Queensland Race Fixing

[trish]

Only just saw this one............http://www.harnesslink.com/International/Execution-of-search-warrants-and-arrest

[trish]

The offence of engaging in match-fixing conduct was recently added to the state's criminal code and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/04/07/more-harness-racing-arrests-likely-qld

[Messenger]

More detail here. Exactly what WE DON'T NEED

https://www.punters.com.au/news/More-arrests-expected-in-harness-probe_158443/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter://www.punters.com.au/news/More-arrests-expected-in-harness-probe_158443/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

[barney]

the person has been named not sure if ok to put up here but was on Tv his last name is a month of the year

[aussiebreno]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/police-bust-harness-match-fixing-ring/news-story/8239a2044e917836ff869b9ddc50427f

Courier mail have ran with Daryl March. Raxe 2 November 12

[Messenger]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/police-bust-harness-match-fixing-ring/news-story/8239a2044e917836ff869b9ddc50427f

Courier mail have ran with Daryl March. Raxe 2 November 12

I only get to briefly see a heading that a second has been arrested (interesting) before being asked to subscribe

[Messenger]

The scary part is the Integrity Commissioner saying:

"It's not every race, it's not every race meeting, but on the continuum of activity I'd have to say that it's more frequent than it is rare."

https://www.punters.com.au/news/More-arrests-expected-in-harness-probe_158443/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter://www.punters.com.au/news/More-arrests-expected-in-harness-probe_158443/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

[thepacingman]

https://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/rose-city-racing-identity-arrested/3164525/

One very interesting line from the article:
"Darling Downs Harness Racing Club president Anthony Collins declined to comment."

[Messenger]

https://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/rose-city-racing-identity-arrested/3164525/

One very interesting line from the article:
"Darling Downs Harness Racing Club president Anthony Collins declined to comment."

I'm afraid I have to laugh at the statement

"I believe that dealing with these issues will eventually lead to increased wagering confidence in the industry"

Fixing is the worst of slurs which is regularly thrown at our code; if by 'eventually' he means a generation then maybe

[trish]

The Albion Park Harness Racing Club (the Club) totally supports the strict policing of the rules and the integrity of the industry. http://www.harness.org.au/news-article.cfm?news_id=33177

[trish]

http://mypolice.qld.gov.au/blog/2017/04/07/update-race-fixing-investigation/

[trish]

Wonder why this isn't on HRA web site??

[barney]

Same reason i wouldnt put up the name of the person involved protecting the guilty the sport is clean in there eyes.

[Messenger]

I have come to understand why none of the harness bodies would want to highlight bad news, I sometimes wonder*about posting it myself.
What I want to see most of all, hopefully comes later - reports of successful disqualification of cheats. Not that that is any better publicity.
Ultimately the only answer is measures that make it near impossible to cheat - I think that is what is behind the strict regulation of Hong Kong racing
Unfortunately the world's fools and low life have the capacity to ruin many things for all of us

[trish]

2nd one named. http://www.harnesslink.com/International/Another-arrest-in-race-fixing-scandal

[Fan of Jate]

I think that it is better if the bad publicity gets maximum exposure via print or electronically.

The public has to know that;


1) People who break the rules are getting caught
2) Harness racing authorities are indicating to all concerned that they are fair dinkum 100% committed to wiping out all cheats from the sport not just window dressing
3) Those caught not only face long disqualifications from racing but are also dealt with by the law where it applies in the particular offence.


I think that if people know that cheats are getting caught, found guilty then getting the appropriate penalty they are more likely to be convinced to stay in the sport and also new people can get to be involved in the game knowing cheats are being eliminated.

[strong persuader]

I think that it is better if the bad publicity gets maximum exposure via print or electronically.

The public has to know that;


1) People who break the rules are getting caught
2) Harness racing authorities are indicating to all concerned that they are fair dinkum 100% committed to wiping out all cheats from the sport not just window dressing
3) Those caught not only face long disqualifications from racing but are also dealt with by the law where it applies in the particular offence.


