'We bet the hell out of it' - the ups and downs of big punter Terry Ramsden

Recalling some of the greatest gambles in racing history. This week: the rise and fall of Terry Ramsden

An emblem of the 1980s

Even now, with his statement 'mullet' still sitting long and proud atop the 5ft 4in summit of his bonce, Terry Ramsden remains an emblem of the 1980s, the product and embodiment of an era that celebrated financial excess as though it were the Holy Grail. It was a decade that allowed the 'little man' to get ahead in the most extravagant fashion, to make good, to make more money than he knew what to do with.

Except that Ramsden always knew what to do with his money, even if what he did may have seemed reckless in the extreme. What he wanted to do was have a good time, which usually involved buying racehorses and converting them into vehicles for his devilishly large punting habit. All of which meant that when the brash City trader bought the tiny Scottish firm Glen International in 1984 and turned it into a monster in the Japanese warranties markets, with a £3.5 billion annual turnover, the British turf was in for a bumpy but exhilarating ride.

What Katies did

If you want to see what the bold new face of 80s excess looked like, track down the BBC's coverage of the 1984 Coronation Stakes and, once you've watched a thrilling slice of Royal Ascot history, you'll catch a glimpse of Ramsden, all mullet and dodgy 'tache, walking into the winner's enclosure behind his pride and joy, about to rub shoulders with the game's great and good while in the feverish thrall of a race that reputedly earned him "somewhere north of £5 million".

It was perhaps his finest hour on the racecourse, but not the first with a filly he had bought "sight unseen" for half a million pounds on the recommendation of Newmarket trainer Mick Ryan, just days before she was due to run in the Irish 1,000 Guineas. Ryan told him she would win at the Curragh and that was good enough for Ramsden.

"So, I can take the jet, fly to Ireland, have what I want on it?," he asked. And that was what he did, with Ryan's unshakable confidence ringing in his ears as he staked £50,000 at 20-1, to emerge with a £1 million profit, or a Group 1 winner plus half a million, whichever way you look at it.

The only fly in the ointment as the team plotted a course for Ascot was that her Guineas-winning partner Philip Robinson had the option to ride the likely favourite, the Newmarket Guineas heroine Pebbles, and had a seemingly tough choice to make; he chose Katies, but Lester Piggott, who inherited the ride on Pebbles, was adamant his young rival had made a mistake.

To some it would have sounded a warning note, but to Ramsden it was both a goad and a tactical advantage: Piggott had reportedly advised Ladbrokes boss Cyril Stein that Katies couldn't win, which may well have been why even Ramsden's £270,000 in cash at the racecourse failed to shorten up Katies's odds, much less the credit bets and the £100,000 reverse forecast.

The Ramsden express train was at full throttle after the incorrigible punter had been woken at 4.20am one morning in the lead-up to the race for a clandestine gallop on the Heath in which the massive Katies had worked all over three Group-winning older colts with, so they say, two stone of lead in her saddle.

Had the wider world, and Stein, been aware of this monstrous feat, perhaps Katies wouldn't have been sent off the 11-2 fourth favourite, and perhaps we would all have been less surprised when she steamrollered Pebbles, with Robinson glancing across confidently at Piggott as he breezed past for a length victory, the rest out of sight.

Ramsden picked up £2 million in cash and even more on credit – "we bet the hell out of it," he said later – but just as sweet was the chance for the lowly Enfield boy to stand in the winner's enclosure, one space up from Sheikh Mohammed and Lester Piggott, knowing he'd joined the racing elite.

Maybe it wouldn't last; maybe he'd end up in a Los Angeles prison for all manner of financial misdemeanours; maybe he'd be declared bankrupt, in debt to Ladbrokes and warned off by the Jockey Club; but at least he'd have been there and done it.

Not quite a perfect fit

Ramsden's betting successes were the stuff of legend but the extent of the failures became evident in the course of his downfall in the courts, where his losses were totted up to be in the region of £58 million.

Somewhere in between these extremes nestled the one that got away, the audacious tilt at the 1986 Grand National, for which task he bought the previous year's runner-up Mr Snugfit for £100,000 and proceeded to back him to 13-2 favouritism. Unfortunately Mr Snugfit was outpaced for much of the race, only beginning to respond to Phil Tuck's urgings in the latter stages before finishing a distant fourth behind West Tip.

Ramsden later claimed to have had £500,000 each-way at odds from 33-1 down. "It wasn't a successful gamble unless you consider £2.5 million on the place money a successful gamble – and I did," he concluded.

Read more from this series:

Barney Curley: 'The vet told me it was odds-against - but we beat those odds'

'He could see the tsunami happening' – how Frankie Dettori hit the bookies for £40m

Gay Future, the Cartmel coup and why it went down in racing folklore

Vincent O'Brien: the astonishing coup that founded a racing empire

JP McManus: 'We loaded up on him – he had been laid out for the race'

Stay ahead of the field with 50 per cent off the ultimate racing subscription. Enjoy the Racing Post digital newspaper and award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing. Plus, make informed betting decisions with our expert tips and form study tools. Head to the subscription page and select 'Get Ultimate Monthly', then enter the code WELCOME22 to get 50 per cent off your first three months.

First three payments will be charged at £17.48, subscription renews at full monthly price thereafter.

Customers wishing to cancel will need to contact us at least seven days before their subscription is due to renew.