As the Melbourne Cup approaches, ManSpace is gearing up for the big race. So as the nation prepares for the busiest day on the racing calendar, we thought we’d cast our minds back to some of the scandals that have left their mark on the sport. Some are funny, some not so much, but all worth a spot in the Top Ten Horse Racing Scandals.
10. Big Philou
In 1969, New Zealand thoroughbred Big Philou was scratched less than 40 minutes before the jump. A hot favourite to win, the horse was trained by Bart Cummings who has said he suspected Big Philou had been nobbled as soon as he became sick. Champion jockey Roy Higgins was set to ride the horse that day, and firmly believed he was going to come in first.
9. Erbie: The Ring-In King
Thirties galloper Erbie recorded an impressive 23 wins over his official career, but it’s the horse’s unofficial wins that he’s best remembered for.
It’s said Erbie has at least 12 wins to add to his official tally with the gelding racing under several guises. The distinctive white blaze that ran down the horse’s nose was covered with dye to avoid suspicion, which is what eventually gave the game away. Poor old Erbie was disqualified for life – he should’ve known better!
8. 2002 Breeders Cup Scandal
Computer programmer Chris Hahn, along with two of his mates thought it’d be a good idea to manipulate bets put on the 2002 Breeder’s Cup at Alington Park, Illinois. He arranged a whopping $US 3 million payout for the three, but came unstuck when a 43-to-1 longshot won the Breeder’s Cup Classic and made one of the trio the sole winner of a pick six jackpot. The three would-be millionaires all entered pleas of guilty.
7. Damian Oliver BettingScandal
When a jockey bets a cool $10,000 on another horse racing in the same race, you’ve got to wonder how hard he’s going to be pushing his own steed. Successful jockey Damian Oliver did just that back in 2010 and is said to have walked away with $11,000 in profit. He was banned from racing for eight months – which at least gave him a chance to spend some of those winnings!
6. Phar Lap’s Death
Phar Lap is pretty much a household name and his taxidermied form still stands proud in Museum Victoria.
An autopsy after the horse’s death revealed its intestines were extremely inflamed. The cause was put down to a large amount of arsenic, which used to be an ingredient in horse remedies. Thing is Phar Lap’s strapper, Tommy Woodcock claimed tonic’s with arsenic were never given to the champion horse.
5. Fine Cotton
Fine Cotton was an Australian thoroughbred that was embroiled in a ring-in scam in 1984. Poor old Fine Cotton wasn’t the best as race horses go, but was allowed to compete in restricted races.
The plan was to swap Fine Cotton with another (better) horse that would race as Fine Cotton. Problem was, the initial contender was injured shortly before the race, leaving the syndicate who had planned the whole scam with limited time to find a replacement. They found one though, a fine steed by the name of Bold Personality. There was only one problem – Fine Cotton was brown with white marks at the back of her legs, while Bold Personality was bay!
The masterminds behind the scam decided the answer lay in women’s hair products, so preceded to dye the replacement horse with Clairol hair dye. They were going to peroxide the back legs but forgot! So on the day they painted the horse’s legs with white paint.
The horse ran at Eagle Farm, and won by a nose. Needless to say, suspicions were raised and the plan soon came unstuck with six people, including organiser John Gillespie, receiving lifelong bans.
4. The Jockey Tapes Scandal
Now as sportsmen go, jockeys are a bit of an infamous bunch. There’s often some kind of scam or scandal going on – those devilish little rascals!
One particularly noteworthy scandal took place back in the 90s when the feds were bugging Victor Spink, a suspected drug dealer. What they picked up was a bunch of calls between Spink and four prominent jockeys.
Jim Cassidy was one of the jockeys involved and was recorded vehemently agreeing with Spinks proposal to put $20,000 in his pocket to split between three other jockeys.
3. Drunken Fools
As sure as the horses will run, there will be a certain quotient of punters who go a little overboard on cup day and end up looking a wee bit foolish. Some people just don’t know when enough is enough!
2. Chris Munce Does Hard Time
Jockeys are often slapped with fines and suspensions for tipping racehorses. But for Chis Munce, who was arrested in 2006 with $HK 250,000 in his pocket along with a piece of paper with the details of wagers on races he’d tipped.
He was sentenced to 30 months jail and served two years – which, for a little feller – is a long time in the big house.
1. Jean Shrimpton
English model Jean Shrimpton caused quite a stir at the 1965 Melbourne Cup Carnival when she turned up wearing (of all things) a mini-dress that hung a full five inches above the knees! And as if this wasn’t enough to get the blood running, the stunning young lass, who at the time was the world’s highest payed model, saw fit to sport this most revealing ensemble bereft of stockings, gloves and hat – my oh my!