I think that if people know that cheats are getting caught, found guilty then getting the appropriate penalty they are more likely to be convinced to stay in the sport and also new people can get to be involved in the game knowing cheats are being eliminated.

Hear, hear!

Whilst it may seem like bad news at first glance, it actually is good news that every thing possible is being done to ensure that our sport is clean and must be welcomed by anyone wanting to be involved in it in whatever way they choose.

[trish]

Hi its Mark here , are you guys for real?. I don't mean to be disrespectful but there is no light at the end of the tunnel. There is no good news. People obviously don't want to join our sport the way it is & I think its too late anyway. I think too much has been lost to
salvage it & I don't know of anyone willing to put the future of this sport in front of their own personal agenda. I believe that there will always be questions asked when an industry that is responsible for its own image is also responsible for policing itself. It's always seemed to be a huge contradiction to me .

[Fan of Jate]

Steady on old chap!!! people come on here to give their opinions. You will find that if these cheats/criminals are rubbed out then the game will be better for it. Yes HRA do police themselves but just remember ,if you have been reading the posts over the last few years you will find that it is not just cheats/criminals ruining the game. It is the cost of breeding, general economic reasons, small trainers/owners being forced out, international horses winning shedfuls of money, the current handicapping system etc etc.


The good news tends to outweigh the bad in my opinion though. We all have agendas and I know quite a few people who try and put the sport in front but there needs to be a lot more doing that before things will change in some areas. There is no need to throw the towel in yet though we are not going as bad as Rugby union:0

[Messenger]

I understand where both camps are coming from.
I have only recently started to think along the lines of avoiding bad publicity - I think minimizing it until you have a positive result eg a lengthy conviction to go with it is where I am at now
I think Mark was being fervent rather than disrespectful. He could have added that good harness news Never reaches the general public. We are like a bad suburb to the media - I taught in one of these supposed bad suburbs and crimes that happened everywhere were only news when they happened in our suburb but you never heard about any good things.
I am not giving up but I have family heavily involved in the gallops world who have been telling me for years that harness has become irrelevant - I might need you to counter them Pat because at present I cannot argue with them

[Fan of Jate]

Kev, much to my disappointment I cant but give me harness racing any day over the gallops. Harness racing has always been the bad boy cousin to Gallops which is not called the sport of Kings for nothing. The difference between the 2 will never change. We are the Sunshine to the Toorak.
Corruption/racefixing has been twice as bad in gallops and a lot more money involved. The recent court cases where 2 big time trainers and associates were found not guilty over cobalt issues must have given a few blood noses surely.


We are relying on administrators to fix up the harness racing system and I say system because it is more about other issues (see previous posts) than a couple of 2 bit cane toads fixing the odd race- I would guess the money involved in this would be less than $20,000. The underlying issues in harness racing have been discussed ad nauseum.


Everyone involved in harness racing has to stand up and be counted- I notice quite a few people grumble and moan and then throw the towel in and are lost to the industry, they have to stand up and have their say. I still have faith in the industry and will continue to breed/buy a horse where possible for the next 2 years. If the administrators cannot sort out the issues by then, I will start following pigeon racing-Might even buy myself a nice Blue Boy Perter Jonker cock apparently they are the Pigeon worlds equivalent to Bettors delight.

[trish]

Might even buy myself a nice Blue Boy Perter Jonker cock apparently they are the Pigeon worlds equivalent to Bettors delight.


Hi Pat, at first I thought this was a great idea, so I started doing a bit of research but there is more in breeding pigeons than standerdbreds , long distance, short distance, middle distance but I'm not going to let it deter me. I'm going to start with a big old cranky grey one from Maitland showground. They are pretty fit already after being chased all day.

