Alan Spence claims £800k gambling debt unenforceable due to alleged illegal bookmaker

Classic-winning racehorse owner Alan Spence has argued that gambling debts of around £800,000 should be void. He says this is because the wagers were allegedly placed through an illegal bookmaker.

The dispute is being heard at the Chancery Court in London. This is where David Solomon is attempting to recover the money he says Spence owes from bets placed over several years.

Solomon told the court he primarily worked in the office furniture business but occasionally laid bets for “friends and acquaintances”. He also claimed Spence failed to place wagers for third parties and instead kept the money intended for those bets.

Spence, who owned 2011 Irish St Leger winner Jukebox Jury, is defending the claim by arguing that Solomon was effectively operating an unlicensed bookmaking business. This would make the debts unenforceable under gambling law.

Spence admits deception over debt settlement

During the hearing, the 78-year-old admitted he had previously lied about being insolvent in an attempt to reduce a gambling debt. Spence told the court he claimed creditors were accepting 28.2p in the pound on outstanding debts when negotiating with Solomon over a £621,000 liability. 

Solomon agreed to reduce the amount owed to £175,000 after receiving messages suggesting Spence was facing financial difficulties. However, Spence later acknowledged that he had fabricated meetings with creditors and that the story about insolvency was untrue.“I shouldn’t have done that,” Spence said in court. “It was foolish and crazy.”

Dispute over bets placed for third parties

The case ath the  Chancery Court also involves a separate arrangement where Spence agreed to place bets with Spreadex on behalf of Solomon’s contacts. Spence admitted he had claimed in WhatsApp messages that the bets had been placed, despite not actually placing them.Instead, he kept the funds while occasionally paying out losses from his own money.

“I believed I was placing the bets when I wasn’t,” Spence told the court, adding that he knew this explanation sounded unusual. The arrangement reportedly ran between 2019 and 2022.

Mystery bookmaker central to the case

A further point of dispute concerns a man known only as “George”, whom Spence said he met during Glorious Goodwood. Spence claimed George, a bookmaker based in Spain, agreed to accept wagers for Solomon’s contacts. According to Spence, they met regularly in the car park of The Bear pub in Esher to review bets sent via WhatsApp. 

Barrister Duncan Heath, representing Solomon, challenged this version of events in court. “The most convenient way to review WhatsApp messages was to meet in a car park behind a pub?” Heath asked. Spence denied that the story was fabricated and said George later disappeared while owing around £250,000 in winnings.

Key figures in the case