Alex Bird-Professional Investor

I have that book in my vast collection. Glad that you enjoyed it, but I found it completely boring tbh, in similar tone as Public Enemy, which actually promised a lot in the first chapter or two, but then became a braggart`s list of bets like Birds.

I'm with you mac..found it boring,..so he found an edge with the photo...thats about it..''Public Enemy''..more like Public Enema....dreadful....

I think we all have our likes and dislikes for example I enjoyed Geoffrey Hamlyn's book "My 60 Years In The Ring" yet many other people on here disliked it.

Read it decades ago and enjoyed it. Mainly photo finish betting and think he had a big winning bet or two on his own horses.

Most interesting part of Bird for me was when he was taking prices in the States with massive bets on Uk horses for the Breeders Cup where they werent fuly clued up on our animals. Remember he had a massive bet for the time on Dancing Brave at what seemed a crazy price however that went astray.

Was it Bird or Veitch or both who backed Halling in the States? It was a big story in the Life at the time but from what I remember, when you worked out the average price, they'd effectively taken under the odds.

It must have been Veitch ramruna as Alex Bird had sadly passed away when Halling was racing.

Good point well made re punting (or not) after death, @themightymac.

Talking of Veitch and Bird in the same thread, PV wrote this:

For me, Bird’s reputation was somewhat undermined by the fact that much of his winnings came from betting on the results of photo-finishes. Two people subsequently told me that he had a source signalling from the judge’s box, which may help explain his astonishing success in that sphere.

I'm not entirely sure how much I believe that, given the likely logistics. It is possible though.

*life and secrets.

I actually remember Alex Bird  turning up in a World In Action programme, must have been on horse racing corruption or something, mid to late 80s.

Also does anyone have the story behind Slick Willie appearing on his autobiography front cover?  Almost as incongruous as Donald Trump making the draw for Rumbelows Cup with Saint and Greavsie.



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It may have been about the Greville Starkey/Guy Harwood nag that got lasered Ile De Cyphre.

Geoff, I thought it was Julian Wilson??

I thought in his early betting days he was betting on what won in close finish before the judge called the winner, but perhaps not?

When was the Photo finish first used in UK races?

No worries Slicer. I wasn`t contradicting you mate. I honestly didn`t know the answer. Must have been post WWII but don`t know exactly when. At a guess I would think early 60s?

Thanks slicer, you are too mate. I enjoy reading your posts. Respect.

I like reading about the old post war racing but you probably attended many big events, seen all the great post war jockeys and great horses. I would have loved to have seen Sir Gordon on the racetrack at his peak. I have his book, "My Story".

I have said this before on here about Bird's photo finish betting.

He would have us believe that he stood on the line and shut one eye for tight finishes in order to judge who had won. Then, he would bet large amounts on the various photo-finish outcomes.

What I find so hard to believe here is that the on-track bookies would let this happen repeatedly!

Even if he were betting via other people, the bookies would soon realise that someone was on the line and judging the tight finishes. Then they would surely put a stop to it by having someone stand in front of him, or nudge him at the vital moment etc. etc

So, I do not believe that his photo-finish betting, if true at all, was due to him shutting one eye! Nope, if it did happen, he surely had someone in the various judges boxes giving him a pre-arranged signal as soon as the result was about to be announced. He'd only have a few seconds to get the money down but the judge's box could easily delay broadcasting the result for a few seconds or so.

The other thing that came to mind when I read his book many years ago, but is still relevant today, is if jockeys could give subtle pre-arranged signals to the stands about how their mounts were travelling in a race. Today, with in-running betting it could be a real factor.

Indeed, in-running betting used to exist on the tracks with some bookies many moons ago and back then with no TV, very few would ever know that a jockey was signalling something to an accomplice with binoculars in the stand. For example, three furlongs from home, a jockey still travelling well could easily pull his goggles down, or touch the horses' head as if making a minor tack adjustment. Pre-arranged signals might just give an edge to an in-running bettor that others not in on the scheme would be lacking.

Only idle speculation, you understand!

Geoff

Definitely bird regarding tromos

From Bird's book, he started photo betting in 1948 and stopped (as sparrow says) in 1962 after the dog punters were brought in.

Whether that was designed to stop Bird or just that a couple of bookies wanted to get in on a good thing is left as an exercise for the reader. Given Bird made hay for 14 years, there was clearly no great urgency.