Ever felt like a mug for betting on horses? Here's why you really shouldn't

How many times have you had that look from someone with no interest in racing, when they find out you follow the sport and have the occasional bet? In my experience, it presents as a blend of pity and triumph, because people like to feel superior and your interest in racing is indisputable evidence that you are, at best, a bit foxed around the edges and perhaps about to go broke at any moment.

I'm cheerfully sliding away from those younger days when I was the least bit interested in what other people thought of my pastimes. But it's always nice to be vindicated and so I share with you the news that a study of gamblers in Finland has found a link between intelligence and betting on horseracing.

Already I can see your doubts creeping in. Why Finland, eh? Has someone gone looking for the place that will yield the result they seek? Have they found some betting shop next to the university of Helsinki, populated exclusively by philosophy professors who got hooked that time Wittgenstein won the local Guineas?