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146 pages

English

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The most comprehensive reference book on betting on horse (and greyhound) betting on the market with over 500 cross referenced entries. It explores the history, systems, theory, law and slang associated with betting on racing as well as the scandals, scams, ringers and the huge array of unforgettable characters and audacious coups.

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Publié par	eBookPartnership.com
Date de parution	01 janvier 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781783012909
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0250€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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What s the SP?
Betting on Racing: An A-Z
Over 500 entries detailing the Stories, History, Law, Theories, Personalities, Slang, Word Origins, Terms, Trivia, Games, Legends, Scams, Stings, Scandals, Coups, Winners....and Losers.
Liam O Brien
2014 Liam O Brien
Liam O Brien has asserted his rights in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
First published in eBook format in 2014
ISBN: 978-1-783-01290-9
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
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The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this eBook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your eBook reader.
Other books by Liam O Brien
What are the Odds? An A-Z of Sports and Prop Betting
You Bet! An A-Z of Poker, Casinos and Lotteries
Don t Bet the Farm The Encyclopedia of Betting and Gambling
Contents
Copyright Page
Other books by Liam O Brien
Introduction
Chronology
Start
Bibliography
Notes
Introduction
The central focus on horse (and greyhound) racing, much more so than any other sport has always revolved around betting and despite experiencing a decline over the last couple of decades in its percentage share of the market, around a third of all bookmaker turnover in Britain still comes from horse racing amounting to over 12 billion. 1 The link between racing and racing has always been strong, Richard Blackmore in his The Jockey Club and its founders written in 1891 decribed betting as ....the manure to which the enormous crop of horse-races and racehorse breeding is to a large extent due. More recently, Times journalist Simon Barnes put it more succinctly Racing without betting is like dancing without sex. Quite simply, if betting were removed from the equation, horse racing would largely cease to exist. Moreover, the handicapping system which is central to most races exists mainly to create a more bet friendly sport. Where betting has been removed as an integral part of racing, interest wanes. When Carter Harrison II was elected mayor of Chicago in 1904, one of his election promises was to witness the sport of kings without the vice of kings. He succeeded in banning gambling at local racetracks but with it went the punters resulting in no thoroughbred racing in Illinois until the legislation was repealed in 1922. An earlier similar experiment in South Australia in the 1880s had much the same result. There are of course modern jurisdictions such as Dubai where racing exists and gambling is not permitted but the effect of such restrictions is largely meaningless in an era of internet betting.
References to horse racing occur throughout history, chariot racing was a major activity in ancient Rome whilst both the Celtic Iceni tribes of eastern England and the Romans raced horses. The horses brought in by both Norman invaders and returning Crusaders improved British bloodstock and breeding better horses became increasingly important for military purposes. Later, Charles II began the long tradition of royal support for racing when he raced his horses on Newmarket Heath but at that point crowds were not encouraged and racing was very much confined to a small privileged coterie. In the late 17 th and early 18 th centuries the three horses to which virtually all thoroughbred racing stock can trace their lineage were imported; Byerley Turk (1689), captured/stolen by a Captain Byerley from a Turkish officer, Darley Arabian (1704) bought in Syria by Yorkshireman Thomas Darley and Godolphin Arabian (1728) who was born in Yemen and eventually ended up with the Earl of Godolphin near Newmarket.. As the 18 th century went on, racing gradually became a major vehicle for gambling when the widespread popularity of gambling became increasingly entwined with the growing equestrian industry. It gradually became more organised and in the early 1750s the Jockey Club was established to regulate the sport and arbitrate on disputes. As leisure time and disposable income increased along with better transport links, racing became more accessible to the masses although it was and generally still is controlled by an establishment lite. Racing has followed British and to a lesser extent other European colonists throughout the world and local variants of organisations such as the Turf Club and the Jockey Club generally tended to mirror those in Britain. Flat Racing tends to be predominant in most places except in Ireland where steeplechasing (the name derives from a race run in 1752 between the church steeples of Buttevant and Doneraile in County Cork) is pre-eminent. It moves into the wider culture of many countries on occasions such as the Grand National, the Melbourne Cup or the Prix de l Arc when many people will have their one and only bet of the year where they join the regular punter on the often elusive search to pick a winner.
