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  • OffthebitOffthebit    597 posts
    edited April 2019
    The best plunge that I remember at gp as a young bloke was spring well. I think it was 50/1 into something ridiculous like 7/2. It was not long after the old rail was removed and replaced with the pegs. Spring well happened to "flick" a few pegs on the home turn but hung on to win the race. Pretty sure he beat a nice horse trained and driven bu Kim young. The all clear was held up for at least 20 minutes as the stewards debated whether to disqualify spring well. I remember standing in the ring waiting for the outcome and watching all of the bookmakers sweating bullets. Pretty sure they all lost about 5kg through stress????.

    They ended up taking the race off spring well and the bookies all had a big grin on there faces.
    Chariots can you give us your recollection of that night?
  • savethegamesavethegame    2,786 posts
    Have come to the  know % of trainers that  attempted  to play shonky have almost dryed up but do remember  a crafty old trainer when swabbing was just spot swabbing he would win trials by 30-40 metres  two or three in a row, everyone would say your crazy you will get no price.

    His answer was I just have to put bit more on, plus they won't swab me because I am going to the races of the back of three big trial wins,and my price  will be 6/4 and everyones happy, the result will be no surprise to the stewards and I know the hopalong works because I used it in the trials, Often wondered if prizemoney was attached to putting man on the moon theres a couple old time trainers I knew of would have had a crack at it.
  • curmudgeoncurmudgeon    2,417 posts

    nostalagia - too young to remember but remember being told - dug these up from some old cuttings - colourful career - 12 months for winning at trots - 12 months for winning at gallops - stewards pleasure for blowing up in the stewards room (think ended up doing 3 years) some old clippings and betting plunges - last horse to start twice at GP?? - hopefully the attachments work

    Murella Lad ....bay with a blaze that broadened over his nose @getthechange ?  Something going off in my head telling me he had a spell on the goldfields with Herb Softley or that the Softleys were related to the connections. btw....Herb Softley was a master farrier ....made the longest lasting shoes ever out of the tempered hooped steel salvaged from around the water pipeline. Spent a bit of time watching Herb make shoes with Mrs Softley his striker and a vacuum cleaner with reversed fan blowing up into the forge. Some things stay in your mind....Herb's brother Bert had a beautiful little stallion called Inimitable that was as kind an entire as you would ever come across. In the style of the day Bert left him until he was four to start him .....no need to rush him along. 

  • bookieloverbookielover    2,623 posts
    Markovina said:

    Forgot to say the bookies name - Roger Manning

    I knew Roger very well, and he was an absolute gentleman when he was at the top of his game. 
    I used to do a bit of business up in Sydney at the time.

    He along with Phil Matts, Con Kafataris, and Dom Bierne were betting huge in the late 80's early 90's.And the interstate ring with Bobby Blann and Porky Wylie, Charlie Damore and Harry Barrett, would let you on for hundreds of thousands.

    What, to the best of my knowledge, killed Roger, was a very bitter divorce settlement which virtually cleaned him out. He went from laying you 100,000/50,000 to the bets you are talking about and finally he declared bankruptcy.

    You mention Bob Hawke in your original post.

    My mail from a bloke who is in touch with the situation is, to quote him," Bob is on the way out"

    Bob would call my old man and another bookie for tips on a Friday night.

    One Friday night the phone rings and it's Bob. My old man asked him what the noise was that he could hear in the background. Bob said, I've got this bloke here Nelson Mandella and he's yelling about some cr@p or other. I've been trying to get rid of him so I can do the form, and he won't leave. ( I have left out the colourful expletives Bob used to describe Mandella and his not leaving).

    Anyway, he says, I can't do the effing form, so can you give me a few tips for tomorrow. My old man went to the kitchen, got the form guide and rattled off three tips in various races, not having any idea if they had any chance. My father was not big into doing the form, but would never tell Bob that.

    So, Markovina, if that doesn't confirm your opinion of Bob, nothing will. 

