Searching for an old-school betting ring? Look between the flags

I paid my first visit to a point 50 years ago, so you would expect me to be a fairly experienced punter, although Oscar Wilde must have been subconsciously thinking about betting between the flags when he wrote: "Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes."

The main advantage of betting at point-to-points is the volatility in the market that has been mostly absent from the racecourse proper since the advent of exchanges. The disadvantage is that over-rounds are often much higher.

However, if you want to experience the old buzz of the betting ring there is no better venue than Didmarton, where they race on March 4, as there will be a very strong ring of about 20 bookmakers.