My early handicapping was at Delta Downs. First, I want to point out that I have not been to that track in many years and I have no idea whether it is different or the same. But back then, cheating was there. I can think of at least 6 races that I am rather certain were fixed and therefore I can speculate that there were many others as I was generally not an every day attendee.

The most infamous incident at Delta was the "fog jockey" incident. On a very foggy night, one jockey parked his horse where the chute met the main track and waited for the other horses to come around to complete the mile run. When he heard the hoofbeats, he got his horse to take off. In this dreadfully conditioned race, the horse not only won by double digit lengths, but set a track record. The rest is a long story, but he did much later admit what had happened.

When I was carefully monitoring trainer pattens about 20 years ago, I became convinced that there were improprieties of at least a few trainers.

Some of the other stories I am familiar with are so bizarre that I would likely be labeled a liar if I told them. Admittedly, they sound like mighty odd stuff. I will just say that there are a lot of ways to cheat.

Today, I am not really in a position to know very much. I will say that in reviewing races, I find that most are very explainable, either based on the quality of the winner or on the way the pace panned out. But I wouldn't be surprised if cheating exists.

The most infamous incident at Delta was the "fog jockey" incident. — RanchWest

I remember that!

I remember that! — Dave Schwartz

The jockey was Sylvester Carmouche, Jr., father of Kendrick Carmouche and Sylvester Carmouche III, who are both jockeys.

The fog incident was in a race with such a low purse that the jockey could not be charged with a felony.

The fog incident was in a race with such a low purse that the jockey could not be charged with a felony. — RanchWest

LOL
That's funny.

LOL
That's funny. — Dave Schwartz

You think that's funny... when he finally told the truth, that meant he had committed perjury, which is a felony.

You think that's funny... when he finally told the truth, that meant he had committed perjury, which is a felony. — RanchWest

Even funnier.

The racing commission could not levy a max penalty for a misdemeanor. So, they kept issuing lighter penalties until it became a felony, then issued a more severe penalty.

Dave, thanks for posting the article!! I look forward to reading the balance when it is available.
I am fortunate to be 'plugged in' to this business that I love so much. Virtually all of my friends, the best man in my wedding, are all either riders, trainers or handicappers. While I truly believe our game is MUCH more honest than many fans do I can't deny that some level of 'cheating' does exist. About 20 years ago I watched a similar Trifecta scam occur right in front of my eyes. I sat and watched races with much of the money behind the scam and didn't realize it was happening. It all sunk in when several of my friends spent time in jail.
In todays world it has become more difficult to pull off these types of scams. Analysis is conducted on strange wagering patterns that my occur while the consequences for those involved have become much more onerous.
I'm confident enough that these types of scams do not exist that I wager my money every day. If I felt cheating was occurring my money would stay in my pocket.

Good real life post.

2 Questions
1. How much time did your friends serve?

2. Did they go back to racing?

There were 2 men involved. Each spent less than two years in prison. They were ruled off as undesirable so they never returned to the track.

There were 2 men involved. Each spent less than two years in prison. They were ruled off as undesirable so they never returned to the track. — Tony Kofalt

That is as it should have been.

Okay, I've seen some weird things at the track, but this may be the strangest. Again, Delta Downs many years ago.

A casual friend tells me, hey, you hear that announcement? For the car with the lights on? There's no car with the lights on. That's a code for the winner. Arrange the horses by morning line odds, then bet the first three digits of the license number. Well, that sounded pretty far fetched, so I didn't buy in. But the guy goes to the window and comes back and shows me a cold trifecta on the three horses.

The race is run and it is the right three horses, but the wrong sequence. "PLEASE HOLD ALL TICKETS. THERE HAS BEEN A STEWARD'S INQUIRY." May have been an objection, don't remember, long time ago. A horse's butt swung a little wide going into the first turn, not severely. This happens in nearly every race, but in this one they DQ the horse and now my buddy has the winning trifecta.

As if that wasn't enough, the payoff was $580, just below the IRS threshold. I have no idea if it was true, but there were always rumors that in this type case they punched up tickets after the race to bring the payout down below the IRS level.

So, to this day I have no idea of whether this guy was pulling my leg and got lucky. But it was certainly mighty suspicious, especially with the DQ going his way.

That is quite a story Ranch- lol. I too have heard some stories from La that sound crazy. But I would not be shocked if something similar happened years ago.
I would find it difficult to believe that story happening today. Too many ppl involved and a lot more scrutiny, especially from the public perspective.
Whether true or not those old stories bring a smile to my face.

Yeah, Tony, I have lots more from the old days, but I'm with you on hoping those days are gone. Sometimes it was more efficient to just pay attention than to actually handicap. lol

I moved my comment to a different thread.