[Messenger]

LOL Trish loves her homebreds

[trish]

Pigeon cheating scandal: champion bird in race from south of France never left its Oxfordshire loft






http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2016/07/29/pigeon-large_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqhaQcnQgX1lblZ3yiN-_RsPLncINzufjVZjd_jxD0zyE.PNG Eamon Kelly sent a second set of pigeons with other contestants as a decoy Credit: Getty Images (library photo)


OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! You're not even safe in Pigeon Racing..... may have to look into Solitaire!!

[Fan of Jate]

Gawd- I think I tried to make that point in reply to Kev in a roundabout way. No sport no matter how minor has any number of rascals but using a decoy is a dastardly trick, has been tried before from memory and it was in the "Sport of Kings". I hope someone can cotton on to what I am saying.

[Hermione]

Finely the penny dropped :) :) :)

[aussiebreno]

While I hate the cheats in our industry, at least there is a vocal crowd who stands up to the cheats, Whilst there are a few apologists for the Harness cheats, there are a heck of a lot of cheat apologists in the thoroughbreds. Facebook and twitter is hard reading in regards to James Macdonald, Damien Oliver, Gai Waterhouse indiscretions.

[Messenger]

I missed this Harnesslink News reprint of an article from The North Queensland Register - they are clearly not happy

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/Racing-infrastructure-overhaul-announced

[Messenger]

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/Man-fined-for-Qld-harness-race-assaults

A man's anger over alleged race fixing at a Queensland harness racing track led to assaults on three drivers, a court has heard

I wouldn't think he could be taking exception to anything in Sir Rory's race on April 26 or August 12 as I cannot see anything in the April race and the back straight pressure in the August race was understandable after a 33 Quarter

http://www.harness.org.au/meeting-results.cfm?mc=AP260416&ms=qld#APC26041606

http://www.harness.org.au/meeting-results.cfm?mc=AP120816&ms=qld#APC12081603

There is plenty to contemplate in R5 on Oct 28 where the Gavin's had Hot Shot Anvil which I think is likely to be the most controversial of the 3 races in which they had starters

http://www.harness.org.au/meeting-results.cfm?mc=AP281016&ms=qld#APC28101605

[Messenger]

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/Queensland-integrity-chief-reassigned

"Queensland Racing Integrity Commission's integrity regulation unit head Norm Torpey has been permanently reassigned after an investigation into a misconduct complaint. Former police detective Joshua Elliot will manage the QRIC integrity unit while Torpey will be reassigned to the role as the senior harness racing steward, a position he has filled before."

It seems strange that you can be shifted from head of the Integrity Commission but still be OK to be a Steward

[Messenger]

The Integrity Commission has really been kept busy in QLD. Another Steward stood down

[thepacingman]

Another one charged.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/superracing/harness-racefixing-scandal-third-queensland-man-charged/news-story/fe8910558ab16e071356e39dfbd95cf0

[Messenger]

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/Gold-Coast-Club-takes-aim-at-Yatla-claims

Lets hope they put the track somewhere that people will go to

[trish]

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsAust/status/915559317863927808

[Messenger]

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsAust/status/915559317863927808

It will need a very strong reply/stance by the racing minister and authorities - IMO stories like this can nearly destroy an industry

[Messenger]

I was sent a link to a site that seriously questions the following old race

http://www.harness.org.au/racing/fields/race-fields/?mc=AP130615#APC13061504

Without the NSW betting details (assuming they are correct) you would be hard pressed picking anything wrong - scary if it was true

[Messenger]

Could this relate to this thread?

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/Fake-betting-charges-against-Brisbane-identity

To clarify, I am from Halls Gap not The Gap and I am 62 not 61 ;)

[thepacingman]

http://www.harness.org.au/racing/fields/race-fields/?mc=RE020617#REC02061704
http://www.harness.org.au/racing/fields/race-fields/?mc=PC010214#PCM01021410

Probably many more races with his name attached.