Whilst racing remains the most popular betting activity, it s dominance of the overall betting market has been challenged in recent times by both the upsurge in sports betting and the popularity of instant fix gambling such as FOBTs which have made betting shops increasingly more like mini casinos and less of a place where punters might spend their lunch hour studying the form. Nevertheless, it still retains a central role in the betting landscape where the never ending battle between punter and bookmaker still goes on relentlessly with the latter usually but not always coming out on top. Gaining the edge over the bookies in horse racing usually depends on a number of variables such as the weather, jockey, venue and form. With regard to the latter, there is greater importance attached to being able to interpret much more recent form compared to sports betting. However, there are usually other factors to be taken on board and much more unknowns and therein lies much of its attraction for punters. However, bookmakers have far greater power within racing than other forms of betting in that they can manipulate starting prices much more easily (although the advent of exchange betting has curbed this somewhat). And of course it is no great secret that a significant number of let s say, sources close to the horse s mouth are on their payroll. Almost entirely because it is so closely linked to betting, the history of horse racing has been littered with scandals, scams, ringers, nad doping. The same link has also brought forth a host of colourful characters, great stories and audacious coups. All have added to racing s story in their own way and this book will take you on a journey through them. Enjoy the ride.
Chronology
1665 The first horse racetrack in North America is built on Long Island.
1674 The Compleat Gamester by Charles Cotton, the first gambling book in English is published.
1710 Parliament legislates that losers of bets of more than 10 can sue the winners.
1728 The last of the three Arabian horses from which virtually all modern thoroughbred racing stock is descended from is imported into Britain.
1752 The Jockey Club is established.
1766 First running of the Doncaster Cup, world s oldest continuous horse race still in existence.
1773 First racetrack in mainland Europe opens outside Spa in Belgium.
1780 Diomed (6/4 F) wins the first Epsom Derby.
1793 William Ogden becomes the first layer to offer prices on all horses in a horse race.
1812 Trial and execution of Dan Dawson, found guilty of poisoning racehorses.
1824 Bell s Life in London is the first newspaper to publish horse racing odds.
1828 Accumulator betting popularised by club owner Richard Crockford.
1839 First Grand National (won by the aptly named Lottery).
1844 The Running Rein Epsom Derby scandal.
1845 Gambling debts can no longer be recovered by legal action in the UK.
1853 Betting and Gaming Act makes off-course cash betting illegal.
1861 First running of the Melbourne Cup.
1865 Pierre Oller devises the pari-mutuel pool betting system.
1866 First American bookmaker sets up business in Philadelphia.
1874 Gambling related advertising outlawed in the UK.
1877 Pari-mutuel betting introduced to North America at Morris and Jerome Park in New York.
1879 In New Zealand, the first tote machine is invented.
1892 Canada bans all gambling, except charity raffles, carnival games and racetrack betting.
1897 Racecourse gambling made illegal after NAGL v Kempton Park court case, rescinded on appeal.
1898 Trodmore Syndicate wins thousands on non-existent races at a non-existent course.
1903 Sanctioned experiment by trainer George Lambton proves that doping horses can improve performance.
1904 First Cheltenham jump racing festival.
1906 Street betting made a criminal offence in Britain.
1909 Nevada (including Las Vegas) makes betting on horses and most other gambling illegal.
1911 British bookmakers forced to close offshore bases in the Netherlands.
1913 Australian George Julius invents an electromechanical tote, revolutionising pari-mutuel betting.
1926 First greyhound race meeting in Europe at Belle Vue, Manchester.
1928 Horserace Totaliser Board (the Tote) is established in the UK.
1930 The first Irish Hospitals Sweepstakes held.
1931 Nevada re-legalises gambling opening the door for Las Vegas to become a gambling centre.
1946 Record losses for bookmakers as 50/1 Airborne wins the first post-war Epso