Ringers
Ringers in Horse-racing has been a staple diet from the very first day horses competed with each other.
If you could take part in a match bet one day and then having got beaten in a close finish,
Then take the bet again but this time your runner is a STRIKE a look a like. copy of your horse, one that is much superior. then you are on a guaranteed winner.
In 1900s Peter Christian Barrie decided to change his fortune as a Racehorse Gambler by Ringing Bad horses for good.
Most of his Coups/Stroke were in selling plates the worst quality of horse race and by using a special paint that was waterproof. could change a much better quality horse to the bad one.
fooling all the Bookmakers and authorities in tern.
The odds were based upon the horses form and only the name of the horse was sufficent to gain its entry in a specific race.
It wasn’t just Barrie that carried out this scam for in the USA a horse called Rule Away won 3 times in 3 different names and all at large prices.
During 1953 a team of Midland Bookmakers purchased a top quality French Sprinter called Santa Amara, and got it entered under the name of Francasal a very poor quality race horse.
the meeting they chose was Bath, the race a very inferior event,and bets were placed all over the Midlands and South,
To make double sure that no hedging money would find its way back to the track, and shorten the price of there Gamble a team were sent to the outskirts of the Town and the telephone wires to the track were severed.
It was only some do gooder that saw a man up a ladder pretending to be the GPO worker and reported it to the Police that created an enquiry this resulted with a prison sentence for the leaders and an unfortunate incident a while later were the brains of the coup was shot dead on his door step.
The bringing in of elaborate security like tattoos on the inner lips of horses and in the ear of greyhounds seemed to bring this con to a halt however many attempts were carried on even as late as 1982 were the last serios attempt took place.
Cubone happened to be at Leicester in March of that year, when a 2 year old event took place usually all the races pass by with out much bother however this one caused hoots of derision.
The winner Flockton Grey had won by the proverbial Tonne in hand.
A very conservative 20 lengths in fact however I thought at the time it was more like 30.
What surprised me was that no one noticed the difference between the winner that turned out to be a 3 year old sprinter called Good Hand. running against 2 year olds.
Why I questioned did no one see the structure of the Winner with the other early season juveniles.
Good Hand was a well built 3 year old with a chest like a barrell running against 2 year olds. all very weak in stature, so early in there lives.
Having spoken to a top trainer a while later I was informed that it would have been like a Top Soccer star playing in a Boys Brigade Match.
And yet no one noticed it until after the race.
The 10/1 was an amazing price for such a simple stroke.
Since then there have been no recorded Rings so we will assume that it has died out But I doubt that is the truth of the matter more like it happens on a reguar basis but no one notices.
Cubone
