Betfair | Olympics 2008 | Jack Houghton

Jack Houghton

My Dad assures me I was present to see Nijinsky win the triple-crown, but I don't remember it.

And as I wasn't yet born in 1970, I'm guessing his memory is a little off. Nonetheless it's true to say that he took me racing at an early, if not quite pre-birth age, and that racing has dominated most of my waking thought since then.

On that basis it was an easy decision to accept a job at Betfair, where I worked for four years, before heading off to work with racehorses in the flesh. I've written about racing and betting for a few years now, winning the Martin Wills Award for racing journalism in 2002 and writing Winning On Betfair For Dummies, first published in 2006.