The "oooh I'm making money with this" is quite difficult to quantify. I was making money almost straight away (successful betting background) but not serious money - not much better than breaking even.
With all due respect, I think you're taking entirely the wrong approach (although you're not the first on this forum I've had to say this to). Footballers make millions but they don't join their after school football lessons with an eye to making money when they grow up. They join fully focused and exited on learning to play football, apply dedication to their training, and that's why they progress. Some of them will become professional footballers, most won't. It's a case of seeing where you can take yourself instead of looking at how far others can get.
could make an easy £200 a race when he was knocking about.