How did it become controversial to say something as simple as 'I enjoy betting'?

I'd just like to say how much I enjoy having a bet. In fact, I feel that a regular gambling habit, which I've indulged ever since it was legal for me to do so, has enriched my life and been among the most consistently reliable sources of happiness in a turbulent world.

For a very long time, it would have been fatuous for any columnist in this paper to put such an assertion in print. But the ground has shifted beneath our feet and we're in a different world now, one in which the words 'gambling' and 'toxic' keep regular company in headlines.

Certain sections of the media now give prominence to stories of gambling harm more or less continuously. That's up to them; we all get to decide what matters most to us in life and evidently they've found an audience. 

In gambling, as in many other activities, there are vulnerable people who may take it to excess and suffer terribly. So we depend on the Gambling Commission to hold betting operators to account whenever they fail to live up to their responsibilities. It would be nice if the Commission stood up for punters in other ways as well, but that's a subject for another day.

So there's bound to be negative coverage around gambling but from the volume and the tone of some of it, a neutral observer could be left with the impression that gambling inevitably leads to misery and regret, and if that idea takes hold we may one day find ourselves in a situation where betting is not just harder than it used to be but actually banned outright. 

I'm aware there are non-bettors working with horses and even in racing stables whose reply to that proposition would be: "Good!" With respect, I suggest they have not really got to grips with the likely consequences for the sport we all love, which would be catastrophic for income and spectator interest.

What's needed is for those of us who enjoy betting to speak up about it, and not just among ourselves, as we so often do. Yes, I realise that talking about gambling to people who don't gamble can be absolutely exhausting, but the only story being told just now is the one that imperils everything. For the sake of balance, people also need to hear an alternative view.

We have to help outsiders understand that we are not actually hooked on a gradual, masochistic transfer of funds to some predatory third party but are instead making a valid choice about what to do with our spare cash and having a whale of a time in the process. You know as well as I do that it needs explaining, just from the glassy looks we get after mentioning to others that we fancy one in the 2,000 Guineas.

The joy of it needs to be communicated. And I'm not just talking about the times when you win because then the whole exercise will descend into a chaotic inferno of after-timing. Oh, you had Khaadem and Saint Lawrence in a double, did you? Well done, I guess. Do you want a medal on top of your big pile of winnings? Thanks for making me feel both poor and stupid. 

Let's talk about betting but not necessarily big-priced winners like Khaadem (above) Credit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

After ten minutes of that kind of chat, I'll be fully in favour of a state-imposed end to the whole shebang. I can't think that unrestrained boasting would endear us to anyone else either.

Winning isn't everything in betting and, if it were, I'd have given up while Lester still had a licence. There are less obvious gains, akin to those you experience while supporting a football team.

You know there will be bad days, many of them, along the way. Some will be borderline embarrassing, others will be so close to a completely different outcome as to provoke a delicious agony that lasts for months. 

Still, you don't walk away because what kind of dilettante would that make you? Enduring is part of it. Sometimes, the game puts you in your place and you must learn to deal with it and not throw tantrums that reveal more of your character than you intend.

That way, the highs when they come are truly earned. And there is very little sweeter than forming a view about the likely outcome of a race and watching your judgement be vindicated, knowing you'll be paid for it. 

The money is important for the way it makes you focus. It's the same in poker, which you can play for matchsticks if you like but you'll find the lack of pressure renders the business of bet and bluff meaningless. I can ponder the form and eventually settle on one of the names but, if I'm not prepared to put something on, have I really applied myself? 

Here's another thought: gambling is a life skill and therefore worth practising. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, we are constantly assessing risk and reward. Do you go home with this person or that one? Marry them? Buy that house? Apply for that job? Try to overtake on this twisty country road?

Non-gamblers often strike me as risk-averse in a way that inhibits their enjoyment of life. Just a little experience of betting might help them to spot when a chance is worth taking or not. 

That's why there's something artificial and unhealthy about wholesale attempts to clamp down on gambling. A little flutter is normal, natural, educational and, for lots of folk, enormous fun.

This column is usually exclusive to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers but has been made free as a sample. If you like this, read more Members' Club content here:

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The Front Runner is our unmissable email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.