at this time, tote pool betting was not yet a feature of british racecourses, and the rough and tumble of the betting ring was very much a male preserve and socially out of bounds to the opposite sex. helen vernet had noticed that many women wanted to bet. the problem was that for those women in the tattersalls enclosure and grandstand areas wanting to place a small wager, the only available bookmakers were located along the rails. and, because entry to such enclosures on a racecourse was more expensive than entry to the general public enclosures, bookmakers along the tattersalls rails were less inclined to accept small bets, often refusing to accept stakes of less than a pound.