He's been around for many a long year. High profile in the media and as MC on many big nights at AP & HP. Interesting to hear how the terror financing laws come into play.

From the Courier Mail article.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A HARNESS racing identity will face court accused of running millions of dollars through a fake betting account.
Marshall Dobson, a 61-year-old from The Gap in Brisbane’s west, will face court next month after being charged under anti-money-laundering and terrorism-financing laws.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[Messenger]

I didn't realize it was Marshall Dobson - everybody has heard of Marshall Dobson

[Hermione]

Could this relate to this thread?

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/Fake-betting-charges-against-Brisbane-identity

To clarify, I am from Halls Gap not The Gap and I am 62 not 61 ;)

Glad you are in the clear :)

[Showgrounds]

Interesting.

Marshall was the Sydney-based trots writer for The Australian when I met him at Harold Park in 1974. Unbelievable now that an 18 year old was THE trots writer for our national daily broadsheet. More unbelievable that The Australian actually wrote anything about the trots. I used to buy it every Friday morning to get his write up for that evening's Harold Park meeting. That, and radio race broadcasts, was the only way a young Melbourne enthusiast could find out what the trots game was about in the mysterious Sin City.

Marshall was an amazingly talented young bloke who later published The Australian Standardbred and, I am told, was the man behind the Hair Testing Laboratory. A natural salesman, for sure.

It will be very interesting to follow his case.

[Messenger]

Neilson charged

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/Top-driver-charged-with-match-fixing-

[thepacingman]

The race in question.
http://www.harness.org.au/racing/fields/race-fields/?mc=RE091216#REB09121602

Only comment about the horse in the stewards report.
"SWIMRIDERUN (M Neilson) raced roughly after the start was effected and a warning was issued."

[trotnpace]

It´s a sad scenario.Takes more good efforts to undo just one bad act

[Messenger]

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/Queensland-man-faces-match-fixing-fraud-charges

Brisbane man faces match fixing, fraud charges

[thepacingman]

Three high-profile members of Queensland's harness racing industry have been arrested and charged with match-fixing.

Detectives from the state's Racing Crime Squad and Racing Integrity Commission charged premier driver Shane Graham, Leonard Cain and trainer Vicki Rasmussen on Saturday morning as part of an ongoing investigation into the industry.

Police allege the trio took part in rigging Race 2 on July 28 at Albion Park.

Mr Graham and Ms Rasmussen have also been charged with allegedly fixing Race 7 on October 6 at the same track.

"These arrests should be a significant warning to anybody who's involved in any of the racing codes in Queensland or elsewhere that if you participate in criminal activity such as match-fixing or sharing insider information with betting, you will be investigated," Detective Inspector Mick Dowie said.

"It doesn't matter who you are, you will be charged and put before the court."

As the state's leading harness driver, Mr Graham was selected to represent Australia in the World Driving Championship in Canada this year.

Ms Rasmussen is considered to be one of Queensland's strongest trainers.

The Racing Integrity Commission has suspended the licences of Mr Graham and Mr Cain.

Police said charges were also imminent for a fourth man who used inside information to turn a profit in the high thousands during the two races.

Detectives said three of the state's top six drivers were now facing match-fixing offences, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

All three offenders will front the Beenleigh Magistrates Court in January.

Queensland Racing Integrity Commissioner Ross Barnett said match-fixing of any kind damages the reputation of the sport.

"What it really is in its heart is cheating and stealing," Mr Barnett said.

"These people are stealing prize money from other participants in other races who are honest, hard-working people who are just seeking a fair go."

The Racing Integrity Commission was set up in the wake of the greyhound live baiting scandal.

The body was a recommendation of the inquiry into Queensland's racing industry, and was tasked with restoring integrity to state's racing codes.

[Fan of Jate]

They just keep getting caught, if found guilty of the charges this will really drive a hole into harness racing, this comment from detectives is damning:

Detectives said three of the state's top six drivers were now facing match-fixing offences, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.