Fine Cotton, the ‘weak’ horse in this scandal, had been raced in just about any race its owners could find in southern Queensland, Australia. Already suspicious from the betting action, the racing officials demanded Fine Cotton’s papers from his owner. Now, how about you get into some fair games and stay away from betting on brown horses that turn red. The real Fine Cotton, who became an unwitting player in the massive scandal. We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. The aftermath was a disaster, according to Haitana, apart from him having his taxi fare to stage a speedy retreat from backing the winner. At the time of the substitution, Fine Cotton’s odds were around 20-1. Fine Cotton, the ‘weak’ horse in this scandal, had been raced in just about any race its owners could find in southern Queensland, Australia. The service for him will be held today at Gawler racecourse, in South Australia, once forbidden territory. Investigations in three states failed to find Brown's killers. Their plans were met with little success as Bold Personality’s coat became red as opposed to the brown they had planned on. … Fine Cotton’s owner fled from the race track, revealing the ring into the officials. The race went on, and ‘Fine Cotton’ won the race by a nose. The story includes a vicious gangster, a used-car salesman, a hapless horse trainer and a bucket of hair dye. "It turned into quite a party,"Haitana added. There are related clues (shown below). Instead, they found a horse named, Bold Personality. Hayden Haitana, a central figure in the infamous Fine Cotton scandal, has died aged 72. "Some have weakness for the drink, some for women, some for the punt, and some for the con – but I'm lucky I've got the lot," Haitana is quoted in Fine Cotton and Me (Angus and Robertson), a memoir written with Graham Bauer. He was also sent to jail. Going on the whispered word, it was being offered for weeks previously in Sydney betting circles, but shunned by most. Lester Grimmett's notes and shorthand are on the page. Bold Personality were not paid. THE mastermind of the infamous Fine Cotton Affair has struck again, with a multi-million dollar scam involving a $44 million horse race, a Gold Coast nightclub singer, a former rugby league great, an art swindle and Muslim terrorist death threats. Trainer Hayden Haitana's life ban lifted over Fine Cotton ring-in scandal. "What time does the TAB open, Your Worship?". Fine Cotton, possibly the greatest racing scandal of our time, came to the fore this week with the death of Haitana, 72. "I hurried off to the betting ring with $20 and every cent of it went on Harbour Gold," he added. The 1984 scandal was front page news. THE Fine Cotton Affair is remembered as racing's most amateurish, comical ring-in. Haitana wrote to the RQ Board recently asking for the lifetime ban to be lifted so he … Hoysted and Sheil describe how news of the Fine Cotton scandal grew legs, so to speak, because of the central­ity of the racetrack in Australian life in those days. "The poor animal had been carted all over the place, dehydrated, dyed, bled, drenched, kept up late and now was to run over this particular distance for the first time in his life. he was asked. Bold Personality was red. "The interview lasted for two bottles of whisky …". 3 min read. Pages in category "Sports betting scandals" The following 42 pages are in this category, out of 42 total. *Why not read the incredible story of Flockton Grey , the horse behind another of racing's worst-ever scandals? "In green dishwashing gloves up to our elbows in brown bubbles we worked with a will and Bold Personality was a very sorry horse.". Fine Cotton’s owners were ready to substitute Fine Cotton for another horse, Dancing Solitaire, that looked exactly like Fine Cotton. Not being the most scrupulous, nor attentive, owners, Dancing Solitaire came up lame from running into a barb wire fence. I was at Warwick Farm and 10 minutes after the race knew the details and wouldn't have been in the first 1000 to hear of the planned sting. This week we are talking about the Fine Cotton Scandal! The ex-pat New Zealander was at the epicentre of Australia’s most infamous betting plunge, where the under-performing Fine Cotton was substituted by the better-credentialled Bold Personality for a race at Brisbane’s Eagle Farm in 1984. Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, has agreed to plead guilty to three federal criminal charges for its role in creating the nation's opioid … Robbie returned in 2001 while his father, who strongly denied previous knowledge, was given a bookmaking licence again in 2002. Trained by Brown, Risley was backed from 12/1 to 8/1 at Doomben around the same time. Apart from those on the wrong side, Fine Cotton produced more humour than anguish but Risley was grisly. The brown Australian thoroughbred gelding at the focus of the scandal was none other than Fine Cotton, who was oblivious to what his syndicate was scheming in the Commerce Novice (2nd division) Handicap over 1,500 meters at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane, Queensland. It's the racing scandal that stopped a nation. After all he had no identification papers for Fine Cotton or an exit policy but he never lost his nerve or sense of humour. "Do you need time to pay, Mr Haitana?" Fine Cotton. There wasn't a public whisper at Eagle Farm before the event but hooters chanted "ring-in" when the horses returned to the enclosure prompting official action and disqualification of "Fine Cotton", eventuating with all bets on him being lost. Haitana was the trainer of Fine Cotton, who was substituted for Bold Personality in an attempted nationwide betting plunge at Eagle Farm in Brisbane back in 1984. It’s no Fine Cotton scandal! 124 - The Fine Cotton Scandal - (Live w/Wil Anderson) Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds are joined by Australian Wil Anderson to examine The Fine Cotton Scandal live at The Comedy Store in Sydney, Australia. Nathan Exelby . Fine Cotton trainer Haitana was called to a steward initiated investigation, but was learned to have somewhat hastily departed the premises. White paint was also applied to give Bold Personality a resemblance to the white markings on Fine Cotton's hind legs. "He looked nothing like Fine Cotton," Haitana divulged to Bauer, necessitating a transformation the day before the race with "hair stuff" women use. They say cheaters never prosper and I’m not so sure that’s true but idiotic cheaters certainly never prosper. It was one of the most controversial events in Australian horse racing history: involving an impostor horse, a record betting plunge and a motley crew of colourful racing identities. Bold Personality (inside), racing as Fine Cotton © The Courier Mail. Essentially the scam goes like this; get two horses who look almost identical, race the weaker of the two horses in as many races as you can to drive down the odds of the horse ever winning a race, substitute the stronger of the two horses once the odds have become low enough, bet on that horse to win (which it likely will, because at that point the weaker of the two horses are running in some low-class races), and profit. Fine Cotton, possibly the greatest racing scandal of our time, came to the fore this week with the death of Haitana, 72. Once people began to see the horse trotting around the track, the obviously not, Fine Cotton’s odds went to 7-2. Suspiciously red in color, Bold Personality also had some white paint applied hastily to his hind legs. Hayden Haitana, the trainer linked to the Fine Cotton scandal, has died in South Australia. Robert North breaks his 30-year silence on the Fine Cotton racing scandal in this exclusive interview with Dan Nolan. The Waterhouse involvement was set alight by the Australian Jockey Club committee, which cut its law enforcement officer, John Schreck, loose on the case. At the time of the substitution, Fine Cotton’s odds were around 20-1. It is, perhaps, Australia’s most famous sporting scandal. No doubt Gillespie was a strong presence with the conspirators but another tagged "The Phantom" by Haitana was bigger. "All it would take was one professional who knew damn well Fine Cotton was black then all of us were down the drain," the trainer recalled. No history of racing … Haitana prepared both Fine Cotton, a no-account bush cuddy from NSW, for the Doomben Novice on August 18, 1984, as well as being involved in the paint job on the much superior stand-in Bold Personality. Matt is an award-winning Melbourne based comedian, writer, actor and director. This kind of action, on a race that was so inconsequential, stood out like a sore thumb to race officials and essentially destroyed Fine Cotton’s owners’ plans. Before the race, Fine Cotton’s odds went as low as 33-1. Later, when on the run, Haitana was apprehended in South Australia but damaged property in the hoosegow and was fined $140. The front cover of the racebook from the day of the infamous 1984 Fine Cotton ring-in scandal. Brisbane in the early 80s was the stage for the Fine Cotton comedy of errors, but the George Brown tragedy gave the scene a sinister tone. Bold Personality was selected, obviously on ability more than appearance. The plan was hatched by Gillespie in Boggo Road Gaol, after he met Haitana’s brother Pat, a jockey serving