penny davison, 59, the ex wife of a professional gambler and racehorse trainer, has launched a bid for a bigger slice of his legacy, claiming he avoided a huge tax bill by dying  the ex wife of a professional gambler and racehorse trainer has launched a bid for a bigger slice of his legacy, claiming he avoided a huge tax bill by dying albert davison made a fortune by landing a series of six figure bets on his own horses when he died, aged 73, he owned a seven bedroom country estate in surrey which had been valued at £425million but before he died, in 2011, he and his second wife penny ann davison, 59, fought a bitter battle through the divorce courts for four years over his fortune, before she was awarded just £750,000 a judge found that mr davison had squandered millions of his winnings through 'wasteful expenditure' and 'bad decision making' but now his beautician ex wife has now appeared back in court, seeking to boost her slice to more than £1million by claiming his death has freed up more of his cash by allowing him to avoid a huge tax bill lord justice patten, lord justice briggs and lady justice king, sitting at london's appeal court, heard that the couple met in 1989 and enjoyed a relationship for five years before marrying in 1994 they had two children before separating in 1999 divorce proceedings were started by mrs davison in 2005 and the battle over the division of the matrimonial assets dragged on for four years mr davison had put the family racing stables, and seven bedroom detached former matrimonial home at tillingdown farm, near woldingham, into a complex structure of offshore companies and trusts and denied that he had any stake in the property his lawyers argued that the farm into which he had sunk his gambling fortune was all held in trust for zoe davison, his daughter from his first marriage, and his two children from his marriage to mrs davison however, divorce judge, mrs justice baron, ordered the trust controlling the farm to pay out a £756,000 lump sum to mrs davison in her ruling, the judge said the divorce had 'a tragically long history' and had run up 'mammoth' legal costs she said the late mr davison was a 'very successful gambler' and 'excellent' trainer in the late 1970s early 1980s hawthorne glen with albert davison after winning at folkestone mr davison made a fortune by landing a series of six figure bets on his own horses when he died, aged 73, he owned a seven bedroom country estate in surrey which had been valued at £425million  'i found the husband to be a charming rogue i liked him', the judge said, but added: 'despite that i consider that he is a shrewd and manipulative individual who told me many untruths 'his habitual modus operandi is to ignore authority and do things his way and on his terms' she also dubbed mr davison 'a master of the betting coup', saying that, in december 1978, a gamble at leicester was alleged to have netted him the equivalent of £1m in today's money 'there were other six figure betting coups and he became notorious as a successful punter', she said the judge said zoe, also a racehorse trainer, was 'a devoted daughter who was very supportive of her father', who had been generous to her, assisting her with money and advice mrs davison she described as 'bright and amusing' and 'a resourceful woman' however the judge limited her payout because her ex husband faced multi million pound tax demands and had devalued the property by over £1m by allowing its use for illegal tipping mr davison had put the family racing stables, and seven bedroom detached former matrimonial home at tillingdown farm, near woldingham, (pictured) into a complex structure of offshore companies and trusts and denied that he had any stake in the property  his lawyers argued that the farm (pictured) into which he had sunk his gambling fortune was all held in trust for zoe davison, his daughter from his first marriage, and his two children from his marriage to mrs davison  lynsey cade davies, for mrs davison, today told the appeal court that the gambler's death had massively reduced his tax liability she told the judges that a deal had been done with hmrc by one of the companies controlling the dead man's fortune, which had reduced a £2m plus tax demand to just £850,000 she argued that meant his ex wife was entitled to an 'uplift' in her lump sum of up to £260,000, taking her payout above the £1m mark lawyers representing the trusts which hold the dead man's wealth, told the judges that the property was sold to new owners in 2013 for £31m but they said that only £200,000 now remains in the fund after his debts   including the payout to his wife   had been covered in an angry outburst outside court, zoe davison, who is not a party to the case, accused her former step mother of trying to mine out the last remains of her inheritance from her father the mother of four, who runs training stables near east grinstead, in east sussex, told mrs davison and her lawyers: 'that's all i've got left now, a measly £200,000 'i hope you people are proud of yourselves' the judges reserved their decision on mrs davison's appeal, to be delivered at a later date, yet to be set
albert davison 59 penny ann davison four years 2011
albert davison made a fortune through six figure bets on his own horses  he and wife beautician penny ann davison, 59, fought a bitter battle through the divorce courts for four years over his fortune  after his death in 2011, she claims she is owed more from his legacy  she claims his death has allowed him to avoid a mammoth tax bill 