Fur coats, Bentleys and bus passes: meet the flamboyant former king of the betting jungle

Stephen Little used to be a bookmaker, but not just any old bookmaker. Even when the betting ring was in its considerable pomp, he was still the one that stood out, flamboyant yet never flashy, striding from his brand new Bentley in his full-length fur coat to his pitch on the rails, where he quietly yet confidently stood his ground at the biggest meetings, inviting the most fearsome of punters to duel with him for heavy six-figure stakes.

From unlikely and often impecunious roots, this low-key leviathan lifted himself up, as the title of his autobiography suggests, from bicycle to Bentley. When a pushbike was all he could afford, he pedalled inhuman distances in wind and rain, from Newton Abbot to Cartmel to Perth and back again, staying at youth hostels to ease the burden on his wallet. When his mathematical genius and unflappable temperament prevailed on the racecourse, he became accustomed to travelling in rather greater style.

Now, though, Little's world has turned full circle. "I was thinking about calling the book From Bicycle to Bentley and Back Again," confesses the 77-year-old ("I call it 65 plus VAT"), in between singing the praises of the senior citizens' bus pass, to which he is now a grateful convert.