Antepost: Blood on the Carpet

In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed, Nirvana released their Nevermind album, the Americans marched into Kuwait and the Iraqis marched out. Indeed the world would never be the same again.

In horseracing too it was a memorable year. Generous was an awesome winner of the Derby, New Zealand-bred Seagram took the Grand National, and Garrison Savannah carried trainer’s son Mark Pitman over the line ahead of the Gold Cup field.

But, forgetting rolls of honour, one of the momentous happenings of the turf this particular year, and of the entire decade, was the remarkable gamble landed in the opening race of the Cheltenham Festival, the Supreme Novices Hurdle. The horse was Destriero and the owner a certain J.J. Furlong, better known as Noel — having been born on Christmas Day.

Once raced, a double-digit price, and unconsidered right up until the jockeys were given the order to mount, a mountain of cash poured in for his runner, decimating his odds into an eventual 6/1 starting price (SP).

If placing the bets was a well orchestrated plan, landing the coup, in one of the toughest races to win at the biggest meeting of them all, was executed with clinical precision. Destriero’s four-length trouncing of eventual Champion Hurdle winner Granville Again was as pleasing to the eye as it was to Noel Furlong’s bank balance, which grew by a substantial seven figures.

There was more to come. A colossal ante-post double was now running with Ladbrokes, the second selection was another Furlong owned racehorse, The Illiad in the Champion Hurdle.

The Illiad already had his own place in horseracing folklore as (just a few months beforehand) he had landed the fabled Ladbrokes Hurdle at Leopardstown, netting Furlong one million in winning bets — half of which was used by him to reach a settlement with Her Majesty’s Customs & Excise for a VAT debt. This allowed the owner into the country, and more importantly into Prestbury Park, without fear of arrest.

Victory for The Illiad in the Champion Hurdle would net around £5 million. Little wonder his price contracted from 33/1 to an SP of 11/2 within 24 hours, and Mike Dillon, who accepted the huge double believed his ulcer was about to burst.

Sadly it was not to be, The Illiad trailed in 21st having never been seen with a chance. No excuses were ever offered for the poor display, but nearly two decades on Noel Furlong has confessed he should possibly not have run the horse who was suffering from dehydration.

Who Wants Their Lights Turned Off?

Was the nineties a better decade for gambling or was it just that betting coups, legitimate or otherwise, were more apparent? One thing is for certain — few were aware of the popularity of football betting in the Far East.

These days we all know millions are turned over on high-profile televised matches, but in the late 90s no one could have known how much and to what ends some punters would go to win.

Asian bookmakers, a law unto themselves in every sense, did and still do pay out on an abandoned game, as a result at the time of abandonment. Little surprise there was a spate of lighting failures on evening games in 1997!
Trouble is, officials had no idea what was causing the spate of floodlight malfunctions until Malaysian’s Chee Kew Ong and Eng Hwa Lim were caught red-handed at Charlton Athletic’s ground with enough electrical equipment to black out a city.

Profits of up to £60 million have been estimated for the gang which employed the pair to execute the scam.