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anybody remember these bookmakers
anybody remember these bookmakers
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I remember "Charles James". I was at the on course betting shop at Lingfield one day and a 2-y-o race at an way meeting opened up with a horse at any price in the paper at 8/1. I dashed out to Charles James and had a tenner on(I think) at his opening price of 16/1. It duly won and went to pick up my money and he learly wasnt too happy and said "you must broken the land speed record" getting here to get that price. I reckon his betting shop man got a piece of his mind
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had a Billy Hill credit account from the early 1980's onwards. I used to bet EW on course a great deal with Leslie Steel (or was it Spencer, I always get those two surnames ar*e about face) and, to a lesser degree, on the phone.
Leslie Steel was one of the best bookies in the northern rings. Laid a proper bet. |
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Steele.
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ribero will be on in a bit to tell you leslie is either 100 or very close to it loper.
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He got the telegram last year Jimnast,hopefully will drop in and see him soon as he's less than a mile away.
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Good to hear he is still alive!
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yes i knew you still went for a cup of tea with him pre covid.
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Who was the bookie from Wetherby who used to have his wife clerking? They were a lovely couple, I used to have a cuppa with them.
You wouldn't think it to look at his joint but he laid a bet. |
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It's now over a decade since Stephen Little's one and only post on here.
S_Little03 Feb 11 00:23Joined: 17 May 02 | Topic/replies: 1 | Blogger: S_Little's blog theressomepratsonhere 31 Jan 11 20:48 ronnie rails i once got the wrong account from s little when i rang him to inform him off the mistake he never even said sorry Sorry S Little Come on, Steve. Surely it's time for another contribution to one of these threads. |
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Loper,I can only think of Pat Ryan,he bet at Wetherby but was from Barnsley,where did you used to come across them?
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re screamings post
it looks like it was me who was being petty I can ASURE you it was somebody replying to me not me who posted . the day I slag a racecourse bookie off on here will be the last day I post Ronnie |
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Is Steve Williams a runner ribero ?
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Absolutely, ronnie.
It was some silly poster replying to you. Apologies. I just thought it funny that in the whole two decades of Betfair Mr Little took the time to post just one word. |
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ribero1, I always thought Surrey only sold their online and overseas (Alderney) arm to Skybet but kept the shops, which then became Metrobet.
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Possibly Democrat,but I doubt it.
Swiftnifty,you might be right as I never checked but a very good friend of mine bought Surrey Racing off Wilson,he wanted it for the offshore license and I remember him telling me they had a few shops (9 seems to ring a bell) and a couple of hotels and he was going to move them straight on as they were no interest to him as he just wanted the license,he got a guy from Hills to run it for him called Mick Norris and he brought a load of Hills guys with him then he sold it on to Sky about 2 years later when he had established it online which was always his plan,he kept the name Surrey Racingwhile he had it. |
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ribero1, that sounds about right, i know they were early with the offshore which was the big attraction. Think Surrey had over 30 shops at their peak. Mervin would lay some hefty bets, esp golf, I never knew he was a good golfer, but think he owned or part-owned Hersham golf course.
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Yes I'm pretty sure there wasn't that many shops then so he might have sold most of them first or my pal might eventually have got the license without having to buy the rest of the estate as i never checked,think one of the hotels was in Alderney,incidentally he knew nothing much about betting but understood the internet and where it was going,it was 98 when he bought Surrey and tried to buy Timeform then but they weren't ready to sell at the time,he said give them the information and they will bet.
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Swiftynifty,come to think of it,a golf course rings a bell now.
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ribero1, re. Timeform, your pal had the right idea, Betfair thought the same nearly 20 years later!
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Exactly!
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Sorry, Ribero, went for supper.
Was the Wetherby guy Graham Pearson, or something similar? He had pitches in the North Midlands and all points north. He came down with his missus for a weekend racing in the South and we went for a beer. |
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there was a granville pearson loper
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Brilliant, Jimnast, that's him!
His wife and he were a lovely couple. I remember winning off him and he didn't have enough readies to hand. He wrote a cheque and stuck it in the post. God knows how it arrived because his writing was worse than any GP's. The bank clerk had to have a good butchers before accepting it. Pat Whelan, another gentleman of the Northern rings. |
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anybody remember this firm Curley Leisure
regards Ronnie. |
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pats son patrick now runs the pitches .
here is a story for you loper about granville when he was betting at the dogs it was one of those small tracks. granville was the first book to price up and he goes 5/1 the three dog young lad walks up and says £1500 to £300 trap 3 granville looks at him and says your not old enough son sorry. wipes his board and prices the race up again and puts the 3 dog up at evens young lad walks up and says even £300 granville says now your old enough son |
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Everyone knew him as Smiler and actually him and Pat Ryan were often partners,Smiler was from around Barnsley too,he had a share with Pat the Findlay day at Hexham and although I haven't read his book I've seen passages quoted on here and Findley mentions a bookmaker from that day and I'm pretty sure he's referring to Smiler,it was a standing joke for a while that he and Pat travelled the country looking for Findlay at race meetings, Smiler's wife was called Joyce.
