Frankie Dettori and Colour Vision were the toast of the bookmaking fraternity after they foiled Fame And Glory's title defence in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
Aidan O'Brien's runner was the 4-5 favourite for the two-and-a-half-mile heat but he trailed home seventh behind the Godolphin runner.
Paddy Power hailed the result as a major win for the company but admitted the victories of favourite Fast Or Free in the Britannia Stakes and Princess Highway (17-2) in the Ribblesdale Stakes had made sure it was not a total wipeout for punters.
He said: "Getting Fame And Glory beaten was massive for us but it's been a mixed day with Fast Or Free prevailing and that was a horror story.
"Princess Highway also hurt us as an Irish winner but we are again up on the day and punters are the ones chasing as we enter the final furlongs of the fixture.''
Dettori's success was also welcomed by William Hill who had Fame And Glory as their largest liability for the entire meeting.
Spokeswoman Lucy Rhodes said: "It's not often Frankie Dettori becomes the toast to the bookmaking industry with a Royal Ascot winner, but this afternoon the popular Italian single-handedly saved our day.''
Michael Shinners of Sky Bet commented: "A mixed day for us.
"Reckless Abandon was a decent start to the day as Cay Verde was well backed. Princess Highway was a good result as the The Fugue proved very popular with punters and we were pleased to see her beaten.
"Colour Vision was a decent result considering it was ridden by Frankie. Fame And Glory was popular with good money for Gulf Of Naples each way. Fast Or Free was a terrible result with lots of money for him. The places were okay up until the 5th, Piri Wango who was our second worst result behind Fast Or Free and was a heavy payout for us.
"Energizer was a decent result both in the win book and in the multiples as there was plenty of money running up on many of the runners in particular Wrotham Heath. The final result of the day dictated whether or not we had a winning day or not. Nicholascopernicus was very well backed in the last...and thankfully for Sky Bet didn't win."
Stan James offered enhanced odds on Fame And Glory as part of a promotion earlier in the day and the firm were relieved to see the strategy pay off.
"We took on Fame And Glory in our Happy Hour promotion this morning and held even money for some time before having to wind our necks in,'' said spokesman Rory Jiwani.
"He was a big loser with everything else a winner, so we're delighted with the result.''
In contrast to Paddy Power, Jiwani revealed Princess Highway had also been a fine result for them, although Reckless Abandon's victory in the opening Norfolk Stakes was not such a pleasing tale.
He said: "We were happy to get favourite Cay Verde beaten in the opener, but a big bet just before the off on Reckless Abandon meant it wasn't half as good a result as we thought it might be.
"But Princess Highway was a superb result for the layers with well-backed pair Kailani and Twirl failing to land a blow between them.''
Betfred were of the view that it was a good day for the backers, with spokesman George Primarolo saying: "The well-backed Reckless Abandon set the scene for the day when taking the opener and whilst Fame And Glory's defeat in the Gold Cup provided some respite, Fast Or Free's victory in the Britannia landed the killer blow.''
Ladbrokes were also thanking the Queen after her green hat foiled a 500-1 accumulator on what colour her headgear will be each day.
One fashionista had correctly predicted the colour of Her Majesty's hat on the opening two days but after choosing yellow for the third day, the bet was sunk.
Spokeswoman Jessica Bridge said: "Our punter's green with envy as we keep her winnings.
"We've dodged a bullet here which is a great result for the bookies, but unfortunately our punter's left empty-handed and disappointed.''
