Barney Curley is a professional gambler and trainer from Northern Ireland who has a reputation for being one of racing’s most colourful characters. Bird had several methods for getting one over on the bookies but his most famous was probably his success on betting on photo finishes which in those days took about 5 minutes to develop. This process earned him a fortune over a period of around 20 years and only stopped when the modernisation of technology meant there was no longer the delay in photo developing. Tony McCoy was among few to support Findlay, calling the BHA's warning off "a decision taken by those who obviously had no understanding of racing or racing people".

Legendary punter Clive Holt was first shown that money could be made from betting by his father who kept a couple of greyhounds during the 1960s. Blazing Khal was a very useful novice hurdler, beating subsequent Grade 1 winner Gelino Bello twice at Cheltenham, over 2m5f and three miles. He defied a monster 428-day absence to burst into the Stayers’ Hurdle picture by winning the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle at Navan earlier this month. In the early part of 1975 Clive decided he was ready to quit his job working for the Electricity Board and take up gambling on a full time basis.Most fascinating of all, Harry tells how he has survived and continues to work his magic in the gambling world, and still believes in his own special talent to read sports events and to continue to stay one step ahead of the internet companies that flood our minds with the temptation to risk so much.

As well as being a professional gambler Harry is also an owner. He jointly owns the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Denman who also won two Hennessy Gold Cups. Big Fella Thanks was another of his co-owned horses who he named after his beloved greyhound 1999 Coursing Derby winning Big Fella. Barber knew exactly what his partner was thinking, placed his arm on his shoulder and said: "Think of the way he got up and jumped the last when he was already beaten, and I'll tell you now, he'll win the Royal & SunAlliance Chase next year." Over the course of thirty years the Findlay name has appeared on race cards alongside the names of some brilliantly talented horses and greyhounds. Here’s just a few of those greats:

Findlay was investigated only when a similar pattern of bets involving the horse occurred in October 2009 at Chepstow. The gambler himself alerted the authorities to his previous use of the strategy at Exeter. In 2010 he was warned off for six months. A subsequent disciplinary panel upheld the BHA decision that the rules had been broken on a technicality but found that “there has never been any suggestion that Gullible Gordon did not run on its merits or that there was foul play on anyone’s part”. His punishment was reduced to a fine but Findlay’s reputation was “blitzed”, even when defended by AP McCoy and Clare Balding. “I don’t want a badge of bloody honour but I was good for racing. I also know gamblers have an integrity that some businessmen wouldn’t know existed. Why did they do it? Was I too anti-establishment? Who knows?” So, where is Findlay now and what’s next for the extroverted gambler who has been doing his unique brand of ‘thing’ for some part of the past six decades? The latest local press reports suggest he is about to resurface with an interest in his beloved greyhound racing once again. I was pretty certain this kind of feeling would be a one-off, and I was soaking it up. I stood there thinking: 'Win or lose, I won't get this feeling again, there won't be another Denman.' However, Harry Findlay’s version of events depicts his side of a complex story and tellingly, in his introduction, the author noted: “Harry has enough material to fill three books. Probably half a dozen.” During the good times, Harry’s life was all about helicopter rides, jets, five-star hotels, and private boxes at the world’s finest sporting events.

It is a fascinating read with a byline ‘The Man Who Won Millions and Spent Every Penny’. As the book makes it pretty clear he finished up on his knees, you may question what is his definition of ‘spent’? Dave Nevison became a professional gambler in 1993 after he lost his job working as a currency trader in the City.Lifford Greyhound Stadium, situated in sparsely populated County Donegal, Ireland, may have closed two years ago but newspaper stories mention his name aplenty amongst reports “a dynamic group of local and international investors alongside the UK Tote Group are to form a unique collaboration with a clear strategy on how to revitalize the stadium.” When he first ran a betting slip through his fingers as a 16-year-old, Harry said he had been handed the keys to the Magic Kingdom. Gambling has taken him all around the globe, enjoying five-star travel and a gourmet’s indulgence at the world’s biggest sporting events. During his childhood he watched his Father run up huge gambling debts but still took up betting himself. Their ideal 13th man would have been a 10-year-old from New South Wales with an autograph book who'd sit in the corner quiet as a mouse, and here was a big fat 40-year-old Pommie Punter with opinions on everything! Although McManus is a high level gambler a large part of his wealth is said to have come from international financing and money dealing which he overseas from his base in Geneva.

Myriad tales of madness unspool throughout the book. Findlay did time in Brixton prison for credit card fraud in his early 20s, and was released home for 48 hours a week prior to his release, whereupon he fulfilled his a fellow inmate's desire to return to prison with some contraband. It ultimately leads to a story this absurd conversation between Findlay and his mother:

64,000 Reasons

I was so cold I marched straight into the restaurant and devoured two of the racecourse's biggest beef pies," Harry said. "I needed heat. When we arrived, Denman was 1-9. He started the race 1-12. Nowadays, that would be 1-25 in the same race. These days bets from his home office which is fully equipped with a number of TV screens and monitors often with different sporting events on at the same time. It was no ordinary trip to a match. You can only speculate what a private jet to Barcelona, 12 front row seats at Camp Nou, spending money, appropriate accommodation for children and their carers, and transfers cost Findlay. Living Life in Lifford? Findlay lets rip with an amusing rant against cash-outs and the current betting industry which is too libellous to be repeated here, but he does make a salient point that it is “wrong that, as every winning bet pays Betfair a commission, small players should have to pay 5% while big players only pay 2%. It’s nearly impossible to win over a long period of time if you’re paying 5% rather than 2%. We need a new betting platform.” Some video footage of the accused acting suspiciously at the racecourse on race day, a syringe containing ACP found in one of the defendant’s homes and phone records between the accused had been offered up in evidence.