The great Ozzie ring-in(ringer) scandal::o

Fine Cotton Ring-In

Wagers on sporting events have always attracted undesirables looking for a way to cheat and win

Doubtless some have been successful and undetected. Some were exposed and the perpetrators caught and subjected to the consequences.

Others have left one to scratch his head and wonder, "What were they thinking?"

Some schemes have included knowing participation of one or more of the competitors, willing or otherwise, such as a favoured fighter taking a fall in a certain round to an inferior opponent, but others, particularly those involving punting, require no knowledge, compulsion or consent on the part of the horse. Yes, the jockey can be instructed to rein in a favourite to let a horse with longer odds prevail, but it could be safely said that the horse has no awareness of their participation in the scam.

Sometimes the cheater's plan is so comical as to not only fall into the "What were they thinking?" category, but also include, "Who was daft enough to be sucked in?"

Such a case in punting was known as The Fine Cotton Affair.

Fine Cotton was foaled in 1976. His lineage was predominantly Australian, and included blood from Ajax, but he did have some British and Irish blood. His sire Aureo did have French blood via Wilkes, and while it may be politically incorrect to say, that may have had some influence in Fine Cotton's form resulting in his opening as 33-1 odds for the Commerce Novice Handicap at Eagle Farm Racecourse on August 18th, 1984.

Seeking the opportunity to capitalize on those substantial odds, trainer Hayden Haitana and Agent John Gillespie hatched a scheme to ring-in Fine Cotton with another gelding, Bold Personality, a horse of decidedly superior capability.

Buying Bold Personality was not difficult, and credit should be given to Haitana and Gillespie for showing the prudence to at least use another gelding as opposed to a stallion or filly, and perhaps disregard that they failed initially to consider that Fine Cotton was brown with white markings on his hind legs while Bold Personality was a bay with no white whatsoever.

They subsequently dyed Bold Personality to more closely impersonate Fine Cotton, and upon realizing the absence of the white legs, conceived the foolhardy strategy of using white paint to apply the markings, and to further conceal the deception with white bandages when the white paint proved inadequate to the task.

While not the origin of the expression, "Horse of a different colour," this was nonetheless perhaps the boldest attempt ever at making the Bard's line fit the occasion.

Greed played a role in unravelling the plot. Placing substantial bets via confederates at numerous venues, Haitana and Gillespie succeeded in gaining the notice of bookmakers who questioned the plummet in odds on Fine Cotton from 33-1 to 7/2. This phenomenal drop somehow managed to elude the attention of VRC and AJC stewards.

Not privy to the ring-in, Gus Philpot, an apprentice jockey, supposedly made the comment that Fine Cotton was unusually docile while being loaded. This is noteworthy in that Fine Cotton had a reputation for reluctance and would have preferred remaining in his stall munching feed to running. One would think any jockey, apprentice or otherwise, would have the wherewithal to immediately be aware that his mount had been switched, even if it had been replaced by an otherwise identical double.

The event concluded with Bold Personality, in his guise as Fine Cotton, posting a half head victory.

The substantial drop in odds did finally attract the notice of stewards, and the running paint on Bold Personality's leg was deemed at least slightly suspicious.

Fine Cotton trainer Haitana was called to a steward initiated investigation, but was learned to have somewhat hastily departed the premises.

Disqualification resulted; the win was awarded to Harbour Gold, and all punters who had staked Fine Cotton aka. Bold Personality were not paid.

No less a figure than Bill Waterhouse and his son Robbie were implicated, an allegation they vehemently denied. They were subjected to a ban that was finally lifted in 1998, perhaps in the absence of incontrovertible evidence.

Gillespie and Haitana went to jail for there part in the Fine Cotton affair, and other participants received lifetime bans.

Undeterred by his sanction, Gillespie went on to further infamy including a multi-million dollar horse race in 2008, fraud, and other questionable scams. His record includes over 300 convictions for numerous and varied offences. He later claimed that he had gotten away with almost $2 million from The Fine Cotton Affair, a widely disputed claim, which if true, would make the 5 months he served of his four year prison sentence fairly lucrative.

It's probable the entire truth of the affair will never be completely divulged, but the Fine Cotton Affair will forever be inextricably part of Australian horse racing history, and will give additional meaning to the term, "painted pony."

As of August 2010, trainer Hayden Haitana was still serving his life ban. Fine Cotton died on 20th February 2009, aged 31.

I know that around the same time 1984 we had a similar ringer scandal but was it coinicidence or where they infulenced....:S

Plenty of Ringer stories....Robert Tierney, a farrier, and his son Richard, an amateur jockey, were warned off for six years and two years respectively by the British Horseracing Authority yesterday for running a "ringer" in two point-to-point races in February 2006. The decision of the BHA's disciplinary panel was announced barely an hour after Richard Tierney had steered Amazing King to success in a race at Musselburgh.

Yesterday's decision follows a protracted investigation by the BHA, which was launched after an anonymous tip-off that the Tierneys had run a "ringer" at the Old Raby Hunt point-to-point at Witton Castle on February 5 2006, and at the Brocklesby Hunt point-to-point at Brocklesby Park on Feburary 11 2006.

In both cases, Robert Tierney had entered a horse called Green Admiral to run, but the panel decided that the actual horse that took part in - and won - both races was King's Crest, an eight-time winner on the Flat which had also been placed three times in hurdle races.

Tierney, a farrier who regularly worked for the trainer John Quinn, agreed to look after King's Crest, who was trained by Quinn, in April 2005, after the gelding suffered an injury. Green Admiral, also a bay gelding with similar markings, was sold back to Tierney, a previous owner of the horse, in November 2005.

The horse that punters and bookies alike believed to be Green Admiral was well supported for its race at Witton Castle, starting the 2-1 favourite after opening in the betting at 12-1.

It won easily, and was a short-priced favourite again for its second success at Brocklesby Park. As a result, Green Admiral was a 4-1 favourite when next seen out, in a handicap chase at Market Rasen in August 2006, but finished last of eight runners. It then suffered a heart attack, and died at the course.

The panel was in no doubt that the animal that raced at Market Rasen was indeed Green Admiral, since its identification chip was checked at the track. However, having heard and examined evidence over three days, including photographs taken at the point-to-points, it was in no doubt that it was King's Crest that had competed in both races in February.

In its conclusions, the panel stated that "running a ringer strikes at the very heart of the integrity of the sport. Here, it involved cheating punters at both point-to-points and also those who gambled on the Market Rasen race in the belief that Green Admiral had strong point-to-point form. It was also a deception of all those who competed in or watched the races."

Richard Tierney's penalty was less severe than that imposed on his father, "because of his age (17 years old at the time of the events in question) and because he was participating in the scam very much under the influence and direction of his father." The panel also noted that "it was an unpleasant feature of this case that [Robert Tierney] should have led his 17-year-old son into serious dishonesty at the outset of his career as a jockey."

Both men have until February 22 - the date on which their exclusions are due to begin - to lodge an appeal.

The book "Ringers and Rascalls" is well worth reading.

remember the famous ringer at the Vaal quite a few ears back
I think the horse was Have A Ball?