0:04

It's sports bizarre. Some of these stories

0:06

you would say that cannot be true.

0:08

The hunt for

0:10

the weirdest. It's a masterclass in

0:13

how not to do things. Strangers.

0:15

Things are only going

0:21

to get more bonkers. Most

0:23

unbelievable. The most genius thing I've

0:25

ever heard. You say evil. I

0:28

say brilliant. Stories to ever occur.

0:30

An unparalleled array of deadbeats. A

0:32

mecca for colourful characters. In the world

0:34

of sports. Had a taste for testicle soup.

0:37

Can I just stop you for a sec?

0:39

Don't act like you've never done this. Sports

0:41

bizarre. Open his mouth and a sparrow flew

0:43

out. Sweat face down with

0:45

a compass to make sure that his

0:47

head was pointing north. He hit so

0:49

many sixes into the members that they

0:51

retrieved into the bar. I'd better lie

0:53

down after that. It's time for the

0:56

leaders of the hunt. It's 10 cent

0:58

beer night at the bull bar. It's

1:00

Titus O'Reilly and Mick Molloy. Welcome

1:02

everybody to the latest episode of

1:04

Sports Bazaar and I'll bet

1:07

you've been counting down the

1:10

days, the hours till we boot

1:12

this story home. Hi, I'm

1:14

Mick Molloy and of course, Titus O'Reilly who

1:17

has dropped us right in the middle

1:19

of the fine cotton affair scandal. Yeah.

1:21

Whatever you want to call it. And

1:24

where you took us to was

1:27

the brink of the disaster itself.

1:29

Yeah. And this is on the eve

1:31

and then they've woken up. Found

1:34

they've got a horse that looks like a big tomato.

1:37

It's bright red. It's bright red. And we're

1:39

hours away from racing in what could be

1:42

the biggest sting in Australian racing history. It's

1:44

race day. They got the race later that

1:46

day. Eagle farm. They're in Brisbane. They've

1:48

died the horse with human hair. The

1:50

horse has been stressed out the day

1:52

before. Yeah. They've had a big night

1:55

on the source. They've wandered out in

1:57

the morning and it's fire truck red.

1:59

It is not. not only not the color

2:01

of fine cotton, which is the horse they're trying

2:03

to flop it for, it's a color no horse

2:05

has ever been and doesn't occur

2:07

in nature. I

2:10

was just going to say one word, but two,

2:12

late scratching. At this point,

2:14

for these people and what's at stake

2:16

and the big money backers

2:18

who are presuming of underworld connections, its

2:22

stakes are too high than to

2:24

proceed with the plan

2:26

in such a half-assed state. The thing we

2:28

don't know is we don't know who the people

2:30

are behind it, but they know that another trainer

2:32

has been killed for not going through with

2:34

a ring. Now, whether Gillespie

2:37

being the con man in Lyra is,

2:40

is not communicating back up the chain that

2:43

this has gone wrong, this has happened, this

2:45

is our current situation, we think it's better

2:47

to just not go through

2:50

with it and they might have said, yep, we don't want

2:52

to get busted, let's stop. Or whether he

2:54

is just such a, I can still pull this

2:56

off. And whether he's not telling them

2:58

up the chain, the problem, and

3:00

he's pushing this through on his own, or whether

3:02

he's put it up the chain and they've gone,

3:05

we don't care, you guys get it

3:07

done. Either way, they feel they can't stop, you

3:11

know, a little, a little conceived. Yeah, and

3:13

at this point they think we're screwed. Yeah.

3:16

This is done. So they're

3:18

all gathered there. They decide, let's

3:20

move the horse close to the

3:22

track. We'll take it to Robert

3:24

North's place, who's one of the

3:26

other conspirators who is a socialite.

3:29

His house is in a

3:31

leafy, expensive suburb of Brisbane,

3:34

right? So they take

3:36

this bright red horse in

3:39

the front yard of the street. They

3:42

bring out fine cotton, the actual horse.

3:46

And they bring out bold personality, the

3:48

bright red horse. So anyone in that

3:51

quiet, expensive suburb who walked past

3:53

that house on that day can

3:55

see a bright red fire truck

3:57

colored horse and another brown horse.

3:59

horse eating the plants. Right.

4:03

And then decide we need to hose this horse

4:05

down. Maybe we can wash some of this off.

4:08

You think to do North

4:10

as furious because he knows he's going

4:12

to ruin his grass. We

4:17

got bigger problems than

4:20

your grass, mate. They

4:22

start scrubbing and washing the horse

4:25

down. And there are pools of

4:27

brown water gathering on

4:29

the grass at its feet. And

4:32

after a little bit of doing this, they find

4:34

that the red kind

4:36

of goes and it returns

4:38

to a sort of a brownish color.

4:41

Right. It's not that close to find

4:43

cotton. It's not

4:45

firetruck red. It's a brown. Oh, that's

4:47

good. So they think, okay, this is

4:50

better than we were in an hour ago.

4:52

Right. It's not great. The dye job hasn't

4:54

really worked that well, but we've pulled it

4:56

back. So they're all standing

4:58

there watching the horse, looking at

5:01

their handiwork going, okay, maybe. And

5:04

then Gillespie remembers that the

5:06

fine cotton on its back legs has

5:08

white. Tana says,

5:11

no worries. And grabs a spray

5:13

can of white spray paint. Right.

5:18

And steps up and sprays the horse's

5:21

hind legs. A

5:23

current affair, the TV news program,

5:26

did a reenactment of this and actually

5:28

sprayed into the horse. Legs

5:31

to show when it's great on YouTube.

5:34

And so white and brown paint is

5:36

mixing and running onto the ground. So

5:38

it's now dripping paint with horse. Well,

5:41

that's foretelling. And they look at the horse's

5:43

legs and go, that didn't really work very

5:45

well. No, plan B. So they put bandages

5:47

across the legs. See now

5:49

often horse raisins and thundung fields. So

5:52

they decide to do that, to try

5:54

and mask the nightmare.

5:56

One step ahead, always. Now

6:00

as they stand there going, this isn't

6:02

our finest work. This is not great.

6:05

Hadiya suddenly notices that they haven't

6:07

shod bald personality. It doesn't

6:10

have shoes on it. Got no shoes. Got no

6:12

shoes. They're

6:14

racing like a bag of flowers. So

6:19

he gets on the phone. He says, not to worry,

6:21

grab me the phone book. This is before mobile phones

6:23

ever. There is, there is. And he

6:25

finds a bloke that he knows. And he

6:27

goes, I'll get Teddy to come do it. Teddy, good

6:30

bloke, won't ask any questions. Cash in hand. Which

6:34

is not what you wanted at his place. They're

6:36

on the front lawn, so in full view of everyone.

6:39

Like, so they're not exactly covering their tracks, right?

6:43

He shows up in his van. He doesn't ask any questions. He asks for

6:45

a beer. I

6:47

give him a beer. He looks at it. And

6:49

he says, this horse looks like a racer, like a

6:51

racehorse. And they go, yeah, it is. And he goes,

6:53

I've only got paces shoes, which means

6:56

for harness racing. Right.

6:59

Now, harness racing horses are in a harness race,

7:01

you know, they've got the buggy attached to them.

7:04

They're thicker to provide more

7:06

stability. Sure. While you're going around

7:08

the corners with this thing attached to you, where racehorses

7:11

are like sprinter shoes. They're

7:13

really thin. Yeah. So I

7:15

guess I don't have. Crocs. Yeah, that's

7:17

right. Like it's the difference between riding in

7:19

Nalaki's compared to Blunstone. One

7:22

for a different part. I'm

7:24

surprised the horse didn't run in Blunstone.

7:27

Yeah, exactly. This is insane. He

7:29

says, I've only got these paces shoes.

7:32

Haitana says, just bung them on.

7:35

It's too late to worry about. He

7:37

does it. And they pay him cash now. And

7:39

he leaves. Probably

7:42

wondering what they're going on. The only

7:44

man who have made money from this. I think you're

7:46

right. Fair. So

7:49

they're all standing there now considering their situation. They've

7:51

got a ring in that doesn't look like the

7:53

horse they're trying to swap it for. The

7:55

horse has gone through hell in the last 48 hours.

7:58

Over dehydrated. rehydrated, rehydrated,

8:01

it's been bled,

8:04

painted, spray painted

8:06

and now it's got the wrong

8:08

shoe. It's got the wrong shoe

8:10

shots. And it's got a couple of hours. And it's

8:12

got a win. Gillespie

8:14

assures everyone it's going to be fine. He

8:16

said, stewards and cops are in on it.

8:19

Hetan is not convinced. He

8:22

still thinks that giving funcotton amphetamines is

8:24

a better plan. Right?

8:26

He's the voice of reason. And that seems

8:29

like you kind of listen to this game.

