First up, I'll come clean. I've bet on everything from a raindrop running down a coach window to cockfighting in Colombia, but I've never been to the dogs, let alone bet on them.

I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because for hundreds of years it was a crime for anyone in Britain - other than nobility - to own a greyhound. Maybe it's because greyhounds run 500m in 30 seconds, so the whole show is over before you've put your pint down, and even then there's the inevitable photo finish. Probably, though, it's because of the image: old boys sucking on roll-ups and banging on about Ballymac Ball's run in the 1950 Derby at Wimbledon.