Australian race fixing scandal widens

The Age -- Melbourne 15 August


A SCANDAL involving fixing horse races has spread, with at least four top jockeys, professional punters and other racing identities across Australia now under investigation.
In addition to the Smoking Aces affair - which involves fresh allegations that top jockey Danny Nikolic paid kickbacks to a third party to fix a race - authorities are also examining corruption allegations linked to several other horse races.
One of the allegations involves one of Australia's most famous jockeys, who bet thousands of dollars on a rival horse to win in a race in which he was riding.
Meanwhile, a source from the wagering company Betfair has confirmed a major investigation is being conducted into lay betting - in which a person backs a horse to lose - involving more than two dozen races and another leading jockey.
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''We have been aware of it for some time and we have told the authorities,'' the Betfair source said. ''It is the most serious case we have at the moment.''
The chief executive of Racing NSW, Peter V'landys, said the allegations seemed to be confined to Victoria. ''We're going to be vigilant in NSW to ensure there's no allegations here.''
Mr V'landys said Racing NSW was in touch with Victoria Police to remain up to date with the allegations.
The NSW government has already signalled tough new laws related to sports betting, including 10-year jail terms.
In other developments:
Federal and state police are holding extensive information - which has not been passed on to racing authorities - about the corrupt activity of three licensed Victorian bookmakers;
A fourth bookmaker, Charlie Norris - who was exposed in 2010 as operating his business with a convicted drug trafficker - has resigned midway through a probe by state gaming authorities;
Efforts by the Victorian Chief Commissioner of Police, Ken Lay, to ban organised crime figures - including a prominent harness racing owner, Paul Sequenzia - from the racetrack have been stalled due to legal problems;
The Victorian government and racing authorities are at loggerheads about whether changes to the law are needed to allow stewards to question non-licensed racing identities suspected of corrupting the sport.
The revelations about other cases of suspected corruption undermine claims made by the Australian Racing Board boss, Peter McGauran, and the chief of Victorian racing, Rob Hines, last week - after the Herald and Four Corners revealed allegations of race fixing and other misconduct - that integrity problems were limited to allegations involving a single race.
Mr Hines's stewards hold significant information, including on lay betting in 2010, that also conflicts with his public comments.
In connection to the Smoking Aces scandal, sources close to Nikolic have revealed he offered to pay another jockey a kickback of up to $5000 in return for helping to manipulate a race at Cranbourne, Victoria, in April last year.
As many as three jockeys, including Nikolic, who rode Smoking Aces to victory in the race under scrutiny, are being investigated over the alleged fix.
Sources at Caulfield have also confirmed that the former AFL player, racing media identity and jockey adviser Mark Hunter is being investigated by authorities over links to the Smoking Aces scandal.
It is understood Mr Hunter, who provides riding advice to jockeys for a fee, had contact with members of the Nikolic family in connection with a betting plunge on Smoking Aces before the April 2011 race. He could not be reached for comment.
Despite police publicly confirming last week they were investigating the Smoking Aces ride in connection with alleged race fixing, Nikolic has faced no action by Racing Victoria. He continues to ride, and was in six races over the weekend. He is due to ride a further six times this week.
The Victorian Racing Minister, Denis Napthine, said the government was ready to introduce new laws if police, racing integrity bodies or others in the industry identified need for change.
''The legislators have to be constantly vigilant and constantly ready to close a loophole or introduce a new power if they are identified and justified,'' Dr Napthine said. ''Integrity is paramount and we will do whatever is necessary to ensure integrity.''

they should all be suspended for life.

Interesting...........corrupt activity by 3 Bookmakers(surely not)...............police matter and not just the regulators.(why not here in SA)
Evidence of the "fixing" being provided by Betfair..............so much for "P" CEO's statements that betting exchanges encourage corruption..........he really has a handle on his industry!!!!!!

Horse racing in SA is clean Rob.

Does betfair help regulate scandals that don`t occur within their accounts? ()

Although the racing is so well run and prosperous in Aus yet they still have people that are fixing races , I am very scared to even imagine the stink that goes on here!

rob faux Wrote:

---

> Interesting...........corrupt activity by 3
> Bookmakers(surely not)...............police matter
> and not just the regulators.(why not here in SA)
> Evidence of the "fixing" being provided by
> Betfair..............so much for "P" CEO's
> statements that betting exchanges encourage
> corruption..........he really has a handle on his
> industry!!!!!!

He's been misquoted.He meant to say competition.Monopolies don't like competition.

hibernia Wrote:

---

> Does betfair help regulate scandals that don`t
> occur within their accounts? ()


I had to check if it was April 1st.............lol

Has a bookmaker ever reported irregular betting patterns ................other than when trying to avoid paying out?????

If you think the racing scandal is bad --- then read this..........This is unresolved yet-- one of the stewards copped $460,000 to let those in the know which races would be swabbed.

NSW Harness Racing Scandal- cheats fall day by day
Posted on September 15, 2011 by Robbo








I have received more than a few emails about this story that broke a few months ago…IN SHORT…Never Ever BET on the TROTS again, if you ever have in NSW. Official Race Stewards, Starters (the ones in the back of those moving starter gates) Trainers, Drivers, Punters, (well those in the know) have been captured in nice little earner… I WILL BE POSTING EACH AND EVERY GREEDY BASTARD CAUGHT UP AND EXPOSED IN THIS

Steward Matthew Bentley and owner Mark Vallender

The Trots, also known as the red hots…A Rogue young up and coming steward has resigned on the spot, trainer/drivers are being banned, punters records being examined. Who knows where this will all end. I do recall as a young fella living quite close to Bankstown Paceway and knew back then that local trainers took turns in getting a “Good Run” But this is a whole new situation.

