#BettingPeople

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.

Interview: SHANE ANDERSON Shane Anderson is the senior director of group content and brand at Better Collective. Anderson, who was previously general manager and editor-in-chief of Racing.com, is a well known figure in Australian racing who was a member of Racing.com since its launch in 2014, acting as both a television presenter and member of the executive management team, and was an anchor for industry news and affairs program After The Last. Meeting Shane Anderson. (interview by William Kedjanyi)

Interview: FLOYD AMPHLETT In this three-part interview, Julie Collier speaks to Editor of the Greyhound Star, Floyd Amphlett. Floyd has seen the greyhound racing game from many angles and though five decades, in which time there have been many changes. A straight-talking, no nonsense man, here he gives his views on the game of yesteryear, what we have today and how the future looks for the sport. Meeting Floyd Amphlett.

Interview: FRANCESCA ALTOFT Francesca Altoft is official photographer for Newbury and Windsor racecourses and part of the team at Cheltenham. In this interview with Simon Nott, she tells how she has made her way in the world of racecourse photography dispelling the myth that it’s a male dominated closed shop. Meeting Francesca Altoft.

Interview: ALAN ALGER Alan Alger is a top bookmaking PR who has worked for several big names in the game and currently with Betway.com. In this series of four interviews he talks how he went from a job where he had to put his hand up to ask to go to the toilet to attending the top race meetings in the UK. He talks light-heartedly about his acting career and scoring the last goal at Highbury in a match before the bulldozers moved in as well as serious concerns about corruption in non-league football. Meeting Alan Alger. (interviewed by Simon Nott)

Interview: DAVE YATES Dave Yates is ‘Newsboy’ of the Daily Mirror and one of a breed that’s becoming extinct, a national daily racing correspondent. He’s one that doesn’t mince his words, dismissing some in the game as ‘sperm lottery winners’ but doesn’t shy away from the backlash it might bring. From cravats to Fred Archer’s gun and from opera to top hats and pet hates. Meeting Dave Yates. (interviewed by Simon Nott)

Interview: PETER WEBB Peter Webb started his punting life as a teenage data-cruncher who came up with a formula to predict draws in football. His efforts resulted in first dividends with Littlewoods Pools and being banned by betting shops after a brace of touches in quick succession. Disillusioned, he concentrated on a career in the retail arm of computing. Things changed for him with the advent of betting exchanges where he saw opportunities for his analytical approach. He soon became a very successful trader utilising software he, with help from program writers, developed. This trading interface, originally only intended for personal use, morphed in the Bet Angel business – now a leading tool for exchange punters. Since Betfair’s launch in 2000 Peter has become one of the globe’s biggest exchange players trading huge figures over that period, activity that continues today. In this series of interviews with Simon Nott, Peter tells his story with some useful insights, anecdotes and trading tips he’s learnt along the way, meet Bet Angel’s Peter Webb. Meeting Peter Webb.

Interview: NICK LEESON Nick Leeson became notorious worldwide in 1995 as the ‘Rogue Trader’ who brought down Barings Bank. In this three-part interview with Simon Nott, he talks about the ‘crime’, doing the time, sharing cells with Triads and battling cancer. It’s honest and candid. Meeting Nick Leeson.

Interview: MARCUS TOWNEND AKA Captain Heath of the Daily Mail and Racing Reporter of the Year 2019. Marcus talks about his career working through the ranks via the Morning Advertiser and The Sporting Life before landing his prestigious role at the Daily Mail. Marcus tackles some of the hot topics in racing and explains why his jockey career only lasted one ride. Meeting Marcus Towend. (interviewed by Simon Nott)

Interview: SIR RUPERT MACKESON He’s known to many racegoers as the genial gentleman that sells racing books and prints on course. That is undoubtedly true, though some may know that Sir Rupert Mackeson is a best-selling author in his own right, many won’t know that his soon to be published own story is a colourful as you’d find in fiction. Harrow educated, ex-amateur jockey and cavalry officer Rupert found himself working in the City for a bank controlled by the Mafia, escaped a possible elongated end under Blackfriars Bridge into a world of African smuggling, kidnapped….. We won’t spoil the story but will just say Scotland Yard famously said Sir Rupert Mackeson was second only to Ronnie Biggs giving them trouble in the 1970’s. Oh and there’s the small matter of what happened to Lord Lucan. Meeting Sir Rupert Mackeson. (interviewed by Simon Nott)