8:31

He's probably right. Yeah. So

8:33

when you think the guy with the plan to

8:36

inject speed into a horse is the one with

8:38

the sensible eye. Yeah. You know,

8:40

you're in a bad situation. He

8:42

insists on taking both horses to Eagle

8:44

Farm racetrack. Let's keep our options

8:46

open. Let's keep the plan. He says it's

8:48

not too late. If

8:52

we decide the last moment at the whiff of we might not

8:54

be able to pull this up, we can always swap in fine

8:56

cotton. So Gillespie is not up for this.

8:58

He thinks this is a stupid idea, but he agrees

9:01

to let him bring fine cotton along as well to

9:03

Eagle Farm. All right. Just to keep

9:05

him happy. But he knows there's no way we're not

9:07

doing this. We're not

9:09

racing the right horse. So

9:11

they will take off and they arrive at the

9:13

racetrack and they pull in, they

9:15

park, where trainers and everyone's way

9:17

to park bring the horses in. They

9:20

open up the horse float and bold

9:22

personality has dripped paint

9:25

all over the base of the horse

9:27

float. It's covered in air dye and

9:29

paint. Air dye and paint. They

9:32

put a blanket over it and take it to the stables

9:34

hoping people don't really get a look at it. It's

9:37

not for attention to ourselves. Yeah.

9:39

Fine cotton's left in the float for the day. Right.

9:43

The problem is Haitana decides to give

9:45

it the ampheta means anyway just in case.

9:52

So this means fine cotton's in for a bad day

9:54

because it's going to be a bad day. It's

9:57

going to be on speed but locked in a metal four point.

10:00

area. So that's not great. You only hear a

10:02

horse kicking the side of a barn. Yeah. There's

10:04

going to be a fair bit of it is

10:06

going to be a lot of that right you

10:08

got an amp tupple. It's the

10:10

asco. Yeah. Is the word that is

10:13

springing the mime. Bold personality

10:15

is due to run in race 4 which

10:17

is called the second commerce novice. Now

10:19

it is a race for

10:22

so-called emerging races but not horses but

10:24

not ladens. No but not particularly talented

10:26

horses or old horses that are basically

10:28

past it. This is a nothing race.

10:31

It's just a normal Saturday racing Queensland.

10:33

It is like it is no one

10:35

is paying attention to this race. It

10:38

is not an important race. None of these horses

10:40

are destined to go on to do anything. Everyone

10:42

knows that or it's horses that are well past

10:44

it. It's just total filler. Something to give the

10:46

person out the card. Fill out the card. None

10:48

of the horses are good.

10:52

None of them. Bold personality

10:54

is of such

10:56

class because it's one group two's that

10:58

wouldn't even be allowed a race in

11:00

this. So if you applied bold personality

11:03

race in this under don't know they'd

11:05

say no. It's like going down five

11:07

divisions right. It's just totally pointless. They

11:09

hope the papers that Gillespie's had forged will stand

11:12

up. The checks. The problem

11:14

is and he hasn't told them this that

11:16

while he was in jail his master printer

11:18

has disappeared. So he's sort of

11:20

had to do it through other ways. So the papers are

11:22

not very good. So where's he had this done? Just

11:25

someone else in here but not the other

11:27

guy was really good. This guy. It's

11:30

a big problem. But he doesn't say

11:32

it to anyone. It doesn't someone. So

11:34

Haitan is in the stables with the

11:36

horse with bold personality before the

11:39

race. The stewards come by. We

11:42

don't know they're in on it in that Gillespie says

11:44

they're in on it but you would never believe anything

11:46

Gillespie says at any point in all of his.

11:49

So Haitan is absolutely panicking.

11:51

The stewards come up. They know

11:53

him. They know about fun. Cotton

11:55

is in the horse's race before.

12:00

even look at the horse barely all the papers.

12:03

Which we're told was actually quite common

12:05

practice as well. But also

12:07

it makes Haitanis don't think maybe Gillespie's

12:10

right, they are in on it. So

12:12

conflicted. The reason this becomes suspicious though,

12:14

like even though Haitanis right that the

12:16

students don't give this a good look.

12:20

Gillespie is right. He does have a lot

12:22

of the police and other people on

12:25

site. The way he's got them

12:27

on site is he hasn't bribed them. He's

12:29

just told them about, he's got cut them

12:31

in on the ring in. The

12:34

idea is no one is to gamble at Eagle

12:36

Farm on course. The idea

12:39

is because the offsite bookies that

12:41

are illegal bookmakers, they go off

12:43

the track price. So

12:46

the idea is if you don't do a betting plunge

12:48

at the track, the odds will stay long and the

12:51

suspicion will not be stewards and everything

12:53

won't think. Problem is Gillespie's

12:56

told a bunch of police, a bunch of

12:58

other people about this and they've all gone

13:00

and told everyone else. And so

13:02

we're about to see the biggest betting plunge in

13:05

the history of Australian racing on

13:08

a horse that's meant to be a secret. This

13:10

will get your attention. So this is always the

13:12

hardest bit. I've said it before, putting the money

13:14

on a dodgy thing is the habit because if

13:17

a lot of money comes in for a, this

13:19

is a pointless Queensland race that no one is

13:21

interested in and then suddenly millions of dollars are

13:23

coming in for it. People start to

13:25

go, and this has happened in Queensland before, it's

13:27

the most corrupt state in the

13:29

country and racing is corrupt at this point,

13:32

even by racing standards by a lot. The

13:35

minute any movement comes in that's weird,

13:38

everyone's like something's up here. If

13:40

a horse comes in half a dollar on

13:42

track, people are going. Yeah, what do people

13:44

know? And there's a feeding fringe. You get

13:46

on on the basis of that. So as

13:48

the day starts, fine cotton's odds, now fine

13:50

cotton's not running, but they all think it's

13:52

fine cotton, are 33 to one. Oh,

13:55

that's juicy. That's a juicy thing, right? Which

13:58

makes sense because fine cotton's not running. Cottons,

14:00

a bad horse and even in

14:03

this bad field is like really

14:05

bad. Yes. But the word's

14:07

now out that the fix is in. And

14:09

the big thing is often you want to keep these things quiet, but

14:12

the fix is in. The idea was if you

14:14

don't bear the track and bat off site

14:16

at other places that won't raise his fish

14:18

until later, right? So the thing is money

14:20

starts to come in for fine cotton.

14:23

First of all, the problem is it comes in at the track. Yes.

14:26

Secondly, the word's got out around the

14:28

country. So

14:31

money is coming in from every

14:33

state of Australia and

14:35

bookies as far away as Fiji, Vanuatu

14:38

and Papua New Guinea. There's

14:41

been a big plunge in Papua New

14:43

Guinea. Like Tom Hanks in Castaway would

14:45

have heard about the economy violence. Like

14:48

this is how bad the thing is,

14:50

right? This is... What are the

14:52

implications for the backers, the big backers? Because they need to

14:54

get on first, right? They need to get on at 33.

14:57

Also, this is pre-innit. So you've got to

14:59

go around to different bookies and put bets

15:01

on. You've got to have people actually physically

15:03

doing it, going around to pubs where there's like

15:05

illegal bookies and you can't just go in and go, here's

15:07

like a million dollars. You've got to go in and go...

15:09

You've got to do it kind of at the same time.

15:12

It's a bit like him running around a chemist to chemist.

15:14

You've got to run around and go, oh, here's 10 grand

15:16

here, 10 grand here, 10 grand here, 10 grand here. So

15:18

that's how you... Because a lot of them won't take bigger

15:20

bets. They've got people whose job it is to go and

15:22

do all that, right? But the problem now is everyone's trying

15:24

to get on fine cotton. The odds will start

15:26

to come in and then you're not

15:28

making as much money, but it also signals that something

15:30

is up. 33 to 1, it couldn't come in a

15:32

lot. Yeah. This is unheard of the

15:34

amount of money coming in on a small Queensland

15:36

horse race like this, right? This

15:39

is like Melbourne Cup money coming on, but for a nothing

15:41

race. Over the course

15:43

of the morning, the odds of fine cotton first dropped from 33 to

15:45

1 to 20 to

15:47

1. 25 minutes before the race, betting

15:50

on the track officially opens. Because betting on

15:52

tracking Australia at this point in time is

15:54

legal. Track is illegal, but there's

15:56

heaps of people that are all illegal bookies.

15:58

Every part's got no legal bookies. Okay, so

16:00

on the track, That's it. I can twenty

16:02

five minutes out from the rice. The odds

16:04

instantly job say sorry to want to Twenty

16:06

one Twenty five minutes. Before. It

16:08

starts dropping said I am for

16:10

a full twenty to one fifty

16:13

one and it stops at Seventy

16:15

Two. April Favorite Ah ah ah

16:17

and it is the biggest employer

16:19

decides ever seen and know fine

16:21

cotton. Is. Now equal favorite

16:23

with the horse Harbor Gold which everyone expects

16:25

is hop ago designers lot easier to the

16:27

rest of field and it's one of the

16:29

up to eat should win and any was

16:31

but i was five fund raiser but suddenly

16:34

these holes that's never won anything is high

16:36

plus. So. Anyone with half a

16:38

brain is looking at these. Going to

16:40

some is rather even. Paypal.

