[thezbar]

Heavy action on Smoking Aces triggered an investigation into race fixing.
http://aussiecriminals.com.au/tag/race-fixing/

[thezbar]

Here's the full race. The winning jockey was questioned by the stewards for his actions at the 45/50 second part of this replay.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M1gBp3e4Ic

[str]

If I understand it correctly, the horse that finished 2nd was the favorite and the question is, did others try and box him in to allow the eventual winner to win?

[thezbar]

Correct. The winner was a first time stater and dropped from 10/1 to 5/1 at post time. Jockey Mark Zahra was riding the Darley runner in the Maroon silks who is the widest runner turning for home. As it stands now he will take a big cut in pay because of this race. http://www.news.com.au/sport/superra...-1226444925284

[str]

This is a very interesting investigation to say the least.
In watching the race multiple times, there are several things that are not necessarily wrong but when you piece them together along with the accusations, they do demand answers. The looking back twice at the 45-50 sec. mark is interesting. Looking over once is absolutely fine and almost expected as he is getting ready to drop in a bit and no looking over would have been perceived as reckless if something had gone wrong. It's the 2nd look over that is odd. It's almost like he saw it but wanted to confirm it. When looking over to drop in a bit, you don't need to confirm it, it's clear or it isn't, and it was. That is a possible red flag. The rider with the other maroon type cap that boxes in the favorite after an 1/8th or so, does have every reason to be there but you could say it was a bit odd that he move on the turn where he did. However, he had a golden opportunity to slam the door on the favorite at the 59-101 sec. mark and did not. With his horse still on it's left lead, that would have been very easy to do.
From just the replay, it would be very hard to make a fair case against these guys. They have plenty more though and this will need to be pieced together. Ultimately, if the allegations are true, I think they will figure it out. I hope so.
Racing has a lot of pent up frustration pointed towards it. Much of this is due to the never ending conspiracy theories that exist these days. And while some may be true, the overwhelming majority of them are not. However, it is the "some may be true" portion of that statement that allows all of this to continue.
So, you can't always blame those that don't trust . Let's face it, if gambling and or money is involved, corruption exists. It really doesn't matter what sport or venue you are dealing with. Racing, sports, stocks, banking, politics, it's all wide open for abuse. I have to think that chariot races were fixed from time to time in Rome back in the day. So, in my mind, it certainly is nothing new.
I can't speak about those things that I have never been involved with but I never understood why race tracks did not have a system set up so that when players had a question or a ruling had been made, there would be a format available, set up to further explain why something was done for those that wanted to fully understand. We see the NFL getting officials in the booth these days to help people understand things but at the track, a horse gets DQed or not , they show the replay, and sometimes 3/4s of the people watching the TV monitor walk away upset with no recourse. With all of the available resources of communication available for fans to ask and tracks to answer, this seems like a no brainer to me. Maybe I should set up a poll for something like this. Hmmm.

[thezbar]

Solid post as usual str. Hopefully some others will post their thoughts also.

[Stockdale]

Ive watched this multiple times and cannot see how it could be deemed race fixing. Many MANY horses get backed heavily first up because the connections know it is going well and should win. This just looks like they knew he was the best horse, kept him wide and out of trouble and was just too good.

The jockeys looking around at other horses should not bring up any suspicion

[MatI]

Not sure if this can be watched overseas, but there was a special on this investigation and other allegations on an Aussie current affairs program called 4 Corners last week. It was a good report, here is the link - http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/984013

[thezbar]

Not sure if this can be watched overseas, but there was a special on this investigation and other allegations on an Aussie current affairs program called 4 Corners last week. It was a good report, here is the link - http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/984013

I could not pull this up as I live in the states. However I have seen the 4 corners episode via the embedded link in post one of this thread. It is quite interesting to say the least.
To do follow the racing down under Matl?

[MatI]

I could not pull this up as I live in the states. However I have seen the 4 corners episode via the embedded link in post one of this thread. It is quite interesting to say the least.
To do follow the racing down under Matl?

Sorry, I read through that original link but I didn't notice it had the 4 corners story - hence why i re-posted. My bad.

To be honest, I don't follow the horse racing that closely down here. I prefer sports betting. But I have been following this story closely.

Another story published in my local paper today - http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ra...814-246zb.html

[thezbar]

Sorry, I read through that original link but I didn't notice it had the 4 corners story - hence why i re-posted. My bad.

To be honest, I don't follow the horse racing that closely down here. I prefer sports betting. But I have been following this story closely.

Another story published in my local paper today - http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ra...814-246zb.html

No worries mate! This thread has much more meaning if you take the time to watch the four corners episode.
Your link in post eight is cleaner and more direct for someone viewing this for the first time. The newspaper story in post 10 is painting a clearer picture as to what exactly they think happened in the Smoking Aces race. In addition this story could be the beginning of structural changes that are long overdue in the industry.

[thezbar]

Ive watched this multiple times and cannot see how it could be deemed race fixing. Many MANY horses get backed heavily first up because the connections know it is going well and should win. This just looks like they knew he was the best horse, kept him wide and out of trouble and was just too good.

The jockeys looking around at other horses should not bring up any suspicion

I've seen the pp's for this race. The racing digest has a handicapping tool called a factional pace analysis. If one were to do this and then watch this race a red flag appears at the start. I also found the editing of this race in the four corners episode interesting. Some key parts of that race may have been omitted on purpose to avoid legal hassles. Add to this Darley distancing themselves from a jockey and a new report of a third party involved with a $5000 kickback. Brazen and sad at the same time if true.