing ) so field money for these two should just about have covered the Igugu liability.

Where they might have done some damage was with each way or stand alone place bets. But again - with both the second and third choices going missing this may not have been too severe.

Of course - there is never a word about the 'good things' that got beaten on the day. The 3000 metre race produced a bomb ( unless you were the prominent bookmaker with whom the owner bets! ) and Dancewiththedevil was probably a punter train smash - who could have imagined she would not finish in the money?

Many years ago a wise bookmaker asked me : Why do you bother to bet on July or Met day? The fields are generally big and winners are not easy to find. Rather wait for those smaller bread-and-butter meetings when most of the field cannot win. You will probably get the same price as you would on Igugu and have to deal with a quarter of the opposition. How right he was. But ego gets in the way and punters love to crow about the July winner they backed in much the same way as owners crave to own one.

Further to the above - a professional punter once told me that he concentrates on the minor meeting on July day as there are usually only two or three genuine contenders in each race.

Sportingbet done the money with igugu ,but they were a standout price,they also lost on the day...