    The punt took priority over pretty much everything else, and it's my belief that this happened, because he had to give up the grog when he became PM because he couldn't control his drinking.


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  • curmudgeoncurmudgeon    2,417 posts
    edited April 2019
    Remember watching Bob, Sugarlips and Cliff Fahler walking through the Ascot ring years ago on the way to the mounting yard. Think it was a Karrakatta day when Fahler had the fave in.
    All three wearing Stetsons and safari suits .....thought at the time...have a look at these boofheads.
    Watched a recent interview with Bob and he has those rheumy watery eyes that signify ill health in some manner or other....but he is 89 odd and bloody good luck to him.I can lob a brick on Bert Hawke Oval ( named after his dad) from the top of my place.
    There are three vices that no man has ever escaped from totally ......The Drink The Punt and The Women.....if anyone claims to have done it then work back through their history.....they will have fallen to 1 ...2 ...or all 3 at some stage.
    Mandela might have done the form for Flamingo Park and Fairview but probably a shite tipster in Bobs view.....couldn't get to trackwork much while on Robben Island for 27 years.
    :D

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  • Kane_26Kane_26    88 posts
    Offthebit said:

    The best plunge that I remember at gp as a young bloke was spring well. I think it was 50/1 into something ridiculous like 7/2. It was not long after the old rail was removed and replaced with the pegs. Spring well happened to "flick" a few pegs on the home turn but hung on to win the race. Pretty sure he beat a nice horse trained and driven bu Kim young. The all clear was held up for at least 20 minutes as the stewards debated whether to disqualify spring well. I remember standing in the ring waiting for the outcome and watching all of the bookmakers sweating bullets. Pretty sure they all lost about 5kg through stress????.

    They ended up taking the race off spring well and the bookies all had a big grin on there faces.
    Chariots can you give us your recollection of that night?




    Your memory is pretty good @Offthebit the horse was Social Aspect trained by Helen Luke and driven by Kim. I do remember seeing the vision not so long ago on one of the Seasons of Glory tapes and whilst I think Spring Well would still of won the race it did go at least "half a cart" inside the pegs from the 250m till the 175m.

    Turned out to be an absolute star ability wise for I think it was David Sheehy but the horse was a freak of the family with bad legs from memory which curtailed his career. The folks had a Fake Left half brother who I could beat!
  • JayJayJayJay    7,629 posts
    Offthebit said:

    The best plunge that I remember at gp as a young bloke was spring well. I think it was 50/1 into something ridiculous like 7/2. It was not long after the old rail was removed and replaced with the pegs. Spring well happened to "flick" a few pegs on the home turn but hung on to win the race. Pretty sure he beat a nice horse trained and driven bu Kim young.

    The Kim Young horse they gave the race to was Social Aspect.....I was there that night (about 20 years ago) and all I can remember is the seemingly endless wait for all clear, so I may well have had something on Sring Well but it wouldn't have been much and it wouldn't have been anywhere near the top of the market. If it makes you fell any better OTB, Social Aspect was a pretty decent horse that went to the USA and racked up some pretty unbelievable numbers. I will look him up later but I recall seeing him with big stakes and very fast times next to his record. Very controversial decision back then.
  • JayJayJayJay    7,629 posts
    Sorry Kane, didn't see your post as I was typing mine....I am a very slow typist!!!!By Crouch was Spring Well for David Sheehy, won a big race up in Queensland after contesting Courage Under Fires Vic Derby. Hardly raced again after Queensland due to his legs.

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  • getthechangegetthechange    310 posts

    curmudgeon - re murella lad - from memory a big bay stallion but no white blaze that we weren't allowed near because he would charge across the yard to bite you - was trained in Kalgoorlie by Softley and owned by Cunderdin farmer Ted Eaton

    white blaze horse possibly Hatari

    bit more nostalgia - 1000 at trials - murella lad Christmas hcp - our neighbours Alan Woodworth and a young Cliff Woodworth who at that time lived in Belmont but trained in Cannington


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  • PackedMetalPandaPackedMetalPanda    166 posts
    Half a cart inside the pegs is generous! He was riding the running rail haha - Day time meeting....classic seasons of glory tapes

    Offthebit likes this post.

