Stung ones twice shy
22Dec05

THE Queensland TAB believes Australia's corporate bookmakers will be forced to change the way they bet on greyhounds after a sophisticated sting at the Parklands dogs netted a punting syndicate about $1 million.

The Lucy's Light betting fiasco has been hailed by industry veterans as a modern-day sting.

Gaming giant Tabcorp is now demanding an Australia-wide ban on bookmakers being allowed to copy TAB totalisator dividends.

Northern Territory corporate bookmaking firms lost $500,000 in the sting, believed to have been orchestrated by a former Sydney dog bookie.

Shattered Adelaide bookmaker Curly Seal yesterday revealed he alone lost a massive $600,000.

"If you said (I lost) $600,000 that wouldn't be far off the mark," said Mr Seal.

UNiTAB delayed declaring the dividend in the controversial Gold Coast staying race on Tuesday after the hot favourite, Lucy's Light, eased in the market from $1.30 to the remarkable dividend of $13 when the dogs jumped from the traps.

UNiTAB declared the extraordinary dividend, saying the sting was 'clever and devious' but legal.

In what was a six-month planning operation, a punting syndicate waited for Queensland's best stayer, Lucy's Light, to race in a weak staying event at Parklands. The dog won by eight lengths and nearly broke the track record, after copping an early check.

Three minutes before the race, Lucy's Light was paying $1 for the win, or money back, on the Queensland TAB.

It was about this time the syndicate placed bets with many leading bookmaking agencies, which pay out on the final Queensland TAB dividend.

Just after the bets had been placed with the betting agencies, the syndicate put five separate $15,000 bets on every runner except Lucy's Light.

The inflated win pool five times the normal amount allowed Lucy's Light to drift out to odds of 12-1.

After Lucy's Light bolted in, the betting agencies faced a massive payout after the win.

UNiTAB's wagering boss Shane Adams said yesterday there had been nothing illegal about the sting.

"Basically, from our point of view, there were five dogs heavily backed to beat Lucy's Light and they simply lost their money," he said.

"Obviously, if they have bet elsewhere and received a much better price on what was clearly a $1.30 chance, good luck to them.

"The dog still had to win."

The punters who received odds of $13 were not complaining.

"It's been a very clever exercise but you have to understand that from our point of view, no one has done anything wrong," said Mr Adams.

"They just backed five losers with us.

"I think the fallout from this will be that corporate bookmakers change the way they operate.

"I'm surprised it hasn't been done before this."

Speculation is rife that the syndicate boss is a former top Sydney bookie, now based in Queensland.

Tabcorp wagering boss Michael Piggott described the incident as a disgrace and warned of the ongoing threat to the integrity of TAB pools and racing if this type of bookmak-ing service was allowed to continue.

"Although bookmakers lost out in this case, the average TAB punter and bookmakers' customer is at risk from such bookmaking activities," he said.

"Tabcorp has warned about this type of TAB pool manipulation for years.

"Thankfully, governments in all other jurisdictions except the Northern Territory have now outlawed TAB-odds betting by bookmakers.

"We see it as manipulative and totally unfair."

The syndicate set up legitimate betting accounts with several interstate betting firms including Centreracing, Sportingbet, Sportsbet, Betezy and Mr Seal in Adelaide.

Centreracing's Chr-istian Sawyer said it was the biggest sting there had ever been on a dog race in Australia