All week we have focused on womenat the forefront of the on- and off-course betting industry. Theseries concludes with Jessica Lamb talking to Totesport’s

rails rep Pam Sharman

12 Friday, July 18, 2008 racingpost.co.uk

WOMEN IN BETTING

T HE helter-skelter lifestyle ofan on-course bookmaker isnot for the faint of heart butPam Sharman embraces it,deeming every day an

adventure and a new challenge.Essex-born Sharman, who has

devoted nearly 30 years to workingfor the Tote, was thrust to the fore oftheir relaunch and expansion plans in2004 when taking up the reins ofGary Wiltshire’s old rails pitchesunder the Totesport banner.

Having built up a good repertoirewith the on-course clientele in herposition at the head of Totesport’scredit clubs, it came as no surprisethat her flawless reputation saw herselected to promote their newventure, a decision the 42-year-old isgrateful for.

She says: “Four years ago when theTote decided to branch out theybought all of Gary Wiltshire’s pitchesand went back to the rails.

“I had been running the credit clubsat the racecourses for around 20 yearsand, as a result, had become very SP-orientated. So Joe Scanlon, themanaging director, asked me to be thenew figurehead for our rails pitches.

“I jumped at the chance. Finally,after 20 years, I got let out!”

Sharman grew up in Leytonstone,east London, and began working forthe Tote at 14 as a Saturday counterassistant at their New Bridge Streetoffice in the City.

She became a full-time operatorafter leaving school and in 1985 waspromoted to southern area managerfor the credit clubs.

She progressed to the dizzy heightsof national operations manager,tending to the highest concentrationof UK credit customers in Britishracing, a role she still juggles with herpitches position today.

But Sharman is not alone in eitherarea. “I have a cracking team to helpme with the credit clubs,” she says,

“and Gary still joins me regularly at theracecourse. We share a lot of the work.

“He’s a great personality and itgives us tremendous publicity becausethe media – Channel 4 in particular –are always interviewing him.

“Everyone is very committed at theTote and it’s a great place to work; itdoesn’t matter where you are in therankings, we are all treated as equals.”

Once dubbed ‘Beauty and theBeast’, the popular duo represent asignificant rails force on 90 per centof British courses.

Sharman had been looking forwardto adding her local track at GreatLeighs to the list on Tuesday evening– that was until Jamie Spencer drilledhome a pair of odds-on shots. Shesays: “It was a good experience, not aprofitable one, but there was quite agood crowd. It always helps when thesun is shining.

“There are always going to be goodand bad days. I can remember gettinghome from the races and looking backat the results on Teletext and thinkingoh dear, six favourites, how did weget out of that one? Or, how are wegoing to make that up tomorrow?

“But that is what it’s all about. Ienjoy it – I wouldn’t do it otherwise.”

Nevertheless, some sessions aremore enjoyable than others.“Winning, everybody loves to win,”she says. “It’s so much easier toanswer questions when there’s a plusin front and not a minus.

“I take it all verypersonally. It’s importantto treat it like it’s your ownmoney, and that’s wherewomen prove their worth.

“Women are possibly a littlebit more careful with money;from my experience they tend toshow great consideration for thepeople they work for and with, andhave a greater understanding ofpeople’s needs.”

S HARMAN believes the largesthurdle women trying toprogress in the bettingindustry face, particularly inthe realms lurking outside the

confines of high street offices, is thepublic’s general preconception thatthe logical thinking involved insuccessful mathematics – an essentialskill in bookmaking – eludes the fairersex.

She argues: “I think the biggestproblem for them [women] is thatbecause so many people still assumethey aren’t up to the job, they lackconfidence in themselves; they thinkthey don’t know what they are doingand they hesitate, ending up juststuck in the shops.”

Having grafted her way to the top,does she feel respected among herpeers?

“One hundred per cent,” she says.“Men are coming to terms more andmore with women proving successful

‘Men are coming to termsmore and more withwomen proving successfulwithin the industry’

within the industry.“Most of the people working on the

racecourse are lovely; it can get a bitheated in the ring sometimes, but atthe end of the day everyone helpseveryone out. You know if someone’sin trouble and we all pitch in, nomatter what it is.”

The astute Sharman is alwayslooking for value. She says: “I onlybet on big prices, mostly double-figures and not usually more than afiver. I love the Placepot and theExacta – they are fantastic bets, andthat’s where you get your money.”

But it’s not all plain sailing, andthere is one thing that really upsets

her: “It’s the rain. I can’t stand it.Everything gets wet – you, the money,the slips, the boards, and then youspend the whole evening dryingthings out in the kitchen.”

Luckily, she always has her ‘I’m aToteswinger’ umbrella to hand.

Strong, proficient females likeSharman prove that women arementally tough enough to cut it withthe boys, and as more of her kindemerge, old-fashioned generalisationsare rapidly ebbing from industryleaders’ minds, and being replaced byevidence that in a male-orientatedworld nothing gets results like theopposite sex.

Pam Sharman: has worked for Totesport for almost 30 years