  • savethegamesavethegame    2,786 posts
    Jay Jay; this may well be the whistleblowers race.. The significance of the whistleblower was to alert the driver that the money was on, and tonights the night.


       ANGRY PUNTERS HOOT TAXI BOY AFTER REVERSAL OF FORM.

    Stewards order Coulson to drive pacer in future races.

    Angry punters lined the fence at Gloucester park last night hooted Phil Coulson and the four yearold pacer taxiboy when they returned to salute the judge after winning the narrogin handicap.

    Sarcastic remarks were also made to A.D.Thomas the reinsman of the second horse blue bob..

    Taxi boy performance was a marked reversal of form compared with his run on april 23 when he finished sixth at a 2.12 3/4.
    Taxi boy started favourite at evens that night and was driven by Thomas.
    after be in a winning position at two furlongs post taxi boy weakened badly.

    Last night taxi boy finished with a devastating run pacing at a 2.9 .1/4rate over the one and a half miles he was overlooked by most backers and started at 6s after 7s had been bet.


                           COULSON NOT TO BLAME.

    The outcry against Coulson was not justified .He has driven the horse seven times for five wins
    a fifth and a sixth.

    When taxi boy resumed pacing on march 29.after a spell he was driven by J.Mclennan a reinsman who has had considerable experience with horses but who has had little success as a driver.

    Taxi boy was driven in three races by McLennan and started at short prices each time. he was favourite at 6/4 on april 2 and april 12.

    Before the bunbury handicap on april 23 the stewards advised Mr N.Duncan the owner of taxi boy to obtain the sevices of a more experienced reinsman.

    Thomas services were secured but the horse failed again.That winner of the bunbury handicap Bonny Lee was driven by Coulson.

    At the enquiry into taxi boys performance Mr. Duncan said the horse inadvertently had been left too long in a field of clover.

    Thomas told the stewards that he had heard that some people had accused him of collusion with Coulson who is his nephew. Some onlookers last night made the same charge.

                            RULING OF STEWARDS.

    The stewards have now told Mr .Duncan that Coulson must drive the horse in future races.
    If Coulson is not available the services of a reinsman approved by the stewards must be obtained.

    Was told years ago a.d. Thomas was a mastermind.

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  • JayJayJayJay    7,629 posts
    Thanks STG,
    Yes the Taxi Boy scenario keeps resurfacing ...Noel Tozer, an old friend of both Phil and Ben the whistleblower is convinced this was the horse....but the dates never lined up. But I have spent more time than you can imagine chasing this one down and I am starting to think that we have been blind sided by the dates. We were always working on the early sixties but I think that is incorrect. Do you have the year for this race? It appears to be around 1955?. The timing month wise (around Anzac day) is spot on but I still have some doubts as Phil was pretty young and Ben told me they got a good price....the even money SP looks a bit short. But I am becoming increasingly convinced that this is the race. Of course, Mr Duncan was Phil's stepfather and Mr Thomas was his Uncle ....I think time has had it's effect on the memory of those still alive and we might have to just log this one as Taxi Boy and move on. Thanks for your assistance.
  • savethegamesavethegame    2,786 posts
    Forgot to mention the date 14th of may 1955. so around Anzac day...….Mclennan drives it three times 29 march april 2nd april 12   Thomas drives it april 23. then Coulson on may 14th. wins by eight yards Thomas second 12 yards to the third horse.

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  • savethegamesavethegame    2,786 posts
    the price was 6/1 after 7/1 to one had been bet.

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  • JayJayJayJay    7,629 posts

    the price was 6/1 after 7/1 to one had been bet.