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Lol, Jimnast.
One day I'll tell you about my first serious bet in the Chepstow ring, once we can have a beer or 3. Good night to you and the Mrs. |
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look forward to it loper good night
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jimnast...Yes, Dallas in the Cambridgeshire 1986! Ridden by Ray Cochrane with an injured foot if memory serves...
And here is a tiny, tiny example of the better quality of yesteryear. A few weeks after DB win the ARC so brilliantly, The Sporting Life brought out some tea-towels which replicated the front page of their Monday edition the day after the Arc. The wife, well she wasn't then, bought me three as a present for our new flat. We have still got them today and they have stood up well to 36 years of serving as a 'bib' for me when I eat watching TV and the subsequent washings. Brilliant to look at the small stories on the left-hand side of the page, as well. Neil Foulds became snooker's youngest ever big tournament winner, Greg Norman won the match-play but vowed he'd never come back to defend it because of the 'unsporting way the crowd behaved towards him!' And Alan Smith not for sale by Leicester. Lastly some fella elsewhere on the page who had hit a series of big wins for cash in his local betting office - all from following 'The Life'. So, perhaps spin was already up and running before the 1990's and Tony Blair!!! |
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the knight did you get my question on what the two horses had in common triptych and alborada ?
i also have some sporting life tea towels  |
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In the pre exchange days those (including many leadng trainers) who had accounts with a couple of Irish bookmakers inc Ross brothers used to pay for an early morning 'tissue' price faxed over to them.
The Irish bookmakers were willing to accept large bets from many well known trainers as they had the days card marked for them. They then used a few gangs of 'putters on'which was run by a well known English bookmaker to get the money on over in this country so the likes Larrys and Billys etc never had a clue. One of the horses we got money on for was a Pam Sly horse at 50/1 called Broadnard however coming to the last at Musselburgh think it was it got knocked sideways by a Henderson hotpot ridden by Mick Fitz.Still ended up 2nd. Some Irish trainers used the fax servce as well and again the Irish bookies were kept in the dark as the money was placed on in this country. One of the Irish horses we got money on for was called Anhootisanowl which won at 33/1. No one was on any wage but just able to have some money on for ourselves but it meant we were told what actual large towns to go visit and end up visiting up to 10-12 bookies and having just tens and twentys on at whatever price we were given to accept. As keepng the price was crucial. It was easy to see what trainers fancied what horse and whilst I will not divulge any names some of the top Newmarket and Lambourn trainers were usng this service. At the time Barry Hills publicly declared he could make £10k a month from betting his own horses so easy see why he never really got banned as he would not last 5 minutes wth an online account the way things are today |
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very interesting kenneth the problem with the firms now is they dont employ anybody who would know what to do with that sort of money.
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What confuses me about this whole scenario is that the 'tissue' was used, not by off course bookmakers, but by a small number of on course bookmakers, who created the market 15 mins max before the race by chalking up the tissue prices at a big overround in the ring. A few started by pricing up in the Silver Ring where any bet of any significance would be rejected in its entirety and the odds on the specific beast shortened.
Whilst Tatts bookmakers floormen were tick tacing back the Silver Ring movements, certain books, for instance in the Midlands it would be Len Bowden,would go up with their tissue and start tentatively to form the market. The first show to the off course bookmakers would rarely be more than 10 minutes before the off (at Leicester the market was so weak that the horses would be at the start before a show could be transmitted). So, in my naivety, I dont understand what bets were being struck, at what time, by who, with who, and at what price by those involved in the fascinating story as described above? |
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loper
back in the 80s you could be in a betting office and over the blower would come weak market at leicester or other tracks . |
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Yes Jimnast. Leicester was hilarious, as well as very frustrating!
You'd return from the pre parade ring to get the first chalked up prices 20 mins before the race, but at Leicester, unlike the straight lines today, the bookies would literally form a ring like a wagon train to make sure they could see every other board's prices. No one would dare chalk up first. The horses would canter past to the 2 mile start and still nothing happened. I can remember Gary Wiltshire having to bite the bullet and go first as it was getting so embarrassing as the starter was striding towards his platform. Trading would start manically as 15 minutes worth was completed in the 90 seconds before the off. Probably only one show would get through to the offices! |
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the ring at towcester was set up like leicester all facing each other listowel is the same.
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As was Devon & Exeter. 3 sides of a square. But the point about Leicester was unlike the others they weren't up against a natural barrier, they had loads of space in which to spread out but chose not to.
As a punter you had to wrestle your way in through the tightly knit circle! The last thing they wanted was someone having a decent bet! |
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its a long time since anybody wrestled to get a bet at leicester.
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Over the blower they would say "Nothing doing at Lingfield" or wherever.
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Jimnast
its also a long time since a punter flew in by helicopter Ronnie. |