{"title":"Rupert Mackeson","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"bet-like-a-man-book-rupert-mackeson-9781903070130","title":"Bet Like a Man","description":"Sir Hubert Torrington knew better than most that the surest way to win is to cheat. With the backing of the al Hassans - one of the wealthiest and most influential families in racing - the time had come to stage the coup of his life. Abdel al Hassan; rich beyond belief and a phenomenally successful specialist in genetics and cloning, adored his mother above all else. Ever since her humiliating disqualification at Royal Ascot he had been determined to restore her to her rightful place as the Grande Dame of racing. Between Hubey's racing know-how and Abdel's scientific ingenuity, they cook up the coup of all racing coups, an almost infallible way of winning the English Derby, and restoring Madame al Hassan to glory.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49588293894417,"sku":"GOR003297883","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49626910163217,"sku":"GOR002351005","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1903070139.jpg?v=1751424518"},{"product_id":"from-bicycle-to-bentley-a-bookmaker-s-story-book-rupert-mackeson-9781036101930","title":"From Bicycle to Bentley, A Bookmaker's Story","description":"Stephen takes the reader from his earliest school days when it became clear he was academically bright, especially in maths, attending prep school, winning a scholarship to major public school Uppingham where he won maths prizes and, aged 16, passed 3 S (scholarship) levels. By then he had decided to be a bookie. He attended an interview for Cambridge University only because it was on his bicycle route to Newmarket races!  Unable to work in any gambling job until 18, he set about visiting racecourses by bicycle, staying in youth hotels (171\/2p per night), eventually cycling to all racecourses in the UK, including several now-defunct courses.  At 18 he found employment with Beresford \u0026amp; Smith in London; aged 24 he got his first bookie's licence in 1971 and by the age of 40 in 1986 was betting big on the rails at major meetings such as the Grand National, Cheltenham, Derby, Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood, often laying bets to lose GBP100,000 or more - when money was worth nearly twice today's value - one of the few bookies who happily stood \"toe to toe and traded blow for blow\" with big hitters like JP McManus, Barney Curley, Michael Tabor and Harry Findlay.  In 1998 changes in pitch administration prompted early retirement, and he sold his pitches, worked for a few unsatisfactory years for Corals and then departed the big time - with a Bentley as well as a bicycle, a house in Georgian Bath and a satisfactory bank balance.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49753295094033,"sku":"NGR9781036101930","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49935894282513,"sku":"GOR013373732","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50726543261969,"sku":"GOR014050699","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51118554186001,"sku":"GOR013372651","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52798171644177,"sku":"GOR014623424","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1036101932.jpg?v=1751366400"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-rupert-mackeson.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}