    Yep, misread that, a bit early for my foggy old brain. Cheers.
  • ChariotsonfireChariotsonfire    2,829 posts
    Offthebit said:

    The best plunge that I remember at gp as a young bloke was spring well. I think it was 50/1 into something ridiculous like 7/2. It was not long after the old rail was removed and replaced with the pegs. Spring well happened to "flick" a few pegs on the home turn but hung on to win the race. Pretty sure he beat a nice horse trained and driven bu Kim young. The all clear was held up for at least 20 minutes as the stewards debated whether to disqualify spring well. I remember standing in the ring waiting for the outcome and watching all of the bookmakers sweating bullets. Pretty sure they all lost about 5kg through stress????.

    They ended up taking the race off spring well and the bookies all had a big grin on there faces.
    Chariots can you give us your recollection of that night?

    Definitely a huge go on Spring Well that day I had a big liability but was fairly confident that it would be disqualified as the "flicking of a few pegs" was a gross understatement as others have pointed out/ I think Dave got a bit excited when clear coming around the home turn and forgot to correct ir from hanging in. I too think it would have held on but the inward shift was too great to be ignored. The flicking of the pegs may have well been by the outside wheel.

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  • MarkovinaMarkovina    2,889 posts

    Markovina said:

    Forgot to say the bookies name - Roger Manning

    I knew Roger very well, and he was an absolute gentleman when he was at the top of his game. 
    I used to do a bit of business up in Sydney at the time.

    He along with Phil Matts, Con Kafataris, and Dom Bierne were betting huge in the late 80's early 90's.And the interstate ring with Bobby Blann and Porky Wylie, Charlie Damore and Harry Barrett, would let you on for hundreds of thousands.

    What, to the best of my knowledge, killed Roger, was a very bitter divorce settlement which virtually cleaned him out. He went from laying you 100,000/50,000 to the bets you are talking about and finally he declared bankruptcy.

    You mention Bob Hawke in your original post.

    My mail from a bloke who is in touch with the situation is, to quote him," Bob is on the way out"

    Bob would call my old man and another bookie for tips on a Friday night.

    One Friday night the phone rings and it's Bob. My old man asked him what the noise was that he could hear in the background. Bob said, I've got this bloke here Nelson Mandella and he's yelling about some cr@p or other. I've been trying to get rid of him so I can do the form, and he won't leave. ( I have left out the colourful expletives Bob used to describe Mandella and his not leaving).

    Anyway, he says, I can't do the effing form, so can you give me a few tips for tomorrow. My old man went to the kitchen, got the form guide and rattled off three tips in various races, not having any idea if they had any chance. My father was not big into doing the form, but would never tell Bob that.

    So, Markovina, if that doesn't confirm your opinion of Bob, nothing will. 

    The punt took priority over pretty much everything else, and it's my belief that this happened, because he had to give up the grog when he became PM because he couldn't control his drinking.


    They were heady days - the 80s - the racing on course - it had excitement - which it  really lacks today

    Re Dominic Bierne - i can remember standing near where he was fielding - he had about 6 blokes working for him - a couple of them were continuosly yelling out - whats this one-  whats this one - just taking bet after bet after bet - all you saw were just wads of cash

    Porky Wylie - he seemed like a nice bloke - i had a big bet on a Cranbourne Cup ( it ran 2nd ) with him

    Back then( pre pay TV )  - i use to organise my work schedule so i could take Wednesday afternoon off so i could  go to the races - a Randwick midweek meeting you use to get 3-4 thousand people out their - good atmosphere

    Your right about Bob - i use to  go to the Sat gallops meeting - Canterbury only use to get a couple of Sat meetings a year - and there was this real low std Cant meeting - but Bob was their

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  • ChariotsonfireChariotsonfire    2,829 posts
    Good to hear that you are still up and about Bookielover.

