#BettingPeople

Interview: KEVIN BOOTHBY Kevin Boothby comes at greyhound racing from many different angles; businessman, owner, big-time punter and retired greyhound lover! Now with two greyhound tracks to his name, an army of racing dogs with his ‘Savana’ prefix and three retired hounds roaming his house, his enthusiasm for the sport, buoyed by his acquisition of Towcester, is as strong as ever. Meeting Kevin Boothby. (interviewed by Julie Collier)

 

Interview: MARK BLANDFORD: Mark is a pioneer of on-line bookmaking forming sportingbet.com building it into a global mega-company success. He started his career in 1984 with a single backstreet betting shop which grew to five before selling up and investing the lot into the Internet business. His firm also acquired Paradise Poker and things were going extremely well until UIGEA knocked millions off the value of the company in one stroke of the US President’s pen. Mark bounced back and still searches out talent to invest in, both equine and human, watch and hear the inspirational story of a bookmaking and business legend. Meeting Mark Blandford. (interviewed by Simon Nott)

MEET THE TRAINER: Staverton based Michael and Sharon Blake have an impressive record both win ratio and profit for backers. They are known for getting the best out of their horses, especially from horses coming to them from other yards. In this interview with Simon Nott, Michael talks about his background and duel purpose yard. Meeting Michael Blake.

Interview: MATT BISOGNO Matt became intoxicated by horseracing as a young man, then worked in betting shops while studying for his degree. After a few non-racing roles he took a deep breath then a plunge setting up GeeGeez.co.uk which has proven successful since its launch. He has also had success as an owner as head of several syndications. Matt has recently taken over as the chair of the Horseracing Bettors Forum, a voluntary body that campaigns for the rights and interests of punters. Meeting Matt Bisogno. (interview by Simon Nott)

 

Interview: DARREN ‘BIRDIE’ BIRD Darren ‘Birdie’ Bird had always loved drawing and horseracing but it was only after an emailed image to Luke Harvey and Jason Weaver on ATR that launched his career. Since then ‘Birdie’ hasn’t looked back, commissioned the world over to produce his unique art work. Here’s his story, so far. Meeting Darren ‘Birdie’ Bird. (interviewed by Simon Nott)

Interview: WILL BIDDICK Will is the winning most point to point rider in history and still racking up the tally showing no sign of stopping. In this three part interview with Simon Nott, he talks about his background in Cornwall, his love for what he does and what drives him. In part three he is joined by his wife Harriet, herself an international show jumper. They talk about their business of breaking, pre-training and training. Meeting Will & Harriet Biddick.

Interview: NICK BENTLEY Lambourn-based BHA Jockey Coach Nick Bentley talks about his past as a jockey, work rider, race-reader and now Jockey Coach. He talks about the role and how budding future champions are not only taught to fine tune their style but improve mentally and holistically, as well as answering some topical questions for good measure on this interview with Simon Nott. Meeting Nick Bentley.

Interview: STEVE BAUMOHL Steve spent a lot of his youth in the USA and fell in love with NFL, watching games on the TV with his grandmother. Back in the UK he started his career in spread betting, delved briefly into bookmaking then back to spread betting. In that time he soon became a hugely respected market maker and feared punter, pouncing on and earning handsomely from other odds-makers mistakes. Steve now owns redzonesports and pits his wits against all-comers. Meeting STEVE BAUMOHL. (interview by Simon Nott)

Interview: ROGER BARTON The legendary greyhound bookmaker and former ‘King of Billingsgate’ talks about his life in betting rings and fish markets. In this candid two part interview with Simon Nott, Roger talks about the betting ring, Billingsgate, doing ‘time’ for firearms offences in his youth. His bad days at the dogs and in the market, cycling, swimming and regrets plus his three rules for life. Meeting Roger Barton.

Interview: BRAD BARRY Senior odds compiler Brad plied his trade for 30 years primarily with Ladbrokes. In this four-part interview with Simon Nott, he talks about falling in love with racing and betting, starting with greyhounds, getting a job in a betting shop and professing to odds compiling, learning from scratch but mentored by some of the best. He explains the mechanics of pricing, horseracing and sports betting. He talks about why bookmakers don’t like laying arbers even when their prices are right, getting it horribly wrong to the tune of £3,000,000 and his own semi-professional punting and a whole lot more. Meeting Brad Barry.