1.It is all to do with which “Random” horse was going to be drug tested… Now this is quite significant information, if you know your horse will not get tested on race-day you can load it up close to start time with all sorts of drugs to raise the chance of winning massively

2.Having this info means loading up the nag with drugs like

3. Sharing this information with punters, friends family, you can imagine how it works…Everyone jumps on

4.Worse to come though was once this little scam started to spread, the officials started earning some very nice coin ($500 to $1000 a horse)

5. To improve on that, the drivers and trainers started having little powwows to improve the result even further, knowing their turn will surely come…. Everyone is a winner, as those clown face operators used to tell us as kids…

So heads are falling, but I would hate to be a participant in this little (well large scam) earner as the walls are coming down hard and fast on the culprits who have nowhere to hide. Consider the Paper Trail in 2011, the digital fingerprint we all leave in everyday life. If the authorities are willing to leave no stone unturned this story is going to SHAKE they very foundations of this sport. When billions of dollars are involved, I do wonder who is going to be left totally exposed?

Harness driver banned after betting scandal

HARNESS racing authorities have taken their first action against a leading figure in the sport following a recent drug and betting scandal by banning a successful driver from racing.

Robbie Byrnes was ”warned off” yesterday, a punishment which means he cannot have any involvement in trotting, including attending a racecourse or even placing bets on races.

The move came the day after Harness Racing NSW forensically assessed the phones of seven people – believed to be trainers, drivers and owners – as they searched for evidence of collusion in a rort which threatens to destroy the sport.

Mr Byrnes was punished after he refused to hand over his phone records to investigators.

Last month two stewards, Paul O’Toole and Matthew Bentley, resigned their positions after being confronted with allegations that they had not taken pre- and post-race drug tests from particular horses. This gave corrupt trainers, punters and drivers a huge advantage in orchestrating betting plunges. It is believed as many as 80 per cent of the doped horses won their races.

Harness Racing NSW’s regulatory manager, Reid Sanders, confirmed persons of interest had been at the Bankstown office on Wednesday and a third-party had been employed to assist with the investigation.

The Herald understands the seven who attended the meeting were also asked to provide bank records, credit card statements and other financial information.

Parallel investigations are being conducted by police and the head of integrity at Harness Racing NSW into the race-fixing scandal which it is feared may have been going on for a number of years and involve hundreds of races. More than $2.2 billion a year is wagered on harness racing.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME IN UTMOST ANONYMOUS CONFIDENCE WITH ANY INFO ON THIS GIG

Nick Tabakoff in Sydney
August 12, 2011



HARNESS Racing NSW is set to demand the banking records of senior industry figures as it tries to get to the bottom of the insider betting scandal that has rocked the sport.

HRNSW has the power to demand banking records from registered participants, including trainers, drivers, bookmakers and, in some cases, owners.

It will also seek betting records from the country’s major betting agencies as its investigations continue to widen, and as the police investigation continues.

Chairman Graeme Campbell confirmed yesterday HRNSW was on the warpath to fix the industry.

HRNSW has already written to 10 key players to ask for phone records.

The demands were part of broader concern about inside information on drug testing of races being leaked for betting purposes.

HRNSW chief executive Sam Nati said those involved were likely to be named soon.

Related Coverage

Veteran driver warned off The Daily Telegraph, 7 days ago
New panel for drugs-betting scandal Adelaide Now, 7 days ago
Panel picked to review scandal The Daily Telegraph, 7 days ago
Probe into alleged trots misconduct The Daily Telegraph, 2 Sep 2011

He also said HRNSW believed the leaking of information was not linked to the bombing of chief steward Bill Cable’s car last Friday.

Racing continued at Newcastle yesterday with trainers and drivers calling for severe action to be taken against those flouting the rules.

Trainer-driver Michael Formosa said there had been rumours about corruption for some time.

“There are any number of illegal drugs that can boost a horse’s performance,” he said.

“If it’s happening, it makes it hard for everyone else who’s doing the right thing.”



I will post more on these in the next few days --- or just google in NSW Harness racing scandal, and read the full sordid story.

the biggest scandals of all in my time here have been the elephant juice scandal in the mid 1980's and the Fine Cotton ring in at a metropolitan track in Brisbane in 1984.

One of the top young Scrabble players in the country was kicked out of the board game's national championship tournament in Florida after he was caught hiding blank letter tiles.

John D. Williams, Jr., the executive director of the National Scrabble Association, said Tuesday that a male player was ejected from the 350-player event in Round 24 of the 28-round event.

It's something organizers say has never happened in the tournament's 30 years of competition - and it all boils down to those precious blank titles that are so valuable because they can be used as any letter you like.
Williams would not identify the player by name or age because he's a minor. There are four divisions and he was competing in Division 3.

The player had won a game and took two blanks as the tiles were gathered and put in the grab bag. When his next competitor stepped in to play, the opponent asked that the tiles be counted. Two were missing. When confronted by the tournament director, he admitted to it.

"It was discovered that two blanks were not put into the tile bag as they should have been when the board was cleared off to start the game," according to the SCRABBLE tournament's website. "The player was questioned and admitted to taking them."

There will be a disciplinary hearing to determine what the sanctions will be, Williams said.
The tournament concludes Wednesday, with the winner receiving the $10,000 top prize.



Is nothing sacred anymore()

Aaaaah lovely... more ammunition that loads the gun that will finally kill racing, that is nothing but a mafia controlled money laundering operation, that feeds the government some tax to shut it up.
If this is happening in Australia, IMAGINE what is happening here????? Brrrrrrrr... shivers...