Born in
Hoddesdon,
Hertfordshire, Pratt lived near to
Mike Broadbank from whom he bought his first speedway bike at the age of nineteen, and practised at the nearby
Rye House track. After his
National Service, he returned to the Rye House training track in 1960 and had his first competitive rides, reaching the final of the Whitsun Trophy. scoring 141 points in his first 12 matches and winning all five races to win the Gerry Hussey Memorial Trophy at Rye House, breaking the track record during the meeting. Pratt was riding as a guest for the
West Ham Hammers against a Danish select side in the Netherlands (in which he gained a five ride maximum). He sustained three broken bones in his neck and was warned by doctors that if he rode again and broke it he would be paralysed. After deciding the risk was too great he retired. Pratt was also a full England international and rode in two World Team Cup finals. He also qualified for the final of the
Speedway World Championship in 1967. It was as a Hackney rider that he won the
London Riders' Championship in 1967 and again in 1968. == Promoter and team manager ==