Meet Terry The Handicapper - social media phenomenon

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I get a bit fed up with Twitter sometimes but there are people on there who improve the experience for those of us who like a bit of horse racing chat and one of them goes by the name Terry The Handicapper. Posing as a grizzled, old punter, an image of Sir Mark Prescott puffing on a cigar as his avatar, he has become a prolific tweeter, often raising a smile or provoking a thought.

I should say right up front that I have no idea who Terry actually is, so it's risky to call attention to him (or her, as the case may be). Occasionally, you see social media accounts that take time to build up an audience and then morph into advertising, possibly for something disreputable. Terry has more than 14,000 followers, all presumably with an interest in racing, so I suppose his account would be worth something to a bookie, say.

But I'd be surprised (and extremely disappointed) if there was any profit-making motive behind Terry, given the extraordinary effort over many months that has gone into creating this fictional character. He tweets several times a day, every day.

I scrolled through his timeline just now to find the last day when he didn't tweet and gave up when I got to the start of December without finding it. He shared his thoughts five times on Christmas Day, at one point calling attention to the action at Cagnes, Pukekohe and Wingatui. Those last two are racecourses in New Zealand, for those like me who don't immediately recognise the names. Terry knows a lot about racing overseas.

In particular, he is a fan of German racing. "A great ride from Stefanie Koyuncu gives the Germans 4 wins from 5 races so far on the Lyon card," he tweeted last week. "I’ll guzzle a Veltins to that."

He has a particular soft spot for Germany's champion jockey, noting in October: "Lovely to see Bauyrzhan Murzabayev with a nice book of rides at Le Croise-Laroche tomorrow, hoping the lad gets a few winners on the board. When I asked the woman in M&S if she’s punting any Murzabayev multiples she had me escorted out, shame."

Terry knows perfectly well that you and I know next to nothing about German racing but he also knows that we like to be alerted to potential winners. "Happy Loft day everyone," he tweeted in June, about ten hours before Marcel Weiss's gelding won the Belmont Gold Cup at odds of 27-10.

On the other hand, he did manage to get a 1-5 shot turned over in South Africa last week.

Terry has his triumphs but most of the time he strikes a downbeat note, as in the recent: "One of those day's punting that makes you wonder what’s the point in being a good person. I even tried to hoodwink the lad in the bookies with a chocolate coin but he was wise to it."

Another common theme is Terry indulging in absurdist fantasies in which horse racing is at the centre of everyone's world. "Just opened today's window on my Rolo advent calendar and there was a little bit of writing reminding everyone today is the last flat Listed race of the year in France. A nice touch from Nestle."

Maybe you like the idea, maybe you don't. But it impresses me that this tweet on December 20 was at least accurate about the French pattern. Terry doesn't just make stuff up for the sake of a joke.

Sometimes he engages in satire. It can be quite dark satire.

He likes to take things that are big news in the world outside our bubble and make them about horse racing. "The wife has just got to the 14th chapter of Prince Harry’s autobiography," he wrote, "and the whole chapter is about how he punted Labaik for the Supreme before Jamie Codd even mentioned him."

Half an hour into the New Year, he asked: "Anyone spot the subtle nod to Trueshan's once in a lifetime weight carrying performance in the Northumberland Plate in the Thames firework display? Sheer class."

Trueshan comes up at regular intervals, sometimes in quite inventive ways.

Trueshan: a regular topic for Terry The HandicapperCredit: Edward Whitaker

Invention comes easily to Terry, it seems. "The greatest ever darts venue will always be Jollees in Stoke-on-Trent," he noted last week, hinting he might be of a similar vintage to Sir Mark. "I remember taking Jenny Pitman and Jonjo O’Neill in 1979 to cheer on Nicky Virachkul. I remember Jonjo telling me the Cheltenham roar was nothing compared to the reception Ronnie Davis’ 161 checkout got."

Some have speculated that Terry might actually be Sir Mark, laughing his legs off in Heath House as he puts more ridiculous words in the mouth of his dreamed-up punter. But I think the Arc-winning trainer would sooner die than spend any time at all on Twitter, never mind hours each week.

In the cause of finding out more, I struck up a conversation with Terry last summer but he turned down my request for a chat over the phone. "My hearing isn’t what it used to be," he said, which may or may not be true. Anyway, we exchanged a few more messages in writing.

"Everything normally comes back to racing in my life," he told the Front Runner. "Someone could ask me my favourite sandwich filling and, without realising, I’m suddenly talking about a day at Newbury 30 years ago or a Wootton Bassett colt.

"The appeal is endless, no two days at the races are the same. Wolverhampton on a Tuesday night in November is just as exciting as Epsom on Derby day for me. You could find a few winners, do your dough, bump into an old friend, chat to a trainer you haven’t seen in a while. The constant is seeing the magnificent thoroughbred up close and the sight and sound of them is something I’ll never tire of."

He's generally hamming it up a bit but Terry is convincing and perhaps even a little moving when he describes how racing fills his life. "I’m not the most successful of punters these days but I’ll always say to the young ones, watch as much racing as possible. There’s a lot smarter and more successful people than I that would tell you that’s a waste of time but I really don’t think so. Any spare moment you have there’ll be something to watch and there’s no excuse with these smartphones. Need the toilet? Sprint at the Vaal. Cigarette break? Two-mile hurdle at Plumpton.

"Watch lots of races, ask lots of questions, go to lots of courses. Even if it doesn’t work, you’ll still have a great time."

I ask about his Twitter output and the intent behind it. Is he trying to entertain, to educate, to promote the sport?

"Hopefully all three! I love the sport dearly and the thought of it growing and more people getting involved is wonderful. Especially in light of recent issues, field sizes, the whip, attendances.

"I love racing from all around the globe too and love learning more about it, if people have seen a tweet of mine and decided to watch some German racing that’s fantastic. Hopefully we can do all of this while having a chuckle too."

That's as far as we got. I thought about sharing our chat at the time but worried that Terry might let his mask slip at any moment and turn out to be someone else entirely. Half a year later, it still hasn't happened.

Whoever's behind Terry obviously knows the racing and betting worlds inside out. Just as obviously, they're putting on some kind of act, but it's a full-time act, a really impressive feat of constant ventriloquism, with Terry's distinctive character being sustained throughout.

I'm not sure I'd like to live inside Terry's head. But it's a morsel of relief, whenever I feel professionally obliged to see what's being said on Twitter, to think he'll be there, ostensibly trying to land a punt on the next at Dortmund.

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The Front Runner is our latest 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