    I met Roger Manning a few times and when I was introduced to him as one of the biggest trot bookies in Australia he suggested that if that was the case I must have been in on the rorts and that did not impress me but was indicative how race bookies thought of trot bookies.

    Apart from the divorce settlement my mail was that Roger got carried away with turnover rather than bottom line profit and that hastened his demise.

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  • MarkovinaMarkovina    2,889 posts
    When he went bankrupt - in the Sydney Morning Herald - they listed all his creditors - and he owed a stack in gabling debts - one of them being Bob Hawke

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  • bookieloverbookielover    2,623 posts
    Chariots, I'm surprised Roger had a go at you.Maybe the pressure was already getting to him.

    Porkie was a really nice bloke. To me his name was a misnomer because when I met him he wasn't overweight, but I was told that he didn't get the nick name because he looked like Twiggy.  He passed away a comparatively young man.

    Harry Barrett was probably the biggest bookie and he was a big man. He could be pretty abrasive.  He along with Bruce Mchugh until Bruce gave it away after a massive betting duel with Packer were Packers' main go to bookies.

    The money at that time in Sydney was massive. I was at Wentworth Park dogs one night and a bloke came up to John Waterhouse betting in the Interstate ring and there was a 1/3 chance running at Angle park. he pulled 30,000 out of his pocket and had 30,000 to 10,000 on. The dog didn't run a place.

    The trots at Harold Park were as hot as mustard and because people are still alive from that time, I won't name anyone, however let's say that the biggest bookie there during the 60's and 70's won a fortune organising races. 

    If  a bookie had inside knowledge that a horse would be pulled up, he would extend the price, say 6/4 out to 7/4 to lay it. 

    This bookie would do the opposite. He would give a number of individuals say $5,000 and send them around to the back of the Harold park track where 50-60 bookies would be in that ring. They would run to each bookie backing the 6/4 chance into evens or odds on. 

    The punters in that ring, having missed the price, and others seeing the horse go off, would rush around to the main ring to get on, and this bookie would firstly take block at 6/4 for a few minutes, then take bets at 5/4, 10/9 and so on, all the while telling the crowd that "this must be a certainty".

    He would get 40,000 to 50,000 out of it as the mugs and even the smarties piled it on, so the initial 5 large was returned in spades.

    The horse wouldn't run a drum, and of course, because the horse was backed off the map even with him, there was never a Stewards inquiry.

    He probably did one of those every fortnight and won a fortune, and it wasn't until a now deceased member of his staff who I knew very well, told me about the way this bloke operated, that I knew about it.

    To me, it was pure genius, yes, evil, and corrupt, but I can't think of anyone else other than this bookie who would have thought up this way of getting a fortune out of a horse that couldn't win, and there never ever being any inquiry as to why the horse in question lost.
  • MarkovinaMarkovina    2,889 posts

    Chariots, I'm surprised Roger had a go at you.Maybe the pressure was already getting to him.


    Porkie was a really nice bloke. To me his name was a misnomer because when I met him he wasn't overweight, but I was told that he didn't get the nick name because he looked like Twiggy.  He passed away a comparatively young man.

    Harry Barrett was probably the biggest bookie and he was a big man. He could be pretty abrasive.  He along with Bruce Mchugh until Bruce gave it away after a massive betting duel with Packer were Packers' main go to bookies.

    The money at that time in Sydney was massive. I was at Wentworth Park dogs one night and a bloke came up to John Waterhouse betting in the Interstate ring and there was a 1/3 chance running at Angle park. he pulled 30,000 out of his pocket and had 30,000 to 10,000 on. The dog didn't run a place.

    The trots at Harold Park were as hot as mustard and because people are still alive from that time, I won't name anyone, however let's say that the biggest bookie there during the 60's and 70's won a fortune organising races. 

    If  a bookie had inside knowledge that a horse would be pulled up, he would extend the price, say 6/4 out to 7/4 to lay it. 

