#BettingPeople: WILLIAM MORGAN

#BettingPeople: William Morgan, educated at Radley and Cambridge, was an amateur jockey for 30 years, the manager of Limestone Stud for 20 years, a Jockey Club steward for 10 years, a Trustee of the European Breeders Fund, a council member of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association, writer for various breeding publications, and member of the Race-Planning committee 2002 -2009. William was also a committee member of Carlisle racecourse who still found time to write four huge volumes on long gone racecourses called ‘Strongholds Of Satan.’ Two versions have been published, both of which stand at 1,032 and 1,016 A4-sized pages, whilst another version is on the printers.

Strongholds of Satan can be found at: mainholmpress.co.uk

WILLIAM MORGAN Part 1 of 3

William talks about when he decided to write these massive tomes, how many racecourses feature in them, why they are called ‘Strongholds of Satan’ and tells some of the best gambling stories from them.

WILLIAM MORGAN Part 2 of 3

William talks about the minimum prize money rule from the early 1800s which would have been £10,000 and £20,000 in today’s values. The fact that people are trying to save us from ourselves is nothing new and has echoed down the centuries, a see-saw of gambling regulation and racecourses of the past being fun but dangerous places to be but often more risky to leave.

WILLIAM MORGAN Part 3 of 3

William discusses how people might be surprised how many towns had racecourses over the years, why so many of them didn’t survive, his background in racing, how the ‘decline’ can be stopped, how he enjoyed being an amateur jockey, what changes he would make to race planning and more. More information on the first two volumes of ‘Strongholds Of Satan’ including how they can be purchased can be found here.