16:42

Not in on the scam of now heard

16:44

the rumors or as what's the money coming

16:46

anywhere on horse watching those his is just

16:48

gonna get a year yet yet on the

16:50

as the and I neither fixes it's no

16:52

one is looking at these going a mighty

16:54

fine. Cotton's x a really good bye all

16:57

know. This. Is.i is a clean

16:59

line dodgy thing happening and on one

17:01

minutes john more The butterfly grain is

17:03

a council breeze and punter. He'd.

17:06

Been tipped off a bad his agent the

17:08

backing the holes in both Queensland and New

17:10

South Wales. Fine as clock the wife of

17:12

a big Panda Cub dairy clock safely to

17:14

bring them with big plastic bags full of

17:17

cash. Destined. All gone fine

17:19

cotton Her husband Gary Clark walk up

17:21

to bookmark a mock rate is very

17:23

famous book nice try assists and he

17:26

won debate. Six thousand dollars on it.

17:28

Raid remarked is this isn't a ringing

17:30

I'm not here. And start

17:32

betting on fine cotton. Say was one of the

17:34

bookies that way. entire somewhere else. It's

17:36

southport a pregnant woman insane handing over

17:38

piles of cash for the horse. In

17:41

high bad investment banker by them they

17:44

mary's lying his bets is nice. Big

17:46

time Ponta in Sydney. normally he put

17:48

fifty thousand dollars on laugh at the

17:50

app and dog tracks for the great

17:52

hands. Nice Sydney A dodgy Catholic priests

17:54

called Father Edward I die I was

17:56

saying punting with any book he would

17:59

take his money. One fine cotton.

18:01

It gets to the point where. Pandas,

18:03

Are taking any olds? I wouldn't have a

18:05

book. He goes well. I'll give you one

18:08

to one. They light up though it if

18:10

it's like they just getting on rights at

18:12

the racetrack itself. Days in

18:14

the standing. A man of police.

18:17

At. The track including and. Most

18:19

of the fraud squad. A

18:21

Ccs and their own Mr doing closed

18:23

mind watching they not working there all

18:25

their to have put money on to

18:27

slide cotton say you got the police

18:29

for we ran for oil of God

18:31

it was in Ny your own arrive

18:33

at one of the most interesting pandas

18:36

that a Eagle farm. Is. Mailed

18:38

li woman named Mona Louis. Sees.

18:41

The Police Commissioner of Queensland,

18:43

Terry Lewis's mother. Teases

18:45

hey to put on dodgy visit every access

18:48

say that they had a bet on fine

18:50

cotton for him. For. The Police

18:52

Commissioner is in on it. This. And.

18:55

His enough not to do it in

18:57

person site and to see bits big

18:59

with a riles bookmakers John Sinclair. She's.

19:02

Dismayed because the bookies or

19:04

realize what's going on. And.

19:07

They know Diogenes taken at Slate Boss

19:09

that as a day the one the

19:11

L. So who's gonna lose the money?

19:13

The bookies. They died. more money in

19:15

the net again at the pile. Why?

19:17

Mode always punters rights. They'll lose millions

19:19

of dollars. But now.

19:22

John. Sinclair realizes he's got the police

19:24

Commissioner effectively betting with him and say

19:26

the police commissioners in on it so

19:29

they can tell anyone but library blow

19:31

the whistle. icons, layovers. Yeah because at

19:33

the time the Queensland Police Force news

19:36

been proven light I would make people

19:38

literally disappear. And I mean is he

19:40

never coming back again? Attacking the bat

19:43

if you challenge the corruption the desert

19:45

series was in Clinton I would kill

19:47

Paypal. they sent them a side the

19:49

bookies as the he has a date

19:52

Mona's. Say silly robbed by the police

19:54

commissioner? It so they realize I gotta suck

19:56

it up. Now. in

19:58

sydney mix i as a man Gillespie

20:00

claims his funding the scam. He's

20:03

listening to the radio and radio racing

20:05

commentator, Mel Meekle, who's down in Sydney,

20:07

comes on the radio and says, and

20:09

if you're having a bet in Brisbane,

20:11

race four, number five, fine cotton, watch

20:13

the market moves, but it's a good

20:15

each way chance at odds. And

20:18

Meekle says, it's like now everyone knows this

20:20

is the worst kept secret

20:22

in history. This is

20:25

incredible. Millions of dollars in our staked

20:27

on fine cotton. Gus

20:29

Philpott at the time was an

20:32

ambitious apprentice jockey and

20:34

he gets a call from Haitana a few days before

20:36

and says, would you ride fine cotton? He's

20:38

not in the scam in any way, shape or form.

20:40

And Tim, it's not a big deal. He's racing a

20:42

few other times that day. He's a young jockey, can't

20:44

up and cover. And he's like, great, I'll

20:47

do an extra race on the day. He says, when

20:49

I came into the mountain yard, the

20:52

trainer, Hayden Haitana, didn't make any declarations

20:54

that fine cotton was a certainty. Actually,

20:56

he just sounded like a nervous country

20:58

trainer hoping he'd get come to the

21:01

big smoke and win a race. Philpott

21:03

climbs aboard and slowly trots around the

21:05

mountain yard. It's a 12 horse

21:07

field. He does a slow

21:10

lap, you know, the mountain yard before

21:12

they go out onto the track. He notices

21:14

the other jockeys all staring at fine cotton.

21:18

He returns their gaze and they look up

21:20

at him. One jockey smiles, two more winked

21:22

at him, and another gave him the thumbs

21:24

up signal. They

21:26

all know. So everyone

21:29

else says, he thinks this

21:31

is very strange. He doesn't, he said,

21:33

I was naive and innocent. And he's going,

21:37

why are these other jockeys being so nice to

21:39

me? This is really weird, but he thought maybe

21:41

they're just very welcoming here. I don't know. So

21:45

we now get to the race. The dive cast,

21:47

Bob, personally is on the track. Literally,

21:50

it goes very easy into the

21:52

racing gate. It's ready to start

21:54

a gate. It's ready to go.

21:56

The Money is all on the race that

21:58

stops the nation. Minimum wage able

22:01

to live in fact would have been

22:03

a and then a lotta listening. Iran

22:05

is listening and soon dinner. So.

22:08

The race starts. And bulb

22:10

personality. Is. Slow at

22:12

at the gate and in Iran

22:14

guys it's just a few few

22:16

seconds. Library: Nice. On I. And.

22:20

Then it's like. The pent

22:22

up frustration this whole has of

22:24

a lot.died in, watered, sold poorly.

22:26

all these it takes off. And.

22:30

The fourth gets moving and you got

22:32

married several grades better. It's like that

22:34

You know it's like entering and I

22:36

feel football live in the old kick

22:38

it is just not even. The.

22:41

Jockey Philpott surprised at how easily multiple

22:43

types off and how far to discuss.

22:45

Easiest arriving at these bride and suddenly

22:47

he's like what do the best Roka

22:49

the i'm on a rocket What is

22:51

like catches up to the other horses

22:53

and enemies close to the front. The.

22:56

Other favorite hobby golds in the late and

22:58

it's on the rail and ball personality based.

23:00

the catches up and is on the outside.

23:04

But. Have a gold, doesn't give up. And.

23:06

The rice's nan just between the two of

23:08

them, and it's Klyce. A little

23:10

too close for everyone's. like to do

23:12

the rest of immoral far back as

23:14

the crowd is going nuts. They've all

23:17

got the money on form Taunton and

23:19

it's meant to be a soul thing

23:21

that suddenly it's not a show them.

23:23

the to was caped swapping who's in

23:25

front literally running side by side. He

23:27

can watch this rice on is cheap.

23:30

It's how to tell he's leading. They

23:32

garnered stride and as they approach the

23:34

line phone cotton's ahead that Harbor Gold

23:37

catches up to it. And

23:39

everyone's like what's gonna happen and it's of

23:41

side I finish. And at the

23:43

last second attain that bob personality

23:45

as got its hidden front and

23:47

it's one new it's one. The

23:49

rice, the punters, the gang, the

23:51

police, a police commissioner, half of

23:54

a striker of parts vanuatu they

23:56

say about Monday I have all

23:58

won a lot of money. The

24:00

bookies are broke. They've done their day.

24:03

Despite everything that's happened, you

24:06

know, the problems, the crazy

24:08

ideas, it's worked the plan

24:11

that seemed to just be destined for

24:14

failure has worked. Itana is already at

24:16

the bar slamming back fears more

24:18

in relief than sort of collaborating. I

24:21

love a happy ending. Philpott was thrilled to win the

24:23

race, but to him it wasn't that big a deal.

24:25

He was focused on a race later in the day,

24:27

the apprentice cup. And so this was just a ride

24:29

for him. Happy to have won. Great for him, but

24:32

he's back at the rails. He starts to wonder why

24:34

people were yelling and screaming over the fence at him.

24:37

And he thought I was a bit naive.

24:39

I thought they were booing me because I was a roughy

24:41

and I must have beaten the favorite. So it was sort

24:43

of like, and he gets to

24:45

the scales to weigh in the horses with him,

24:47

he's got to do correct way, weigh in. And

24:50

paint is beginning to run on

24:53

his leg and down the leg of the horse

24:55

onto the grass. This for

24:57

the stewards is even hard to ignore.

24:59

Yes, exactly. Now we get to the

25:01

bottom of where the stewards lie. What's

25:04

worse though, is despite the fact that most people

25:06

at the track are all on fine cotton and

25:08

are thrilled at win and are happy to turn

25:10

a blind eye, a group

25:13

of men start yelling, ring in,

25:15

ring in, investigate, ring

25:17

in. And the stewards are

25:19

standing there awkwardly with a

25:21

horse dripping paint on the grass and

25:25

men accuse them of a ring in.

25:27

Yeah. And realize we

25:29

can't just go ahead with this.

25:31

We've got to work out what to do. And

25:34

so they stop payment of bets on the race

25:36

and the place goes nuts. They haven't called correct

25:39

weight. They have not called correct weight and they

25:41

have said hold off. Hold all bets. Hold all

25:43

bets. And the course is like, what the

25:45

hell? Reporters are running around

25:48

trying to find out what's going on over

25:50

the public announcing system comes race four, hold

25:52

all tickets, race four, hold all tickets. Heiden

25:55

Hartana to the Stewart's room. Heiden

25:57

Hartana to the Stewart's room. Gillespie,

26:01

Robert Northink, were screwed. And

26:04

they leave the track. They flee. Phil

26:07

Bott said, minutes after I got off the scales,

26:09

the stewards grabbed me, sat me down and asked

26:11

how I'd got the ride. I told them that

26:13

a call came from Hayden Hightain to the stable.

26:15

It was refreshing actually now I think back. The

26:17

stewards of musically had exonerated me and I was

26:19

still a bit dazed when I got back to

26:22

the jockey's room. And some of the

26:24

older blokes were pointing out the window saying that you've

26:26

just ridden a ring in. And

26:28

I pulled one on the side and said, what's a ring

26:30

in? Hayden

26:33

Hightain faces up to the stewards and they

26:35

tell him, go and get the registration papers

26:37

for this horse. Now

26:39

Hightain knows a good chance to do a run

26:41

when he sees one and he

26:44

flees the course. So Gillespie,

26:46

North and Hightain are

26:48

fled. The stewards waned

26:50

from the comeback. And as the minutes ticked

26:52

by, they begin to think, hey, maybe he's

26:54

not coming back. He's called

26:56

for over the PA multiple times. By

27:00

complete chance, Bold

27:02

Personalities former owner Bill Nam happens to be

27:04

at the track because he's a racing guy

27:07

just there for other reason. And

27:09

he sees the horse being checked over by the

27:11

stewards as it leaks paint on the grass and

27:14

instantly recognises that as Bold Personalities horses

27:16

just sold to these guys. That's

27:19

Purse he says out loud. He

27:21

produces Bold Personalities identification card. Now the stewards

27:24

know what horse it is. They know it's

27:26

not fine cotton. It

27:28

is over. They have been caught. Now

27:30

all the police and the fishers who had money on

27:32

it know their money's gone. They

27:35

start to think about punishing the gang. They go,

27:38

if it's going to be blown now, we're going

27:40

to get these guys and we're going to go

27:42

to jail time. They think to being on board,

27:44

turning a blind eye to we now have to,

27:46

you know, they also become

27:48

very concerned about how far this could spread.

27:51

Who's in on it? We know the Chief Commissioner

27:53

put bets on it. We know we put bets

27:55

on this. This could blow

27:57

up in our faces. An

28:00

hour after the race, it's officially all

28:02

disqualified, but the thing that happens too

28:04

is all bets stand in that Bob

28:06

personality or fine cotton is completely disqualified,

28:08

but Harbour Gold's awarded the race. If

28:10

you had money on Bob personality or

28:13

on fine cotton, you thought, you just lost that

28:15

money. You didn't get it back. You lost it.

28:17

The bookies make out like it's the best day

28:19

on the course they've ever had. So they're the

28:22

winners. They're the winners. And anyone

28:24

that had money on Harbour Gold. So anyone who's

28:26

an honest punter or liked

28:28

Harbour Gold didn't know the ring it was on,

28:30

which was some people, but many. They

28:33

did really well because Harbour

28:35

Gold was the favourite until the plunge came.

28:38

So if there's one thing a

28:40

corrupt organisation hates, it's attention. And

28:43

Queensland is corrupt. Russ

28:45

Hins was on the blower to everyone,

28:47

knowing what is going on down there

28:49

to disaster. It was front

28:52

page news everywhere. It was leading the newspaper

28:54

board. And this had the ability to just tip

28:56

a bucket on all sorts of things that were going

28:58

on up there. So they

29:00

are all phoning around and saying shut it

29:02

down. The

29:06

Queensland Turf Club is told to launch

29:08

an inquiry. This is them investigating themselves.

29:10

Half of them were in on it.

29:13

And the police also announced an investigation.

29:15

This is like completely pointless slope. They're

29:18

all quietly through the gang under the

29:20

bus. So they

29:22

announced Gillespie North and Haitana

29:24

as suspects. And they're all on

29:26

the run. Rumours are swirling

29:29

that bigger forces are behind the scam that

29:31

no one knows at this stage what is

29:33

going on. Fine Cotton's missing.

29:35

The actual horse, the actual Fine Cotton.

29:38

Bold personality goes stays with the stewards

29:40

while they investigate. No one knows where

29:42

Fine Cotton's got to. And

29:45

everyone starts asking who's behind this. Because they all

29:47

know these three guys that are involved in it

29:50

and go they can't be behind the wall.

29:52

And these three are going to be in trouble

29:54

from forces larger than

29:56

them. Larger than them. The police and

29:58

the politicians and the frauds. and everything

30:00

on one side and then big

30:02

backing money investors from the other side. That's right.

30:04

So they are on the run. They're on the

30:07

run from everywhere. They're not in a good position.

30:09

So they're no one knows where they are. One

30:12

man who hadn't lost any money on fine cotton

30:15

was the Pope of Sydney, George Freeman.

30:18

The criminal mastermind who wears the

30:20

white suits managed

30:22

to avoid getting arrested all this. He couldn't even

30:24

be tempted on the plunge when he remembered

30:27

that Gillespie when he approached him asking

30:29

him for money on an earlier ring

30:32

and remember he thought I wouldn't go into it

30:34

because Gillespie has called all the time. I

30:37

remember I said he'd filed that away

30:40

in his head. He of course is

30:42

connected on high, knew this ring in

30:44

was occurring before probably most

30:46

people did. Gillespie was doing it. He knew

30:48

what they were up to and everything. So

30:51

he put all his money on Harbour Gold, which

30:56

at worst got the five to one that was often

30:59

seven to a half. Absolutely. Because he knew it was

31:01

the best horseman was going to win. The

31:04

only problem is the ring in was going to beat it and that

31:06

wouldn't win. Then Freeman

31:08

made sure the world knew that the ring in

31:10

was on. So he

31:12

went around and told everyone. One of the people

31:14

who told was bookies, one of the biggest bookies

31:16

in the land, Robbie Waterhouse, knowing

31:19

Robbie would tell everyone. Now we'll get into

31:21

Robbie in a bit, but he told him,

31:23

he told everyone he knew, let's get the

31:25

word out so the plunge comes in on

31:27

fine cotton. Then

31:31

he made sure that

31:34

there were people at the track at the

31:36

time to yell ring in, ring in and

31:39

force an investigation, knowing

31:42

that then fine cotton

31:44

would be disqualified and the Harbour Gold

31:47

bet and he would be rich. He

31:49

made a million dollars from

31:51

this. Incredible. He was so powerful. The

31:53

bookies came to his house one by

31:55

one to deliver the cash because

31:58

Freeman never left his house. he

32:00

was always he escaped some murder attempts from other

32:02

people. The bookies didn't care that they had to

32:04

give them money to George because they'd made so

32:06

much money off the fine cotton things in that

32:08

they thought saw this as like you know. So

32:11

that's one part. Now

32:13

some people have said before Freeman was

32:16

the mastermind behind it all. And

32:18

some people say that was a scam within a scam.

32:21

We'll get into that you know like that it was

32:23

always meant to be a double bluff. But I think

32:25

Freeman just saw an opportunity and took

32:27

it. He was smart. Now why get anyone

32:29

involved? Why do any work? I don't have

32:31

to do anything except make a point out.

32:33

And I bet on a legit horse. So

32:37

in the Queensland Parliament as this is all

32:40

blowing up on August 30 so 12 days

32:42

after the race the rumors are

32:44

swirling around that Robbie

32:46

Waterhouse and his father

32:48

Bill who the two biggest bookies in

32:50

Australia at this time are

32:53

behind all this. Now these were

32:55

rumors and they've denied it ever

32:57

since and there was no proof

32:59

that came to light. Independent MP

33:01

Lindsay Hartwig stood up

33:03

in the Queensland Parliament during question time

33:06

and named Robbie Waterhouse. Now you got to

33:08

this is under parliamentary privilege where you can't

33:11

do so. So he says Robbie

33:13

Waterhouse he says to Rutt Hins the minister

33:15

in question time is he the

33:17

Mr. Big in this scandal. Hins

33:20

gives a straight answer and says look

33:22

police and racing club are investigating. This

33:24

is all matter for that. I'm not going to comment. But

33:27

secretly Queensland are thrilled and this is where

33:29

if you were defending Robbie and Bill Waterhouse

33:31

you'd say they're all thrilled to

33:33

make out it's not corrupt Queensland racing.

33:36

It's these people down in Sydney who

33:38

are trying to corrupt our. They were

33:40

quite happy to let this run as

33:42

an idea. Right. Right. So

33:45

that's one element of deflecting attention from

33:47

themselves. That's one way of looking at

33:49

it right. Robbie Waterhouse in Sydney about

33:51

a few hours later fronts the media

33:53

cameras and the players is completely innocent.

33:55

He says I'm not the Mr. Big

33:57

behind the scam. Not true. Haitan

34:01

is on the run and

34:03

he's holed up in hotels, his face

34:06

is splashed across every newspaper and television and

34:08

every cop in the country. You should go

34:10

get some hair dye. He

34:15

knows that probably there's criminals after him too. Who

34:17

gets him first? That's what you want. That's right.

34:20

And he knows a lot of the cops are

34:22

corrupt too. So handing himself into the police is

34:24

hardly a sensible solution here

34:27

either. No. So he picks

34:29

up the phone and calls

34:31

a relatively new TV show in Australia

34:33

that's based on a in 1984, which

34:35

is based on an American format called

34:37

60 Minutes that

34:39

goes on to become the premier news

34:41

program in Australia. He

34:44

asks for a new reporter who's only just

34:46

started there fairly recently. I'll tell you a

34:48

little bit called Yano Went, who

34:50

goes on to become incredibly famous. He

34:53

agrees to be interviewed by it. He figures if

34:55

I'm public, it's harder to kill me if everyone

34:57

knows who I am and sees me and I

34:59

find something I go missing. It looks even dodger.

35:04

The interview is a disaster. He's drunk off

35:06

his mind. I don't remember

35:08

this. Out of the nine minutes they film or something, I

35:10

can only use about a bit of it. He

35:14

says, like I was made to do the whole

35:16

thing. There were heavies that followed me around the

35:18

whole time and one point a man showed me

35:20

a gun and said, you want to end up

35:22

like trainer Brown. So he really paints himself as

35:25

I was this. I was the fall guy for

35:27

this and I was made to do it against my will. But

35:30

it does the job. Now he's so well known.

35:33

It's hard for people to kill him. He's

35:35

eventually arrested in the Truro pub, which

35:37

is a town hundred kilometers northeast of

35:39

Adelaide. He went to the pub because

35:42

he couldn't ever say no to a beer. He put

35:44

on sunglasses and a hat. That was his disguise. He

35:46

ordered the beer from the bartender, the bartender

35:49

poured him a beer and then

35:51

goes out the back and rolls the cob. Gillespie's

35:55

also found hiding in his sister's closet

35:57

in Victoria, but he gets given

35:59

a and bail and he disappears. The

36:02

Australian Jockey Club which is sort of based

36:04

in Sydney and is the Sydney club that

36:06

is seen as the premier along with the

36:08

Victorian Racing Club there are the two premier

36:11

and they do the rules of racing and all that sort of stuff. They

36:14

decide that the Queensland Authority's investigation is

36:17

going to be rubbish, police

36:19

and they're not going to really. But

36:22

they decide that as the leading

36:24

club in the land and the fact that there's all this money

36:26

bet in Sydney that they need to

36:28

investigate Fine Cottons which is very unwanted

36:30

from the great flat side of Sydney.

36:34

So they appoint their chief steward

36:36

John Schreck who's the known as

36:38

the sheriff. Still around

36:40

today, very respected. They

36:42

appoint him to investigate this and he's

36:44

relentless. He has more than 60 witnesses

36:46

he pulls in and

36:48

grills them like it's because they have powers

36:51

to actually force people to do this right.

36:54

He asked all the 60 roughly 60 people if

36:56

they knew Fine Cotton was a ring in. These

36:59

are people he knew had bet on them. They

37:01

all said no, didn't know. They

37:04

all basically said I saw the money

37:06

moving the way it was. I knew

37:08

that something was up which is reasonable

37:10

but I got on it. I've got

37:12

no problem. I didn't have no explicit

37:14

knowledge about going around. He tracks down

37:16

merchant bank E. Murray who's the one

37:18

at Bet and Tasmania with 50,000. He

37:21

said I was just guessing. He tracks down

37:23

Father Edwyer who put

37:25

it on at the

37:27

great anything. He tells the sheriff the same

37:29

thing. Just saw the odds and went. The

37:32

bet that went to Mark Reed from Gary

37:35

Clark who he said this is a ring

37:37

and shut down the betting. That gets investigated.

37:39

Gary Clark says I know

37:42

what you're talking about. I just saw the money move and got in.

37:45

The sheriff looked all of this and didn't believe any of them.

37:48

He knows that a lot of the men he's interviewing

37:50

had links to the waterhouses. Gary

37:52

Clark had been a betting agent for him. They all

37:54

sort of knew him. He thinks I'm going to keep

37:56

going with this. He keeps investigating

37:58

and eventually. First, Father O'Dwyer

38:01

breaks down under investigation and admits

38:03

he'd been betting on behalf

38:05

of Robbie Waterhouse. And

38:08

Mary and Clark all fold too and they

38:10

admit that they're betting on behalf of Robbie

38:12

Waterhouse. But for people

38:14

who don't know, the Waterhouse is a multi-generational racing

38:16

family in Australia. I know you know this. So,

38:19

Charles Waterhouse was the first. He was a Sydney

38:21

bookie who was licensed in 1898. It

38:23

goes back that far. His son

38:25

Bill takes over as the driving force.

38:27

Bill had been qualified as a lawyer

38:30

but took over the book making and

38:32

he's the one that becomes the big

38:34

better. So, Waterhouse is known for being

38:36

a huge punter. He'd take on punters

38:38

such as Ray Hopkins, Hong

38:40

Kong Tiger, Frank Duval and

38:42

the Filipino Fireball, Felipe Ismail.

38:45

So, you know, this is

38:47

crazy. But in 1968, he

38:49

lost one million in a single day. In 1968 dollars, that's a lot

38:51

of money. He

38:54

is seen as the largest punter and

38:56

gambler and bookie in the world at

38:59

this point in time. Kerry

39:01

Packer often bet with him in the media magnet.

39:03

One time Kerry just refused flat out to pay

39:06

a million dollars in bets he owed him. Bill

39:09

was trying to get his money back, was on the

39:11

phone and Packer was going, come on, like, you know,

39:13

you owe me a million. Pay it back. And Packer

39:15

said, you can go and get effed and whistle for

39:17

it. You'll get nothing from me. Wow.

39:20

So, his son Robert

39:22

joins him, Robbie Waterhouse. And

39:24

now Robbie Waterhouse is married to Gay Waterhouse. That

39:26

makes it Bill. And she's a famous trainer. He

39:29

goes on to be a famous trainer and still

39:31

is. The daughter of a famous

39:33

trainer. And the daughter of Tommy Smith, the

39:35

famous trainer too. So, this is racing royalty.

39:37

Yeah. So, John the

39:39

Sheriff becomes convinced that they were involved with

39:41

the Fine Cons game in some way. He's

39:44

got no credible evidence. He doesn't, he's not

39:46

necessarily saying that they set it up or

39:48

anything. In some way they've got some

39:50

connection. He's trying to figure that out. The

39:53

Australian Jockey Club and the Sheriff adopt

39:55

an unconventional approach. They serve

39:57

Bill and Robbie Waterhouse and... seven

40:00

others including Murray Clark and Father O'Dyer,

40:02

all these people they've found betting on

40:04

their behalf, notices

40:07

of them to show why they shouldn't be warned

40:09

off the track for prior knowledge. So prior knowledge

40:11

doesn't mean you knew you were involved in setting

40:14

any of it up, but it means you'd found

40:16

out about that a ring was occurring and

40:18

you put money on rather than blow the

40:20

whistle. So

40:23

these are show calls notices. You prove to

40:25

us why you shouldn't be banned from racing.

40:28

Going to the bottom, this is so murky and

40:30

no one knows this day, they will say, this

40:32

was a witch hunt. No, they'd never before you

40:35

showed calls notices. You either found guilty or not

40:37

guilty. You didn't have to prove your innocence, which

40:39

is you're innocent until proven guilty, but some bodies

40:42

can do show calls notices, which is you

40:44

got to prove your innocence. And this is

40:46

what they actually did to the

40:48

waterhouses and these other gamblers. So this

40:51

is where there's wheels upon wheels. You can

40:53

argue all different ways on this. Oh, totally.

40:56

House of cards. Now the problem

40:58

is Robbie Waterhouse fronts

41:00

this tribunal. He

41:02

doesn't know that the sheriff

41:04

has got some of these blokes to

41:06

crack. So

41:08

he gets up and says that

41:10

he has not been involved in betting on

41:13

fine cotton at all. Now this is

41:15

going to be a big problem for him. Now

41:17

there's no proof found that the waterhouses in

41:20

any way, shape or form were involved in

41:22

the funding or the execution of the scheme.

41:24

He doesn't find anything of that and doesn't

41:26

make that accusation. But

41:29

they do determine that Robbie had and Bill had

41:31

prior knowledge of the fine cotton ring in this

41:33

is in October, 30, 19, four. His

41:36

book like makers licenses torn up. He's

41:39

warned off racetracks for life and not

41:41

just Australian racetracks. Every affiliated

41:43

race course in the world, US Europe,

41:45

UK, Asia. So he and

41:47

Bill, their business is done. Yeah,

41:50

Ian Clark, Jerry Clark, Clark's life and father, I

41:52

do. I are all warned off for life to

41:54

make and not step on a race track ever

41:57

again. Robbie Waterhouse appeals

41:59

in its reject. He also

42:01

gets fined later on that he told deliberate

42:03

lives in the hope of not

42:05

being warned off about pre-knowing. So when

42:08

he said I didn't put any money on it and

42:10

it was found out he did through all these other

42:12

people. He's sentenced to an

42:14

eight month periodic detention which obliged Wardas

42:16

to spend weekends at a detention center.

42:19

Now his wife Gay Wardhouse is

42:21

a spouse now of a disqualified person. So

42:24

she's barred from owning racehorses. She's a Selva

42:26

13, she part owns. She

42:29

has to keep reapplying to

42:31

try and get the ban lifted.

42:34

She goes to the equal opportunities tribunal saying this

42:37

is I'm discriminated because I'm someone's wife. There's

42:39

no inkling that she had anything to

42:41

do with it at all. Even

42:44

the bedding, she's not even part of this at all. When

42:47

she was appealing at one stage, Australian

42:50

Jockey Club committee member Peter Kaplan QC

42:52

said Robbie Wardhouse was the axon which

42:54

this huge wheel of bedding operated in

42:56

the fine cotton affair. I consider he

42:58

was a deceitful man with a commanding

43:00

personality with the capacity to influence others.

43:02

So this stops Gay being able to

43:05

get it. Eventually

43:07

though by January 9th she finally gets

43:09

it. Robbie Wardhouse

43:11

though was said on the record I

43:14

did not know fine cotton was a ringing. He

43:16

said I most certainly was not aware that a

43:18

ringing was involved. I couldn't believe that a ringing

43:20

was possible on a metropolitan track. It was unthinkable.

43:22

So that's what he said. The

43:24

court case in October 985 starts for

43:26

Hatana Bobby North Tommy, our friend who

43:28

drove the Toyota.

43:32

They are all charged with conspiracies for the

43:34

public by affecting for deceit, the

43:37

result of the race. Gillespie

43:39

is charged but he's missing. No

43:41

one knows who he is. Phil Pot,

43:43

the jockey spends weeks in the Supreme Court as

43:45

a crown witness and a bunch of other people

43:47

that it goes on for ages. Phil

43:50

Pot gets totally exonerated the jockey.

43:53

He says the mud sticks and that doesn't

43:55

help him for his career. Charged

43:58

against Dixon who was one of the other. guys

44:00

is dropped but North and Haitana are

44:02

each jailed. They end up

44:04

with between six to one year of jail. Gillespie

44:07

who's not there and has gone on bail

44:09

is subsequently caught and jailed

44:11

for four years. He only serves

44:14

two and some of that was

44:16

of house arrest. Well he's probably spent time

44:18

coming up with another scam. Yeah exactly. That's

44:20

why he came up with this one, was

44:22

it Foggo Road? Now he tells the court

44:24

that Mick Sayers was behind the ring in

44:26

and the waterhouses had no knowledge

44:28

of it. And this is where

44:30

it's the mystery with Sayers involved.

44:32

Well Gillespie tells the court Sayers was

44:35

the guy and he says the way I says he knew

44:37

nothing of it. You know this is where it's hard

44:39

to know right? Like and that's if someone

44:41

is even behind it right? So this brings us to

44:43

Mick Sayers, the Mr Big. So this is sort of

44:45

if you think of it suspect

44:47

number one of being the Mr Big is

44:51

Mick Sayers. Gillespie says it is

44:53

and other people have since picked up

44:55

his name and said the waterhouses have

44:57

quite often pointed to Sayers as the

45:00

you know it's not them it's him. It's

45:02

thrown the line up. Now the problem is

45:05

Robbie Waterhouse got up and said Sayers name

45:07

and evidence and to the media at his

45:09

hearing and to the media. So Sayers has

45:11

identified him, Gillespie's identified him. The

45:13

Sydney Morning Herald also in 984, 2nd December wrote

45:15

a thing saying that there was

45:18

a presence of a Melbourne born gangster now

45:20

living in Sydney as the principal architect of

45:22

the fine cotton scandal. So the word is

45:24

getting about that it is Sayers as the

45:27

Mr Big. Which is

45:29

possible but the problem is a key moment

45:31

in all this is February 985 and this

45:33

is before the court case happened to him.

45:35

Sayers is murdered. He's owed debts to various

45:38

bad people and he's murdered and it's a

45:40

murder that's never been solved to this day.

45:43

Made him very easy target to hang the blame on.

45:48

And he was never really held

45:50

up in any meaningful way as

45:52

the mastermind until he was dead.

45:54

Minnie was dead. Gillespie's telling the world

45:56

that it was Sayers. That's classic. Now when you think

45:59

about it it's easy. to blame Sayers, he's no

46:01

longer get you. You're not going to blame the waterhouses.

46:03

Even if they had no involvement and I'm not saying

46:05

they did, they're alive. They could do

46:07

you a favor. So why, why bag them? You might

46:09

as well do them a favor and say it wasn't

46:11

there. Everyone at Queensland Racing and all the politicians are

46:13

more than happy because it's, ah,

46:16

look what happened down there. Yeah. So

46:18

Melbourne and Sydney's fault. Not out. Not

46:20

out. So Sayers is firmly put in

46:22

the frame and even recently is

46:24

often in media reports and things and I read

46:27

a lot of stuff about this. You'll often read

46:29

and it would be, I think like lazily pushed

46:31

back because I don't think anyone knows or

46:34

not publicly on the record knows who's Mr. Big.

46:36

But it's very lazily said, oh, it's Mick Sayers.

46:38

And you go, well, hang on. Because the problem

46:40

is Mick Sayers, while he was this

46:42

big one, he probably didn't have the money to do

46:44

this. He was in to

46:46

a million dollars to George Freeman, is where

46:49

it all gets murky. So where's he coming

46:51

up with the money for this scam and

46:53

everything? Freeman, we know back to

46:55

Harbour Gold. One other

46:57

theory is this was a

46:59

scam upon a scam. A

47:01

scam was set up to do a ring in,

47:04

but Freeman and others set it up to trump

47:06

the scam and then make all the money. To

47:09

me, that's always been a bit implausible. I

47:11

think Freeman could have executed that. Just smart enough

47:13

to read. Read. Read. But

47:15

he didn't have to put it together from

47:17

the idea of putting it together from the

47:19

start. Perfect. Too many things almost went wrong

47:21

and was stupid. So this is the thing.

47:23

Sayers is dead. Gillespie is naming him afterwards.

47:25

It's all this. It's he's the bogeyman sort

47:27

of used as it all. And

47:30

so I don't think there's any credible instance

47:32

it was Sayers. When you look at it, you

47:34

kind of go the convenience

47:36

of blaming Sayers is

47:39

a dead man. Yeah.

47:41

Is a bit simple. All right. Gillespie

47:44

goes to jail, gets out and

47:47

resumes immediately his illustrious career in fraud

47:49

the moment he gets out. He

47:53

skips off to run bars in Asia. Very

47:55

dodgy type bars in Asia. In

47:57

1998, Gillespie is named in reports as the ringleader

48:00

of fraudsters who are captured in

48:02

the Philippines selling fake passports for

48:05

the micro nation for the Dominion

48:07

of Malchakstiek. Now

48:09

he claims he's the Dominion's president.

48:12

The problem is it doesn't exist. This

48:16

is an ongoing scam that's been going since

48:18

the 1990s under multiple different people. You got

48:20

the same guy doing the paperwork, he did

48:23

the horses. They set up this fake Dominion

48:25

and then sold citizenship to it. So people were

48:27

trying to run away from the law wanting a

48:30

new citizenship and passport and

48:32

everything. They would say, well why don't

48:34

you join this thing? Now the problem is it's moved around

48:36

a few times. It was originally a small

48:39

island off the Colombian. Then

48:41

it was later they just invented a whole new place

48:43

in the South Pacific that doesn't exist. South

48:46

Pacific's good. The country also lays claim to

48:48

part of Antarctica. It's

48:51

completely made up. So his

48:53

scam caught hundreds of individuals, some paying up to between

48:55

$3,500 up to $6,000 for

48:59

passports and

49:01

it netted him a million dollars. But he

49:04

spent five years in Manila prison for pulling

49:06

the passport scam. In

49:08

the 2000s he investigated for scams

49:10

including racehorses, anti-wrinkle cream and a

49:12

multi-million dollar artwork collection. In

49:16

2016 Gillespie's name appears in the

49:18

Panama Papers. The

49:20

global leak remember for the Shell

49:22

Company giant Mossack Fonseca. He

49:25

was found that after he was released to jail

49:27

in the 90s he became a founding director of

49:29

two companies in the Bahamas. The

49:32

International Millionaire's Club and the International

49:34

Horse Owners Club both have struck

49:36

off their registry. So

49:39

far he's had over 358 convictions,

49:41

fraud obtaining financial advantage by

49:44

deception, making fault utterances, counterfeiting

49:46

forgery. He tells the Irish

49:48

Sun in 2010, not that long ago, that

49:51

the real plan was to back Harbour Gold

49:53

and spread the rumour far and wide that

49:55

the fine cotton was a ringer and a

49:57

sure thing with the amount coming

49:59

in. And then he would walk away with

50:01

money and so would the backers. So he's come around. Now

50:03

he says, I don't mind if people think this was a

50:05

joke or whatever, because I walked away with 1.8 million. No,

50:09

no, you didn't. John

50:11

Schreck, the sheriff who investigated

50:13

this said, with great respect to Mr. Giletti,

50:16

anything he says you would have to take

50:18

with a great big pinch of salt. Now

50:21

the thing to me where this scam upon

50:23

scam to me, I think George Freeman saw

50:26

an opportunity to talk it. This idea of

50:28

setting it up originally as we'll race this

50:30

ringer that pretends to be fine cotton, but

50:32

really will be scamming everyone else. To

50:35

me where it doesn't make any sense, Gillespie

50:37

comes out, he's a national joke and

50:40

he's trying to spin it till it wasn't a

50:42

joke. I was a really clever mastermind. Now the

50:44

problem for me is if you were going to

50:46

do that scam, why would you bother with a

50:48

ringer anyway? Why would you swap fine cotton? You

50:50

just run the normal, like you just... Or why

50:52

would you go to... Because you want Harbour God

50:54

to win anyway. See, why would you just not

50:56

like make the horse lose and

50:59

have all your money on Harbour Gold? But

51:01

also why would you be in the front

51:04

of someone's lawn, changing the

51:06

colour so many times? Which everyone's saw. You

51:08

just race a horse that kind of looks

51:10

like it. You don't panic and try...

51:12

You did everything you could. You could have just told

51:14

everyone there's a ring in. Everyone would have put their

51:16

money on fine cotton. You then put your money on

51:18

Harbour Gold, run the real fine cotton. The fine cotton

51:20

would have come last anyway. You would have won... It

51:23

doesn't hold up. It doesn't hold up. But you don't

51:25

know Harbour Gold is going to even win. So the

51:27

old idea is to fix the race so

51:29

you know who's going to win. Harbour Gold

51:32

wasn't necessarily going to win. Has anyone checked

51:34

that Harbour Gold was Harbour Gold? I just...

51:38

How gold... How gold... Can

51:41

I say to you, I just... Well, I

51:43

put this out there. But how

51:45

often does this go on? Because when they

51:47

get caught, you go, wow, what's the story?

51:49

How... That's amazing. That happens

51:52

once in a blue moon. Does it?

51:54

I'm sure it. How many horses on

51:56

a country racetrack to... I mean, to

51:58

me, all horses look pretty similar. So

52:01

if you could get one steward

52:03

in one country racetrack with

52:05

one trainer. And you keep your mouth shut.

52:07

You don't care about everyone. Yeah. If

52:10

you could, this could be happening on a weekly basis.

52:13

Itana gets into Boggo Road again and he

52:15

thinks, I cannot believe this. I'm

52:17

in for, you know, a horrible

52:19

place, you know, and dangerous and all this.

52:22

He arrives and before he goes to his cell, they

52:25

say, go and see

52:27

the medic. And this is where

52:29

his years of boozing and not looking after himself

52:31

pay off. They say he's got

52:34

hypertension. They send him to the farm, which

52:36

is a minimum security prison where you look

52:38

after animals. In

52:42

November 2013, his lifetime ban

52:44

has actually ended and he's allowed to go

52:47

back to running. Haitana. Now he's not, he

52:49

doesn't get involved in any major way, but

52:51

he is. Really? Everyone's a bit

52:53

of a mate. I would have thought that's a lifetime ban.

52:55

He's basically saying towards the end of his life, he's not

52:58

going to, he's no longer a thing. That's

53:00

the biggest black mark in

53:02

the history of racing in Australia. In

53:05

December 2017, he passes away. He's

53:08

72 years old. And

53:10

so anything he knows goes to the grave. Wendy

53:13

Smith, who was the clean skin

53:15

that was after some of the horses, she

53:18

lost her right to end horses into races. It meant

53:20

her career as a professional trainer was over. She was

53:22

one of the innocents caught up in this. She

53:25

took her heart because she loved horses. She tried to go

53:27

to the high court to have the decision to appeal, but

53:29

it was stood up. It wasn't overturned. She lied to her.

53:32

And she thought, well, I've loved plenty of

53:34

things. I've done musical comedy. I've been on

53:36

stage everywhere. I'll do musicals. So she's gone

53:38

into a career in musical theatre. It

53:42

would be a great fine cock.

53:44

Fine cock. The musical. Phil

53:47

Pot goes into being jockey, bounces

53:49

around, goes to Sydney, has some

53:51

luck there, but the mud sort

53:53

of sticks. You guys are in

53:55

Japan for a bit. He ends up a horse trainer with

53:57

stables and Bendigo. Bold personality.

54:00

get to some of the horses. Bold

54:02

personality, that should be more of a

54:04

household name too. We all know fine cotton,

54:06

bold personality. It is left at the

54:08

track when Gillespie, Hottana and everyone rapped

54:10

or runner. It's

54:12

returned to its owner, Bill Naum, after

54:14

Gillespie's check of course, bounces, and

54:18

never raced again. It was sold to a Brisbane

54:20

family who renamed it Percy and Percy sent the

54:22

rest of its life in a big paddock. Very

54:25

happy. Never moved again, never. So for

54:27

all its suffering, ended up with a

54:30

very lovely line. Dashing

54:32

saw the tear. Which should have run you. Which

54:34

should have run the one that injured itself

54:36

when the kangaroo jumped in the paddock. But had

54:38

it, is they still probably were in five

54:40

guys at the course called Ringer. Yeah, that's

54:43

right. So it could have, it disappeared, was

54:45

never found. It's come to

54:47

an end, I think they got rid of the evidence.

54:50

Fine cotton, after race,

54:53

fine cotton, as I said,

54:55

it disappeared and everyone assumed

54:57

fine cotton has been killed. Turns out

54:59

fine cotton was alive and well when

55:02

Hottana fled the racetrack. He

55:05

took fine cotton and dropped it off

55:07

at the Queensland Mountain Police Stables, which is

55:09

just near Eagle Farm. Police

55:12

keep that absolutely quiet. Fine

55:14

cotton goes on to be

55:17

bought by a film producer who wanted to make

55:19

a movie of fine cotton and

55:21

lives out a very happy life until he's 32, dies

55:23

of a very old age. It was often

55:26

on TV again and stuff, people would like come and

55:28

look at the horse and say this was the horse

55:30

that died. It wasn't the horse that painted the look

55:32

like cotton. Could have been dashing solid there. Now

55:34

that brings us towards Bill and Robbie Waterhouse. In

55:37

1998, after in Bamford 14 years, Bill and

55:39

Robbie Waterhouse were back on Australian race courses.

55:42

Now the only thing they've ever been fen

55:44

guilty of was knowing in

55:46

advance that it was a ring inputting matter. So that's

55:48

what they were found good from. In

55:50

1995, there was a spectacular falling out

55:53

with David Waterhouse, the younger brother of

55:55

Robbie, son of Bill, who

55:57

testified in New South Wales Racing Authority hearing

56:00

That he had heard that his brother and father

56:02

bet around eight hundred thousand fine caught off

56:04

the books more than the sixty six thousand

56:06

They were called for he

56:08

testified that Bill said to him that

56:10

it all happened Now Robbie Ward has

56:12

came away straight away and denied all

56:14

allegations and that he wasn't engaged in

56:16

any unlawful Compact so this is

56:19

a family feud. So I'm not saying

56:21

that's true. Yes telling you this is

56:23

all publicly reported David's waterhouses view now

56:25

Robbie waterhouse and Bill waterhouse would say

56:27

and have said He

56:30

just doesn't like us. He's trying to get money out

56:32

of the family trust and so he's trying to this

56:34

is where I say It's no good Very

56:37

you can choose someone you think it might be

56:39

but you have no no evidence, right? I we're

56:41

not claiming it was any of these people because

56:44

I think he onion everything I'm saying is on

56:46

the public record Yes, Ward house has been in

56:48

trouble since he almost got banned again in 2002

56:50

for what for they found that He

56:54

was guilty of 16 charges related to

56:56

bets. He recorded he didn't enter them

56:58

properly in various things and stuff He

57:01

got banned for the whole time and then

57:03

it could be appealed a few times and it got

57:05

put down to a nine-month suspension George

57:08

Brown the trainer that was

57:10

murdered horribly. He's cold

57:12

case was reopened in 2007 and in

57:14

2020 So this

57:16

is where it all comes out the current day a one

57:19

million dollar reward offered So if you're out

57:21

there listening and you know the answer there's

57:23

one million dollars The

57:27

one window report were all just pays on

57:29

35th anniversary of his death in 2021

57:33

the Herald Sun newspaper said police

57:35

were given a statement last year

57:37

alleging that late bookmaker bill waterhouse

57:40

Had hired two tongue and nationals to reclaim a

57:42

down deposit that was paid to the 38

57:44

year old Brown the week before To fix

57:46

a race, but they went too far and

57:48

killed the trainer now this eight-page statement that's

57:50

been lodged with the police alleged

57:53

that the king of Tonga Returned

57:56

these two nationals to Tonga now the

57:58

statement was made by Bill Bill's youngest

58:00

son, David Waterhouse. Now

58:03

this is where all we're saying is David

58:05

Waterhouse and Harold Sun was saying this David

58:07

Waterhouse has given this statement to police who

58:09

were investigating the George Brown murder. We're not

58:12

saying it's true, but that bit is true.

58:14

It's in that that has happened. He

58:17

made the statement in 2020 to

58:19

homicide case detectives. Tonga is

58:21

the wrong world family. And this is in where

58:23

this is global. I went, this has been reported

58:25

in BBC news and everywhere. They

58:27

immediately denied any allegation that their

58:29

late King was involved in covering up

58:31

the murder of Australian horse trader George Brown. Bill

58:34

Waterhouse was the Consul General Tonga from 1979-95.

58:38

He drove a gold colored luxury sedan

58:40

with contral and upper plates. He'd

58:44

known the King's University in 1940s. So

58:47

there is a link between them, but that doesn't mean that any of

58:49

this is true. Bill's Waterhouse is

58:51

like Susan denied the allegations against their

58:53

late husband. So they deny that strongly

58:55

by the Tonga King and that. So

58:57

they, she said, there is no truth

59:00

to the stories with regard to my late husband, nor

59:02

with the relate to his late majesty and the people

59:04

of Tonga. So David Waterhouse

59:06

has said this, but a bill hasn't.

59:09

In the end, I would say in wrapping this whole story,

59:12

I would say that at the moment, the reality

59:16

is as much as some people like to think

59:18

that, and I'm not saying anything that hasn't been

59:21

said a thousand times, they say it's either McSayers

59:23

or behind it. Could George Freeman

59:25

be doing a sting upon a sting?

59:28

Could McSayer been behind it? Or take your pick?

59:30

Or is it someone sitting out there who's cleverer

59:32

than all of them and kept their name out

59:34

of the papers? And we don't

59:37

know. This is the mystery. We

59:39

can guess, we can have our

59:41

thoughts, we can wonder about it.

59:43

But realistically, I know

59:45

there's people out there who reckon that they

59:48

do know, but are we getting to

59:50

the generation where the people who are involved in

59:52

this are all passing away? So people

59:54

who I think will either, someone on their deathbed

59:56

will either confess or give

59:59

new evidence. or people

1:00:01

will be able to feel like they can come

1:00:03

out with evidence they've got because the people are

1:00:05

no longer around to sue them potentially or whatever.

1:00:08

We don't know. So when some of these things

1:00:10

you read that sort of claim

1:00:12

it's one of these groups of people I've mentioned

1:00:14

or people I haven't mentioned because I don't know

1:00:16

who they are but people they say it might

1:00:18

become shadowy figures. I

1:00:21

don't think anyone in the general

1:00:23

public really knows including us. So it's all

1:00:25

this everything I've said is just stuff that's

1:00:28

on the public record. It's not views. And

1:00:31

of course just to be very clear the

1:00:33

Waterhouse family denied Mick Sayers despite being dead

1:00:36

his family very much deny it. So

1:00:38

the thing is it's a mystery

1:00:40

that has not been solved to

1:00:42

this day. I think in our

1:00:44

lifetime. Do you think it will? We'll get there.

1:00:47

I think we'll get there. I think people are

1:00:49

waiting for certain people to no longer be around

1:00:52

and then there will be more. We've

1:00:54

often opined the wires and it's been turned into a

1:00:57

film which you think it's just got

1:00:59

all the elements but it's

1:01:01

so complex. There's too many

1:01:04

characters. There's too many possibilities.

1:01:06

There's different governments involved. There's different

1:01:09

states involved. There's different levels of

1:01:11

police, underworld crime, colorful

1:01:14

racing identities. It's

1:01:16

just a free wheeling. And also

1:01:18

everyone making the accusations when you

1:01:20

look at them all. When

1:01:23

I was doing this you're kind of in your head do

1:01:25

the natural thing of who your favorite might be for who's

1:01:27

behind all this. But then I

1:01:29

can very credibly make an argument of why

1:01:31

it wasn't Bill and Robbie Waterhouse. Why it

1:01:33

wasn't Mick Sayers. Why it wasn't...

1:01:37

I could even make an argument that there was no Mr.

1:01:39

Big. Gillespie had the money because

1:01:41

of his scams and was making out

1:01:43

that there was something bigger behind it

1:01:45

just to big note himself. And

1:01:48

everyone that's saying anything you

1:01:51

kind of have to doubt a little

1:01:53

bit as well because they're all either

1:01:55

con men criminals or they've been found

1:01:57

guilty of perjury before or they're it's

1:01:59

very hard to... know. And then

1:02:01

the people I think who do know don't have the

1:02:03

evidence as well. That's the real key bit because I

1:02:05

think if someone like, you know, the

1:02:07

sheriff, you know, the head of the stewards, I'm

1:02:09

sure he has a very strong view of who

1:02:11

he thinks did it. I'm sure that journalists

1:02:14

have very strong, but no one has

1:02:16

able to go, here's

1:02:18

the smoking gun that puts one of

1:02:21

these various people in the frame, but

1:02:23

they haven't been able to produce a thing that says

1:02:25

this proves we weren't in the frame either. So it

1:02:27

is, when I say it's a mystery, it

1:02:31

is an absolute mystery

1:02:33

to this day. The opening

1:02:35

scene of the film is

1:02:37

a bright red horse in the front yard of a

1:02:39

leafy guard. And

1:02:42

that's the first image you see pan out to reveal

1:02:44

a bunch of drunk guys standing

1:02:48

around trying to work out what the hell

1:02:50

to do with it. I

1:02:53

thought I knew that story. I didn't, I

1:02:55

only know the headlines as everyone does. That

1:02:58

should placate a lot of our

1:03:01

listeners who have been asking for this story. Consider

1:03:04

it delivered. I think you

1:03:06

know more than you're telling. That's all I'm

1:03:08

saying. Tyso Riley, thank you

1:03:10

again. Well, I hope you enjoyed that

1:03:13

episode. We've got plenty more to come,

1:03:15

but if you want more, you can

1:03:17

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1:03:27

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