'The buzz of the ring was huge' - meet the former bookie now intent on his plan to save racing
Chris Cook meets Aidan Butler, brought up in the betting rings of Britain but now the boss at 1/ST Racing in the US
The coolest cat at Royal Ascot was a former bookie from the Midlands who has reinvented himself as a highflying racecourse executive in the US. The lanky frame of Aidan Butler was easily picked out as he strolled through the boisterous crowds, his usual Stetson replaced by a top hat, although even in a waistcoat and tails he still managed to appear more raffish than formal.
Those racing folk familiar with Butler's name all seem to know that he was once married to the supermodel Jodie Kidd. Relatively few are aware that his second, more durable marriage was also covered in glossy magazines, to a fashion journalist whose Instagram feed shows she was also wholly in her element at the royal meeting.
A breathless report of their nuptials began: "On New Year's Eve, one ambitious couple and 101 international guests met in the middle of the North Atlantic for an epic party..." So it can safely be said that Butler is familiar with the world of glamour and there is really nothing, by this stage, that is going to faze or intimidate him.
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