Backing of ‘Fine Cotton’ ‘ridiculous’—bookmaker

Press, 15 November 1984, Page 32

Backing of ‘Fine Cotton’ ‘ridiculous’—bookmaker

NZPA-AAP Sydney A bookmaker, Mark Read, yesterday described the backing of the ring-in galloper, Fine Cotton, by two professional Sydney punters as “ridiculous” and ! ‘out of character.”

The bookmaker made the statements on the opening day of an Australian Jockey Club committee inquiry, which is hearing evidence from nine persons who have been asked to “show cause” why they should not be warned off Australian racecourses.

The inquiry follows extensive investigations into the New South Wales side of the substitution of Bold Personality for Fine Cotton, later disqualified, in a race at Eagle Farm on August 18. Read told yesterday’s opening round of proceedings that he had questioned the support at Warwick Farm of Fine Cotton by the professional punters, lan Murray and Gary Clarke. Read said he regarded it as unusual that a professional punter would be prepared to back a galloper with the poor record of Fine Cotton at a quote he considered well under its real odds.

He was supported in this by another rails bookmaker, Bruce McHugh, who also gave evidence yesterday. Read and McHugh were among four bookmakers working on the rails at Warwick Farm on the day of the substitution who gave evidence yesterday. The others were Charlie D’Amoure and Bill Hurley. All four said they had been surprised by the level of support for Fine Cotton, which they described as a “moderately performed” or "picnic quality horse.” The nine issued with “show cause” notices are: Murray, Clarke, Clarke’s wife Glenis, the bookmakers Bill and Robbie Waterhouse, a Catholic priest, Father

Edward O’Dwyer, Robert Hines, a bookmaker’s clerk in the employ of Robbie Waterhouse, Mr John Gough, a publisher from Gosford and Mr Peter McCoy, a Canberra bookmaker.

More than 50 people — including committeemen, legal counsellers, media representatives and the public — crowded into the committee room at the A.J.C.’s headquarters at Randwick for the day-long hearing. Mr Murray Gleeson, Q.C., assisting the committee, said it would be alleged that the Waterhouses “had prior knowledge of the substitution and were a party to or had connivance in betting activities of others on the race.”

Mr Gleeson said the remaining seven were alleged to have had prior knowledge of the ring-in and used that information to back the horse.

All have denied the allegations. Read said Murray had backed Fine Cotton substantially with him. " He said Murray had tried to back the horse to win $120,000 minutes before the race.

"Mr Murray approached me and asked me for $120,000 to $20,000 but I knocked him down to a $lO,OOO wager,” Read said. “After that I turned Fine Cotton’s price down to 3 to 1 and the support continued.” Read told the inquiry that he had joked to his staff shortly before' the Eagle Farm race that “the only way this horse (Fine Cotton) can win is if it’s a ring-in.

“I was very surprised it was being backed so heavily. The horse had extremely poor form, was by a nondescript sire and the races it had won were of no consequence,” he said. .

Read said it was because of this that he was surprised

that Murray and Clarke had continued to support the horse when its price was 2 to 1 and 6 to 4.

He said Murray had also placed a bet of $20,000 to $lO,OOO with him in addition to the earlier wager. “I rated the horse a 100 to 1 chance on form and said to both of them when they came to me that they had to be kidding,” Read said. Hurley told the inquiry he had accepted a bet of $20,000 to $2400 by Murray (odds of 7 to 1) soon after the first teleprinter price call of 14 to 1 came through. Hurley said he had then placed a bet of $lO,OOO to $l2OO with Read on his own behalf, after which there had been a “stampede to back Fine Cotton.”

Mr Cliff Brown, for Clarke, asked Read whether his client could have “followed the . money” in supporting Fine Cotton. Read answered that it was possible. Read said Clarke had placed a cash bet of $9OOO to $6OOO (odds of 6 to 4) on the galloper.

“He came to me seeking to put $4OOO on and when I queried his wanting to support the horse at such a price he made no reply but asked to increase the bet to $6000,” Read said.

Under questioning from Mr Brown, Read said he regarded Clarke as an astute punter. Earlier in the day Mr John Sharpe, for Father O’Dwyer, claimed the committee did not have the power to deal with the allegations levelled at his client.

Mr Sharpe asked for the matters relating to Father O’Dwyer to be spelled out clearly.

Mr Gleeson then obliged, giving details of nine matters associated with Father O’Dwyer’s involvement. These were:

® That Father O’Dwyer was an associate of Robbie and Bill Waterhouse;

© That Father O’Dwyer spoke to Robbie Waterhouse at Warwick Farm racecourse on the day of the Eagle Farm race; © That Father O’Dwyer left Warwick Farm for the Appin greyhound meeting where he backed Fine Cotton before returning to Warwick Farm; ® That Father O’Dwyer placed a bet of $lOOO on Fine Cotton, which constituted half his savings to be used for a trip to England; © That Father O’Dwyer was seen with Nigel Clarke, the brother of Gary Clarke at Appin; ® That Father O’Dwyer told stewards he had not seen Clarke at Appin; • That Father O’Dwyer had falsely told stewards that he backed Fine Cotton after receiving a tip but could not name the person from whom the tip came: & That Father O’Dwyer falsely told stewards that he left Warwick Fann to inspect a building site and had no intention of going to Appin;

® That Father O’Dwyer falsely told journalists that he was in the United Kingdom at the time of the race.

The first witness called was a Queensland Turf Club veterinarian, Robert Mason, who was on hand at Eagle Farm to identify the galloper that raced as Fine Cotton.

Mr Mason, under questioning from Mr Gleeson, said the markings on the horse which had won the Eagle Farm race as Fine Cotton did not represent that galloper. He said the markings on the galloper’s forehead, hind pasterns and his brandings matched those of a much better-perfbrmed galloper — namely Bold Personality. The hearing will resume today.