From Bicycle To Bentley, A Bookmaker's Story: By Stephen Little

Stephen takes the reader from his earliest school days when it became clear he was academically bright, especially in maths, attending prep school, winning a scholarship to major public school Uppingham where he won maths prizes and, aged 16, passed 3 S (scholarship) levels. By then he had decided to be a bookie. He attended an interview for Cambridge University only because it was on his bicycle route to Newmarket races! Unable to work in any gambling job until 18, he set about visiting racecourses by bicycle, staying in youth hotels (17½p per night), eventually cycling to all racecourses in the UK, including several now-defunct courses. At 18 he found employment with Beresford & Smith in London; aged 24 he got his first bookie's licence in 1971 and by the age of 40 in 1986 was betting big on the rails at major meetings such as the Grand National, Cheltenham, Derby, Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood, often laying bets to lose £100,000 or more - when money was worth nearly twice today's value - one of the few bookies who happily stood "toe to toe and traded blow for blow" with big hitters like JP McManus, Barney Curley, Michael Tabor and Harry Findlay. In 1998 changes in pitch administration prompted early retirement, and he sold his pitches, worked for a few unsatisfactory years for Corals and then departed the big time - with a Bentley as well as a bicycle, a house in Georgian Bath and a satisfactory bank balance. AUTHOR: Vicar's son Stephen, born in North London in 1946, grew up mostly in Nottingham and Lincoln. An unconventional choice of career, bookended by standing at the Waterloo Cups of 1971 and 2005, and becoming vice-chairman of the National Association of Bookmakers, was followed by early retirement in Bath, where he lives with wife, two sons and 5 cats, still following and attending racing as a hobby alongside cycling and backgammon. 8 colour illustrations