Safe bet for aracing dynasty
Born in Darlington, Colin Tinkler senior left school at 12 and by 15 had amassed a £4,000 fortune betting on greyhounds and used it to buy racehorses to fulfil his ambition of being a jockey.
With no formal training, he wasn’t destined for success, but it introduced him to his wife Marie, who was a champion amateur rider.
With money he made in the motor trade the Tinklers bought a property at Boltby in the 1960s and trained their own horses and in the 1980s Colin set up Full Circle, the first members club allowing ordinary people to have a stake in racehorses.
His two sons Colin and Nigel became jump jockeysand Nigel now has a training yard near Malton, while Colin is a horse dealer in Newbury