Freddie WilliamsAT THE end of the day's racing on the Thursday of the 2006 Cheltenham Festival, bookmaker Freddie Williams owed almost £1 million to JP McManus.
McManus had put £100,000 on his own horse Reveillez and won £600,000 and on the last race he put £5,000 each way on his horse Kadoun, which came in at 50/1.
That same evening Freddie Williams, who had had a hip operation only three weeks before and in spite of which had been standing out in the cold all that day, was driving back along the quiet country roads to his hotel.
Two cars forced his Jaguar to stop then eight masked men smashed the car windows with crowbars and made off with the comparatively small amount of cash from the boot of the car.
"They could not have been racing fans otherwise they would have known we had been cleaned out." Less than a week later, Williams was back on the tracks welcoming the punters.
Fearless Freddie Williams, who has died at the age of 65, was given the soubriquet "fearless" because he was renowned for taking on massive wagers that other bookies would not touch - although he was equally happy to take a £2 bet at the dogs.
Whether he won or lost a fortune, he always remained calm and unruffled - one of his adages was "there is never a last race".
He was born in Cumnock in South Ayrshire where his father and grandfather had both been miners. When a child he caught polio and was confined to bed, so he had a sketchy education. At age 15, he was barely able to read or write.
Polio had left him with one leg shorter than the other so he failed the medical to go down the pit, but watching the miners play their favourite gambling game of pitch 'n' toss, which they "were at from dusk till dawn", developed his talent for laying odds.
He became a bookie's runner before opening his first book at Auchinleck greyhound track. He also had a job sweeping the floor in a lemonade factory, where he quickly ascended the promotional ladder to become the manager.
The factory went bankrupt so he arranged a management buy- out. In 1991, he sold his share in the business, which made him a millionaire.
With the money he started a successful water-bottling company called Caledonian Clear.
He was still engaged in bookmaking, having started on the greyhound track at Ayr and then moved on to horseracing and doing his own fixed odds football coupons.
By 1979 he had opened a chain of betting shops and had pitches at Ayr, Musselburgh, Hamilton and Perth. He had always wanted a pitch at Cheltenham, but the slots were passed down from generation to generation of the same family, so he remained on the waiting list for over 20 years.
In the late 1990s, the rules were changed and the pitches were sold by auction. So four weeks after he had had a triple-heart-bypass operation, Williams paid £90,000 for the prestigious number two position.
At the first meeting he recouped the sum when JP McManus put a fortune on the Queen Mother's horse, Buckside, who was beaten into second place in a photo finish.
His advice to punters and bookies alike was to go with one's instinct rather than the form book, especially at Cheltenham, although his own instinct was guided by a close study of his clients as well as the horses.
He died of a heart attack after a day spent working at the Ayr races and the evening at Shawfield greyhound stadium in Glasgow.
Freddie Williams leaves two daughters. He was divorced from his wife Shirley.
Freddie Williams: born October 28th, 1942; died June 21st, 2008