Ladbrokes Holds Corgi Race To Predict Royal Baby Name

Posted on: March 24, 2015, 01:15h. 

Last updated on: October 16, 2015, 10:13h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

Prince William and Princess Kate will surely take a lot into consideration when their second child, due in April, is born and it is time to choose a name for the new boy or girl in the royal family.

One thing they probably never thought they’d be concerned with was what name a particularly quick Corgi would be sporting in a promotional race held by Ladbrokes.

But if that’s something they’d like to take into account, then the bookmaker has made their wishes come true.

The popular UK bookmaker held what they called the first-ever Corgi race in order to predict just what the new royal baby might be named, an event that it is fair to say was a publicity stunt, but at least one that dog lovers would find incredibly cute.

Alexandra Reigns Supreme in Barkingham Palace Cup Race

Ten corgis in total were entered into the Barkingham Palace Gold Cup. As with any top flight racing event, each contestant sported his or her own colors, as well as a unique name: five female and five male.

The idea was that Ladbrokes would be predicting that the winner would be sporting the eventual name given to William and Kate’s next child, thus predicting the sex of the child as well.

Names like Elizabeth and Camilla were considered favorites for the girls, while James and Henry were among the most likely contenders for the boys. There were also long shots in the race: Boris went off at 200-1, while Camilla was seen as a 100-1 underdog among the names for girls.

In the end, it was Alexandra who won the race, sporting odds of 8-1 that her name would truly be the one chosen by the royal couple. While it is fair to say that this race probably won’t be the deciding factor for Kate and William, it gathered some attention given the fact that betting on the name, sex, and other aspects of the baby is big business for bookmakers right now.

Gamblers Can Bet on Baby’s Name, Sex, and Date of Birth

“There’s a market for everything about the future prince or princess, from name and sex to weight and hair color, but it’s the royal baby’s name that will attract thousands of bets across the UK,” said Ladbrokes’ Jessica Bridge.

Right now, there is a bit of speculation that Kate may be having a girl this time, though the couple has publicly said that they do not know the sex of the child. Still, that has been enough to push down the odds on female names at many bookmakers.

At Ladbrokes, there are more girl names favored than boy names, and at William Hill, the five names with the lowest odds are all traditionally monikers that go to girls: Elizabeth, Charlotte, Victoria, Diana and Alexandra.

William Hill is also taking bets on the date of birth for the royal baby. The most popular bet appears to be April 21, though the reasons are most likely sentimental rather than scientific: that also happens to be Queen Elizabeth’s birthday.

“Hundreds of customers are placing their bets on the baby arriving then,” said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.

Queen Elizabeth is also well-known for her love of Corgis, a fact that might just have had a little influence on who got to participate in Ladbrokes’ adorable race.