time for “kite flying”, criminal parlance for … Happy-but-hardly-go-lucky New Zealander Hayden Haitana, official trainer of Fine Cotton, supplied the laughs but the mirth subsides with recollections of Brown, savagely murdered in what many regard as his role in another alleged planned substitution that went wrong in the northern capital with no links to Fine Cotton. Fine Cotton was a ring-in, where a fast horse is substituted for a slow horse and those with the inside knowledge can bet with bookmakers at inflated odds. They also forgot to apply peroxide to Bold Personality’s hind legs to achieve the white markings of Fine Cotton. Clue: Fine cotton. Well, as it turned out, they couldn’t. How could they find a horse that looked like Fine Cotton, but was also a great racer like Dancing Solitaire? Another major player, John Gillespie, was also jailed while bookmakers Bill Waterhouse and son Robbie Waterhouse were warned off for having prior knowledge. Just about everyone knows the story of Fine Cotton, the horse at the centre of a racing ring-in in Brisbane in 1984, 26 years ago next week. The paint "dribbled down onto his shoes". Alas the next day the conspirators were aghast. The Fine Cotton Scandal - Do Go On Mini It was one of the most controversial events in Australian horse racing history: involving an impostor horse, a record betting plunge and a motley crew of colourful racing identities. Brown's body was found 15 kilometres north of Wollongong. The story is retold in new book The Fine Cotton Fiasco, by Peter Hoysted and Pat Sheil, (Ebury $34.99) in bookstores tomorrow. The Racing Queensland (RQ) Board has today decided to lift the lifetime ban imposed on Hayden Haitana in 1984 following the Fine Cotton scandal (Thoroughbreds). On August 18, 1984, ‘Fine Cotton’ lined up at the gate for a race called the 2nd Novice Handicap, a race for new horses making a name for themselves and old horses on their way out of horse racing. Fine cotton is a crossword puzzle clue. People as far away as India were placing bets on Fine Cotton. At the winner’s circle, while being weighed in, Fine Cotton’s paint began to run off his legs. A scheme months in the making, former bloodstock agent John Gillespie purchased a talented doppelgänger of not-so-talented horse Fine Cotton. "I think they felt sorry for me as I spoke of my dire peril and dragged names of heavies out of the air. Perhaps he can't be remembered as a credible witness considering his admission on his 60 Minutes appearance, geared around a "fear of his life" theme. On the day of Australia's biggest racing scandal, Fine Cotton's ring-in, Bold Personality, ran first - but with an unconvincing dyed coat and bandages on its legs to cover a bodged paint job. Presnell column: Fine Cotton ruse a comedy of errors. Fine cotton, aka Bold Personality, was disqualified from the race and everyone who placed bets on him lost their money as the second place horse was awarded the race. This list may not reflect recent changes (). This week we are talking about the Fine Cotton Scandal! Haitana, for reasons he never explained, was earmarked to “train” the horse. Now the mastermind behind it claims the scam was an elaborate "double sting" that earned him $1.8 million. "His racing plates were supposed to be checked and he could have been disqualified for having running spikes, but there was no inspection. Cheating in horse racing has a long and storied history but I’m going to focus on a specific kind of cheating in this article called a ‘substitution scam’ or sometimes called a ‘ring in ‘. Fine Cotton rort: Racing ring-in scandal revived by death of horse trainer Hayden Haitana. HAYDEN Haitana is "finding it hard to believe" that his 29-year-ban over the Fine Cotton affair had finally come to an end. Fine Cotton, a moderately performed gelding, was backed from $34 to $4.50 and won — before the alarm was raised. Subsequently Haitana was warned off Australian racecourses for life by stewards until the ban was lifted in 2013. Please try again later. Fine Cotton mess. He has been writing, directing and creating comedy since 2009. "You wouldn't put a zac into an operation featuring Hayden Haitana," one wag told me. Fine Cotton, the real Fine Cotton, died in 2009 at the age of 32. "Not a burgundy nor maroon sort of red but a gaudy, glossy bright red," the trainer explained. The official 1984 racebook, with the page featuring Fine Cotton, from the infamous Fine Cotton ring-in day. Not to be deterred, the owners got some hair dye from the local supermarket with plans on dying all of the Bold Personality to match Fine Cotton’s color. 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