According to trainer Conor O’Dwyer, the Hurley Family Kilbeggan Handicap Hurdle, run at Kilbeggan, in Co. Meath, on the evening of June 21, 2010, was a ‘bad race’ that would not take much winning. So it transpired, with his six-year-old D Four Dave – a maiden after eight starts in point-to-points and over hurdles – sauntering to an easy, seven-length win under jockey Mark Walsh.
Available at 14/1 earlier in the day – after finishing only ninth of sixteen, beaten 41 lengths, in a similar race, albeit over two furlongs shorter, at the same course just over two weeks earlier – D Four Dave was returned at 5/1, suggesting that improvement was expected. Indeed, it was. Owner Douglas Taylor had, in fact, cleverly orchestrated and executed a massive gamble which, notwithstanding one or two minor setbacks, netted the best part of €200,000 from betting shops throughout Dublin and Kildare.
In a plot borrowed, almost directly, from Dick Francis’ novel, ‘Even Money’ – which had been published less than a year previously – Taylor recruited hundreds of ‘couriers’, to each of whom he supplied an envelope containing a completed betting slip, €200 in cash and explicit, printed instructions. Each of his employees was also provided with a cheap wristwatch, with an alarm set to 18.55 – five minutes before the ‘off’ of the race in question – at which point they were to hand the slip and cash to the betting shop cashier, taking the current odds available on D Four Dave. On completion of the transaction, they were to hand over the betting slip counterfoil to a supervisor, who would drive them to the offices of MCR Recruitment, of which Taylor was managing director, to collect a fee of €30.
Many of the couriers were foreign nationals with, at best, a limited knowledge of English, so misunderstanding inevitably led to bets being placed too late, or not at all, and printed instructions being handed to betting shop staff. Betting shop staff also noted that, in some cases, the ‘runners’ wore two wristwatches, which was an indication that something unusual was occurring. Nevertheless, the timing and synchronisation of placing the bets left them powerless to react in any meaningful way.Taylor later said the coup ‘was just for fun’ but, even so, Paddy Power reported losses of up to €50,000 and Boylesports claimed to have lost ‘a five-figure sum’, so it was, as Boyelsports spokesman put it, ‘a really good punt landed.’