SOURCE: Bloomberg

Unlucky gamblers at Britain's Royal Ascot horse races helped Irish bookmaker Paddy Power Plc raise its profit forecast, and analysts say favorites that came up short may have boosted phone-betting earnings for Ladbrokes Plc.

Paddy Power benefited when popular horses such as George Washington lost their races at Ascot last month, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Kennedy said in an interview today. Ladbrokes, the world's biggest publicly traded gaming company, said telephone earnings jumped 45 million pounds ($91 million) in the first half, with the largest bets increasing ``significantly.''

``Big punters have lost heavily on recent sporting events, most probably the Royal Ascot festival,'' Matthew Gerard, an analyst at Investec Securities in London, said of Ladbrokes' phone-betting profit in a note to investors. ``Volumes from high- roller customers have increased.'' He rates the shares ``hold.''

Five bettors wagered 50,000 pounds ($101,000) each on favorite Scorpion to win the Hardwicke Stakes on June 23, Ascot's final day, the Racing Post reported, without saying where it got the information. Scorpion finished second, half a length behind Maraahel. Dublin-based Paddy Power said earlier this year that its earnings were boosted when underdogs won England's Grand National and Cheltenham horse races.

Some 52 bets of 1,000 pounds or more were recorded on George Washington to win the Queen Anne Stakes on Royal Ascot's first day, the biggest of which was 50,000 pounds, according to http://www.sportinglife.com. The horse finished fourth.