    This bookie would do the opposite. He would give a number of individuals say $5,000 and send them around to the back of the Harold park track where 50-60 bookies would be in that ring. They would run to each bookie backing the 6/4 chance into evens or odds on. 

    The punters in that ring, having missed the price, and others seeing the horse go off, would rush around to the main ring to get on, and this bookie would firstly take block at 6/4 for a few minutes, then take bets at 5/4, 10/9 and so on, all the while telling the crowd that "this must be a certainty".

    He would get 40,000 to 50,000 out of it as the mugs and even the smarties piled it on, so the initial 5 large was returned in spades.

    The horse wouldn't run a drum, and of course, because the horse was backed off the map even with him, there was never a Stewards inquiry.

    He probably did one of those every fortnight and won a fortune, and it wasn't until a now deceased member of his staff who I knew very well, told me about the way this bloke operated, that I knew about it.

    To me, it was pure genius, yes, evil, and corrupt, but I can't think of anyone else other than this bookie who would have thought up this way of getting a fortune out of a horse that couldn't win, and there never ever being any inquiry as to why the horse in question lost.
    Hey Bookielover - seeing you know the Sydney scene - their is a fantastic racing/gambling book written by David Hickie in the mid 80s - one of the best books i have ever read - its called  " The Prince and the Premier  "

    And that title relates to 2 people - 2 big players - The Prince   refers to  Perc Galea - who was a huge punter and alledgely ran illegal gambling joints in Double Bay - Sydneys affluent East - and Perc called all his racehorses which he owned - something -- Prince - the most notable being Eskimo Prince who won the NSW Derby in the 60s

    The premier part - refers to Sir Robert Askin who was premier of NSW in the 60s and 70s and was as crooked as they come - involved in that many rackets

    On the inside cover of the book - there is a picture of a smiling Perc Galea - he is standing between 2 men - with his arms around both - on one side is Sir Robert Menzies - and on the otherside is the Archbishop of Canterbury - lol

    Like i say it is a fantastic book - if you want a good read - get a copy of it

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  • curmudgeoncurmudgeon    2,417 posts
    edited April 2019
    Abe Saffron before he agreed to get arrested at the Raffles had a throttlehold on the Sydney "establishments" ability to undermine his gambling empire.
    Get a few tarts in to do some a/hrs freelancing at his clubs ...throw a party and invite a few pollies, coppers and judges to the fray and take some compromising photos through a two way mirror.
    Silencio.
    [-X
    NSW's government since the arrival of the first fleet has been a repository of harlots and racketeers.
    Askin was a "pet" of Saffrons....used to tip him winners in rorts and instruct bookies to bet him over the odds so that Askin thought he was a genius. 
    Know of two young reinsmen who left WA for NSW when HP was "red hot"....one stayed and the other came back to WA when a coffin was left on his lawn.

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  • JayJayJayJay    7,629 posts
    Was it at Harold Park that the signal to initiate a plunge was done off course, in the surrounding streets, by setting off a couple of Sky Rockets? Maybe Melbourne Mick and Honest George Freeman involved?
  • MarkovinaMarkovina    2,889 posts

    Abe Saffron before he agreed to get arrested at the Raffles had a throttlehold on the Sydney "establishments" ability to undermine his gambling empire.

    Get a few tarts in to do some a/hrs freelancing at his clubs ...throw a party and invite a few pollies, coppers and judges to the fray and take some compromising photos through a two way mirror.
    Silencio.
    [-X
    NSW's government since the arrival of the first fleet has been a repository of harlots and racketeers.
    Askin was a "pet" of Saffrons....used to tip him winners in rorts and instruct bookies to bet him over the odds so that Askin thought he was a genius. 
    Know of two young reinsmen who left WA for NSW when HP was "red hot"....one stayed and the other came back to WA when a coffin was left on his lawn.
    Kevin Newman would have been the one who stayed over their - 8 time Champion Trainer and 10 time leading reinsman in NSW

    According to a bloke i knew other their ( who i did part time work for ) and who had 2 low grade horses with Newman ( they use to race at that grass track at Richmond- Wayne Innes used to drive them  ) - he said Kevin Newman had very little time for Vets - or the ethics of some Vets

    He said Newman was in court over some civil matter - no big deal - disputed fees or something - and he said Newman got up in court and said - " Your honour - i just thought Solicitors and Vets had a license to rob ".

