Singo's doubts over top mare not reflected in early betting with bookies Despite John Singleton's concerns regarding the condition of More Joyous before last Saturday's All Aged Stakes, punters showed no hesitation in backing his mare to win her ninth group 1. Support for the champion mare was strong and consistent according to major bookmakers and wagering operators. Singleton's sensational pre-race tirade to trainer Gai Waterhouse about More Joyous provided only a minor handbrake to slow the flow of money. Betting exchange Betfair reported constant support for More Joyous throughout betting, with the mare's price firming from $3.20 in to $3, and then as low as $2.82 within an hour before the race, before the price began to drift. "She went from $2.82 to $3.50 in the 15 minutes before the race, which pretty well coincides with the time of Singleton's comments on Seven," Betfair's communications co-ordinator Dan Bevan said. It wasn't a remarkable drift though, there was still some money for her but Epaulette and All Too Hard were better supported following his [Singleton's] remarks. Bevan said More Joyous started at a shorter price in the All Aged than she did in the Canterbury Stakes when she tackled Australia's other superstar colt Pierro, with punters showing more confidence in the Waterhouse-trained runner on Saturday. Betstar director Alan Eskander could also see no issue with his company's betting sheets on the All Aged, and said that More Joyous was well supported. "There is nothing out of the ordinary that I can see, no anomalies," he said. We've gone through the race and we're comfortable that we don't need to investigate anything any further. Corporate bookmaker Sportsbet went the extra yard following the race and refunded all bets on More Joyous, more than $150,000, but could not report any anomalies in the betting patterns on the horse or the race. Despite declarations that More Joyous "never had a chance" and "should never have taken her place in the race," Sportsbet's communications manager Hayden Lane said that the refund related to the mare's popularity and her champion status rather than any support of Singleton's comments regarding alleged improper behaviour between trainer Waterhouse and her bookmaker son Tom Waterhouse. "We're certainly not saying that, it had nothing to do with Tom Waterhouse or Gai," Lane said. We've refunded bets like this before when we think our punters have been hard done by but this is the first time we've refunded bets on a horse that did not have an impeded run. From our perspective, if she was 100-1 and ran like that we would accept the run, but she's a champion mare and an eight-time group 1 winner and she was not seen at her best. We took the view that for her to run like that she must not have been right. Sportsbet reported that there was more money bet on More Joyous in the All Aged Stakes then there was when she tackled Pierro in the Canterbury Stakes but that traders expected even more support for the mare in light of All Too Hard's stop-start autumn preparation.