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SOME ENGLISH RACING SWINDLES. How "Reporter" Used the Papers for an Imaginary Meeting at "Trodmore." Ingenious were the schemes resorted to by unscrupulous backers of horses to swindle bookmakers some years ago in England, says London Tit Bits: The layers of odds, are naturally extremely cute and fully conversant with the thousand and one schemes formulated by equally asute backers of horses to swindle them. Among the latter class are thousands of cunning adventurers who subsist entirely on their wits, and as these gentry delight to live in the lap of luxury and squander money like water when they have it they are constantly arranging new and deep-laid plots when "hard up"-to deplete the banking accounts of the bookmakers. An ingenious scheme was successfully carried through in England a few years ago, which, for absolute daring is unparalleled in the history of racing. The leading sporting papers one day received a properly arranged program of a race meeting which was to take place at a town called "Trodmore." The sender of the list of horses engaged, the weights they had to carry, and the times at which the different events were run signed his ntme mil added "Reporter." The races were duly run nr.d the obliging "Reporter" sent in another interesting item to the sporting dailies. Nothing was missing, everything was in apple pie order; evidently the reporter knew his business thoroughly. The "hard working" and "conscientious" journalist had carefully collected the starting price of the winners and losers, and his account of the days racing duly appeared in the papers he sent it to. This was eagerly perused with the greatest interest by a large number of bookmakers in Loudon, and they found to their sorrow that nearly all the winners had been backed for big sums by many of their numerous clients, who were evidently expert judges of racing or extraordinary lucky. As the horses had started at long odds against they lost heavily. A lot of those who had been severely hit discussed the matter with their confreres. "Where was Trodmore, the place where the lucky backers had found so many good winners?" "Has any one heard of these horses or jockeys before" No. No one had. now they came to think about it. Many of the bookmakers had been connected with racing for nearly half a century. Detectives were .engaged, and they unearthed one of the most gigantic swindles on record. It was discovered that there was no such place in England as "Trodmore;" there never had been such a meeting; there were no such horses or jockeys in existence as those mentioned in the program, and the "Reporter" well, "his days work was done," and he vanished like a dream. lie lias never even sent in his bill to the papers for his interesting contributions. The whole thing was one of the most impudent and cleverly organized "spoofs" on record. A lot of the money in "tenners" and "fivers" was obligingly put out for the gang by innocent waiters and hotel and theater doorkeepers iii the west end. and the daring swindlers have never been traced. They vanished with their winnings. Some racing Sharps successfully robbed the bookmakers of a large sum of money at Warwick some years ago by the following ingenious method: In Tattersalls ring bookmakers are bound by the rules to pay over the horse that actually "gets" the race, so that in the event of an objection, and the runner which has passed the judge first being disqualified, they pay only over the one to which the stewards after duo investigation, award the race. In the half-crown rings and outside the rings the hookies pay "first past the post" irrespective of objection. A crack jockey was properly and correctly weighed out by the official clerk of the scales for a certain race at Warwick on the occasion mentioned, and the horse he rode was heavily and systematically backed with bookies who pay "first past the post." The animal won easily. When his jockey went to scale, after the race, lie failed to draw within fourteen pounds of what he should have done. His saddle cloth was immediately examined and it was discovered that it had been tampered with by some one after the jockey had been weighed out and several of the lead weights removed. The "winner" was promptly disqualified and the race awarded to the one which had finished second. The gang reaped a rich harvest. The jockey was, however, after due inquiry exonerated by the authorities from any blame in the matter, as his integrity was beyond dispute. Several "turfites" got into serious trouble over this affair, but the real delinquents were never discovered.
