Flamboyant Ramsden treads the turf again

Bookmakers will be treading warily in more ways than one following the news that the most flamboyant and controversial punter in modern racing history is out of jail and back on the racing scene as an owner.

Enfield-born Terry Ramsden hit Britain's betting rings like a hurricane on the back of a multi-million pound success in the Japanese financial markets during the mid 1980's, with a series of massive winning gambles on his own horses followed by a disastrous run which saw him jailed for fraud after a losing streak which was estimated at £57m.

A debt of £2m to Ladbrokes resulted in Ramsden being warned off by the Jockey Club in 1988, but a recent meeting with the Licencing Committee cleared the way for him to own a two-year-old called Jake The Snake with Newmarket handler Conrad Allen.

Allen was a trusted work rider in the Ramsden operation during the 1980's and is currently assisted by Geoff Huffer, who used to train for Ramsden and has recently served a prison sentence for evading import duty on a huge consignment of alcohol.

However, the prospect of bookmakers diving for cover as another Ramsden gamble gathers force is remote in the short term if Allen's comments about Jake The Snake prove accurate. He said: "He's by Intikhab and looks like the sort who ought to be able to go a bit.

"That said, we haven't pressed any buttons yet and, as he's a big backward horse, it wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't run this year."