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  • GlenGlen    38 posts
    I remember the night Springwell won that race and was also present at the meeting, from memory it won by a big margin and could of been on the outside fence and still won but unfortunately for the connections the pegs were fairly new and the fact a certain bookie had a sook to the stewards and the rest is history. Still feel sorry for the connections because they were robbed for a slight indiscretion, would of been different if it won by a half length but not a big margin

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  • OffthebitOffthebit    597 posts
    Spot on glen. Yes he did smash a few pegs but when that happens today they don’t get disqualified if it didn’t affect the result.
    Anyway it made for great theatre in the bookies ring that night. Unfortunately we will never see that sort of thing again at GP
  • savethegamesavethegame    2,786 posts
    thought race 8    Kalgoorlie  7/11/2014 was good one regards horse in side pegs and still improving position at approx. 380m.mark, and wins race, horse wasted study aldo cortopassi fired in objection and was dismissed. in my worst decisions file, worst  three ma doubt,   bridge of friendship   tavis, upheld ones 
  • JayJayJayJay    7,629 posts
    Old Tavis, he loved the August Cup, won 2 in a row back in the 70's for Bob Johnson and then ran 2nd the next two years...to Peter Anstey and Virgil Queen.

    But Bridge of Friendship, regardless of the code, is the Gold Medalist on protest decisions, hands down.

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  • bookieloverbookielover    2,623 posts
    Markovina, I have read the book but can't find my copy.

    From Memory, Perc Galea might have been pictured with a Catholic Archbishop as he was a Catholic. He met the Pope once and I think he received some special award from the Church.

    Perc ran the illegal gambling clubs of the day and won plenty. There was no allegedly about it!!

    He had a partner at one stage in Joe Bendroit, and I think a bloke called Joe Taylor was also in the clubs. 

    There was a time before he was in the illegal clubs, that Bendroit owned the Sydney Tivoli, and the joint wasn't making money. Bendroit owned a horse that had been dead for two runs, and was in at a track called Moorfield. The horse was a certainty. Bendroit called all his staff working at the Tivoli together, and said, that he'd have to close the place and sell the building. However he could keep it open, and everyone would retain their jobs if the horse won. As a show of support he told them that they had to be with him in the bet. 

    He was going to have his last 1,000 on it, and they had to be on it as well. So the staff put in what they could afford and the bank was 1400. The  bookies called out, there were no betting boards back then, 10/1, and the money went on, with the average price attained being, 7/1, Bendroit and the staff collected over 10,000, the Tivoli was saved. In  1948, Chico Marx performed there.

    My dad told me that he was working in the paddock around 1960 on Derby day and there was a horse running that was quoted at 1/7, Winx odds, by the rails bookies. My old man put up 1/6 and a bloke wearing a hat whose photo he had seen, came out of the members at a brisk pace and approached my father.

    He said, can I have 3,000 pounds to 500 on son? My old man took the bet, It ran third.  Perc Galea never had another bet with him again. You could buy a nice house with 3,000 quid in 1960. Unfortunately, property investment wasn't a priority for my old man.   
    :-S
  • Ridersonthestorm33Ridersonthestorm33    10,809 posts
    edited April 2019
    Bookielover just out of curiosity - would your father overall have profited from odds on favourite's...how did you guys "attack" odds on faves ? Were they very profitable in the long run ? There's 3000 quid in front above.

    From reading their were some huge odds on punters around those days and later too, one that made the paper's here at the time was ''the fireman".
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