How the Martin Pipe of the gambling world transformed this pro punter's betting

By his own admission, Martin Pipe didn't have a clue what he was doing when he first started training. Indeed, he (or at least his father) credits his first winner Hit Parade to Gay Kindersley, from whom he had recently acquired him. But in many respects his lack of 'knowledge' worked to his advantage.

Pipe hadn't worked in any racing yards and, as a consequence, wasn't ingrained with the standard training methods of the time: walk on a Monday, canter on a Tuesday, gallop on a Wednesday then repeat until a day off on Sunday. He started with no preconceived ideas and formulated a plan to ensure his horses ran when they were fit and healthy. He didn't see the benefit of running fat horses – and it's unsurprising.

For much of his extraordinary career there was a huge amount of snobbery towards Pipe. Rumours abounded of all sorts of nefarious training methods and blood doping, spread by people who couldn't or wouldn't accept that in such short space of time, a man who started out knowing nothing was making them look like fools.