'I'm terrified of the future - I may have to move abroad to do this job'
Lee Mottershead asks what the future may hold for professional punters
Our Best of 2021 series, featuring our most popular interviews, features and news stories, runs until the end of the year on Racing Post digital platforms, and readers can expect big names, punchy views and great stories every day.
This piece was originally published in March exclusively for Racing Post Members' Club subscribers, and you can get more daily insight from our award-winning team of journalists, writers and tipsters.
It was never a job for the faint-hearted. A school's careers adviser is most unlikely to recommend it as a suitable avenue for young people, nor is it ever likely to feature in a government apprentice scheme. Just a small handful of people work as professional punters; that has always been the case. It is possible the small handful will become ever smaller.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inSeries
Last updated
Copy- We believed Dancing Brave could fly - and then he took off to prove it
- 'Don't wind up bookmakers - you might feel clever but your accounts won't last'
- 'There wouldn't be a day I don't think about those boys and their families'
- 'You want a bit of noise, a bit of life - and you have to be fair to punters'
- 'I take flak and it frustrates me - but I'm not going to wreck another horse'
- We believed Dancing Brave could fly - and then he took off to prove it
- 'Don't wind up bookmakers - you might feel clever but your accounts won't last'
- 'There wouldn't be a day I don't think about those boys and their families'
- 'You want a bit of noise, a bit of life - and you have to be fair to punters'
- 'I take flak and it frustrates me - but I'm not going to wreck another horse'