'He did his best to put me off' - Victor Chandler's unlikely road to riches

He would go on to become one of the legendary bookmakers of all time, but Victor Chandler has revealed that his empire began with an insolvent business and words of advice from his father not to follow him into the game.

Chandler, who went on to make his name as a fearless on-course bookmaker before playing a pivotal role in leading the industry into the internet age, was just 22 when the death of his father, Victor snr, in 1974 meant he inherited 25 betting shops – and little else.

Speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday's newspaper, Chandler said: "For a long time I had visions of living in warmer climes and doing other things.

"I did work for my father at his credit and phone office in the holidays and found it very, very hard because we were similar characters in a way.

"Although I loved racing and went to Cheltenham and other meetings, he did his best to put me off, but in the end it was 'needs must'. My father died and I realised there were bills to be paid and I had to find a way of paying them.

"I had the name and some customers and a very helpful bank manager, but not much else. It was partly the economic climate. The recession hit, interest rates went up, property prices dropped – and my father was heavily into property – and there was less money circulating, so it was just one of those bad times.

"The shops weren't doing that well and I had some very bad people working for me – not that I was aware of that when I stepped into the arena.

"It wasn't easy but there had to be a major clear-out. My father hadn't been well enough to really see what was going on, and it took me months to realise the extent of it, but it comes home fairly quickly when you're told you're in fairly deep and you owe more than you've got."

However, Chandler credits the scale of the crisis for giving him the freedom to kick-start what would become one of the biggest gambling businesses in the world.

"In a way, it was liberating. Being told you're insolvent is quite a shock, but I was lucky to have people around me who led me to start checking on things – and at least I got rid of the right people.

"The key was that I kept a good, loyal team who helped keep the business afloat."

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a three-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday