Just getting wind of this Harness payoff 'event'

[Boscar Obarra]

http://viewfromthegrandstand.blogspot.com/2013/12/another-black-eye-for-harness-racing.html

 Nice punch, whoever it was. Of course getting that greedy into a tiny pool with 2 longshots is dumber than spit, but maybe it was 100 wise guys all getting down \'small\'.

[jma11473]

Unlike a lot of the other \"low\" payoffs where people scream \"fix\" but there\'s no evidence or clues, there are screencaps of the payoff for this exacta being several hundred dollars at 0 MTP. Whoever was in it, they weren\'t too subtle.

[Rick B.]

Did anyone check the exacta pool size?

For the amounts in question, a $100 exacta box is
all it would take to move a number like this in
a smallish off-night \"who cares\" race like this one.

[Boscar Obarra]

I mentioned pool size. And it took more than $100.

 20-1 at ~20k pool  about 900 on the #. So the punch would have been 700+

[Rick B.]

Boscar Obarra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I mentioned pool size. And it took more than
> $100.

I wish you mentioned pool size. Not there.
 
>  20-1 at ~20k pool  about 900 on the #. So the
> punch would have been 700+

* 20,000 less 25% takeout is 15,000

* 15,000 /  85 = ~176 $2 tickets, or $352 in bets

* 15,000 / 676 =  ~22 $2 tickets, or $44 in bets

So, two arbitrage bettors sent in ~$150 each, and wiped
out each other\'s overlay? (It\'s as plausible as anything
else, if you understand what is going on with
computerized betting today.)

No wonder requests for investigation are being ignored:
there\'s nothing here but small payoffs from small pools.

[TGJB]

Extremely unlikely. Especially considering the way the race was run.

[Rick B.]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Extremely unlikely. Especially considering the way
> the race was run.

What happened? Jimmy Pantload left from the 8 hole
and wired some non-descript trotters; when the favorite
broke, it became a sanctioned Standard Trotting Race. (It\'s
precisely why even some of the hardest of hardcore
harness bettors won\'t touch trot race -- stupid crap
happens in these races, again and again.)

Note #1: The winner wired the field the previous week
as the favorite.

Note #2: I don\'t care who bet what \"late\"...ML 8-1
(the winner) over ML 5-1 was *never* going to finalize
at $646, so the arbitrage angle is of higher possibility
than \"extremely unlikely\".

(The \"honest exacta\" calculations some horseplayers think
are statutory would show that the $85 payoff was only
slightly \"low\".)


All I know is, there are three honest sports:

Roller Derby, Harness Racing, and World Wide Wrestling.

Everything else is fixed.

[belmont3]

Since I am LMAO at this discussion and since I have witnessed similar events in my youth, I thought I would relate a favorite story from my Junior year in college.

Had been playing horses since my father and grandfather (a Mahattanite and Staten Islander) took me to the Big A at age 7.  First Landing remains an all time childhood favorite as he often appeared on Race of the Week circa 1960.


I went to school in Pa. and settled for racing at Pocono Downs - a 5/8th track that switched between harness and flat racing. 3 1/2f sprints were the staple with a 2 turn five furlong dash being the normal feature.

Fixing races was part of the local culture.

http://archives.timesleader.com/2005/2005_14/2005_10_02_WHEN_THE__FIX__WAS_IN__A_LOOK_BACK__RACE_FIXING_SCANDAL__A_RIOT_.html

I was there when they rioted on more than just this occasion.

The late race fixer Fat Tony Ciulla said Pocono Downs was like \"shooting fish in a barrel\"..

My personal story. It is undeniably true.

Junior year in college Finals Week.
It is Saturday nite and we have our traditional Keg Party in the back yard of our dormitory. (converted apartment house). We are pretty well into it by 5pm. Call comes from an Allentown Pa. dorm member. Dad was was a bookie. Message---Go directly to Pocono Downs....do not pass go....do not collect $200 just go straight to PD and bet your last nickel on the 3-5 DD.

Races started circa 7pm so 10 or so fully lit up college kids scrape together all their nickels, dimes and pennies and swerve their way to the Downs.

Just about all the money goes on the 3-5 DD. The 3 wins the first race and we are begging and borrowing for money to place on the 5. Whatever can be found is placed on the 5 to win. As the 2nd race turns for home, 10 college students set the track record sprinting down the infield chasing the 5 home. As the 5 crosses the line first, a massive boilermaker ( that is a shot and beer in coal mining Pa)  celebration begins. The DD paid $58.00 Combined, Denison Hall takes down 7k---a rather princely sum in the days of 35 cent 12 oz. Stegmaiers.  

Somewhere in Allentown Pa, I am sure there were some sad souls that thought their lock DD would pay $100 plus.  .

Bob

[Fairmount1]

Cheating doesn\'t happen......not by trainers, not by jockeys, not by past posting...it just doesn\'t happen.

I\'m certain many of you heard this story months ago.  But this is the best article written about it by far.  Enjoy.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10073863/cowboy-jones-fixed-horse-race

And here is the race in question.  It is worth watching a few times to catch everything that happens.  

http://replays.robertsstream.com/racereplays/playf_llnw.php?customer=FairmountPark&t=1386814105&h=d2d149fd0c98842e16e01be833c16641&url=201307231424FAN2

[Boscar Obarra]

My calcs earlier were off, as the matrix I was looking at was for $1 payoffs. So the winning number was 42-1 not 20-1.  Still quite low, but probably a 400 bet was made, not 700.


 Here\'s the thing, That winning combo was pretty much all that was overbet (with the winner on top), looking at the final will pays shown here. http://racingbeard.com/?p=2326

 That ticket was a cold two horse box.


 PS In all fairness, this kind of craziness goes on all the time, but rarely wins, so while this looks bad, it doesn\'t actually prove anything. Should be looked at, but it may be nothing.

[Boscar Obarra]

Rick B. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Boscar Obarra Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I mentioned pool size. And it took more than
> > $100.
>
> I wish you mentioned pool size. Not there.
>  
  Yep, called it a tiny pool. See my corrected numbers based on 40-1