RAY BRADLEY talks to former city broker Mark Smith, who now backs horses for a living

Mark Smith savours life on the edge. He is a professional gambler. He plays the odds and shoots for the stars.

It's a dangerous game. Give a sucker an even break? You're joking. You compute the odds, decide on the stake and go for it. Roll the dice, spin the wheel. It all revolves around chance with the name of the game being winning

Mark follows horse racing, the Sport of Kings. There is nothing quite like the thrill of seeing a sleek thoroughbred stretching out in the final furlong. It's close; a photo finish. Beaten by a short head. Tough! The bookie wins again. He usually does.

A shaft of sunlight spears the TV screen as Mark flicks on the Sky Racing channel in the elegant lounge of his home in Ramsden Heath.

He's successful in his chosen profession, so much so that he agreed to this interview only if we didn't publish a photograph of him.

So why is he obsessed by horse racing?: "I just love anything connected with racing,"he confesses sheepishly.

"I'm also fascinated by facts, figures, assessing the odds and the challenge of making the right decision.

"There's nothing to equal the buzz of picking a winner. I bet every day and try to find a short-priced favourite. If I don't fancy the favourite, I may back a decent outsider.

"I have had some of my best results on outsiders, maybe twenty grand - but don't tell the wife! Once I nicked a 50-1 outsider and I have had a few 33-l touchs at Cheltenham, but you can't pick winners consistently.

"Some you lose. It's all in the game. Tomorrow's another day."

Mark's success as a professional gambler has frightened off a few track bookies. "Yeah, I have been warned off a few times. I have had four accounts closed and that hurts," he concedes.

"I've won and lost with the bookies but they don't like being mugged. I've had accounts with Ladbrokes and William Hill for 20 years and they have never closed an account. The bookies don't like being bashed.

"I used to be a mug punter someone who bets without thought, but not any more."

Even though he packed in his job as a city broker four years ago to concentrate on horse racing full time, 45-year-old Mark dislikes being described as a professional gambler.

"I'm in front at the moment but I'm not making fortunes," he says modestly, despite the trappings of obvious success with a Mercedes on the drive of a fashionable, detached home in rural south Essex.

"Look, there are no easy pickings," he adds sternly. "The perception of the pro gambler sporting a flash suit, dark Ray Bans and . . . yes, I admit to this one . . . a Merc are a myth. Most pros usually turn up at the track in an anorak and old trousers.

"Any success I may have had I worked for before I got into racing as a living.

"My mate has three kids and bets on everything. Now he is a real pro. The top pros pride themselves on how little they bet, perhaps just twice a week on a 'good thing'.

"Personally, I prefer to back a horse on considered form. If it wins impressively I wait for it to run again. If the weight and other factors are right I'll back it.

"Everything is finally judged on the odds. They're critical. There is no point in backing an even-money favourite.

"I like to weigh up all the odds. It's purely mathematical and I'm pretty good at figures. Picking winners is not an exact science, so it helps if you study form seriously.

"I will take videos of races at other tracks if I'm going to a meeting. I study them later. You don't leave anything to chance."

Known to friends as Smudger, he is a cool customer, who despises the popularly-held image of the Essex laddo. Mark is tall, slim, reserved, articulate and hates any kind of pretentious posturing.

He left school with five A-levels and at 19 studied to be city broker: "I was employed in the Foreign Exchange as a broker. It was a secure, well-paid job but you had to get results.

"The money was great and so was the competition. You had to keep ahead of the game. Then the industry started to crumble. There was mounting pressure to produce.

"After 22 years in the job I began to hate it and decided to have three months off. It was a rat race and I decided to get out while I was ahead."

His mobile phone keeps ringing as he stretches out on his sofa and checks the results at other tracks. Racing can be just as demanding as broking - and a lot more risky.

I remind Mark of a Kerry Packer story. The Australian billionaire is a premier league star at the gambling tables and recently dropped £11 million at Crockford's in Mayfair. Packer, who has survived eight heart attacks, can afford to shrug off such obscene losses.

His ability to bounce back from outrageous fortune was perfectly illustrated on a trip to a Las Vegas casino where he played alongside the rich and famous. Feted by casino flunkeys and surrounded by a posse of beautiful fillies, Packer was receiving lavish attention - much to the annoyance of a Texas oil millionaire.

The Texan underlined his ignorance by bragging that he was worth $l30 million. "Is that right?" Packer retorted. "Tell you what sport, I'll toss you for it." The Texan beat a hasty retreat.

We both chuckle. The incident underlines the unspoken disciplines of betting - keeping your wallet handy and your mouth shut.

"Gambling is all about nerve," added Mark in more serious vein. "You make a judgement, then a commitment. If you lose you must remain optimistic otherwise your confidence goes. There is no such thing as a last race. There is always tomorrow."

Mark had his first bet as a 14-year-old. It was a 5p Yankee (11 bets) and a 5p place accumulator. All four horses won and he picked up £60. The bug had bitten.

"Racing has been good to me. Good times, fun times, " he said. "Four of us had a wonderful three-year-old called Balasani, who was trained by Martin Pipe. It won several times including a big race at the Cheltenham Festival and a classic at Ascot - a unique double.

"When Lester Piggott came out of prison he rode Lalitpour for us. He is a very private person but we remain good friends. The American jockey, Steve Cauthern, also rode for us.

"I watched him go five lengths clear at Wolverhampton before he lost the race in the run-in. He was full of apologies. A real gent and a great sportsman."

Mark is a confirmed family man - daughter Claire is at Leeds University and Rachel is studying for her A-levels. Both girls enjoy racing, though neither have inherited the gambling bug. Neither has his wife Rita, who keeps a discreet distance when Mark is studying form.

A keen golfer, handicap 18 (he is a bandit on that handicap) he sternly resists the temptation to extend his gambling activities to other sports. "I enjoy a game of cards, but rarely gamble with mates," he confides.

"The Lottery? You must be joking. Definitely mug punting. Casinos? Not my style, leave it to Kerry. Besides, its boring. Even money on blackjack, Betting on a roulette wheel. Not my scene, pure gambling.

"I'll stick to racing, win or lose."

Sport of Kings - Professional gambler Mark Smith first won money on a horse race when he was 14, though he had a career as a city broker before chosing gambling as a profession

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