A PENSIONER who handed over more than £10,000 to tipster John McCracken for an ‘extra special' betting scheme never saw his money again, a court heard on Tuesday.
Peter McClean was giving evidence at the Lewes Crown Court trial of three men accused of taking part in a £5 million betting scam.
Unemployed McCracken, 47, from Brighton, who was effectively warned off for life in 2004 after refusing to co-operate with a race-fixing investigation, is charged with conspiracy to defraud between April 30, 2003 and February 13, 2008.
His co-defendants, self-employed John Brice, 40, of Hove, and Matthew Thole, 40, a company director and tipster from Cardiff, face the same charge. All three men have pleaded not guilty.
McClean, from Coventry, received a brochure with McCracken's picture on the front in spring 2006, and paid £227 for a three-year membership.
He said: "In quick succession within about a week or so I got four tips. To my surprise three of the damn things won."
McClean said he only bet in small amounts as he "wasn't convinced to begin with" because of the short odds, but subsequently received a second brochure in the name of John Jock McCracken offering the opportunity to take part in a "record-breaking mystery horses" scheme.
The court heard he received a phone call shortly afterwards from someone claiming to be an associate of McCracken.
McClean said: "I received a phone call asking me to pay for another service. The fact I had three winners out of four, I thought I was on to a good thing. I was very interested."
McClean said no specific amount of money was mentioned at this point but he said he wouldn't pay anything unless he could speak to somebody higher up, "preferably McCracken himself".
He told the court that "within minutes" he received a phone call from someone who said, "this is Jock McCracken".
McClean said: "I only remember the price he mentioned, £10,000. He said [the service] was better than the one I had already joined."
The pensioner then said he would need to speak to McCracken face to face and they agreed to meet at McDonalds restaurant at Gatwick airport at 8am on June 12, 2006.
He said McCracken told him to come alone. McClean said he went to meet McCracken with a £10,000 cheque in his pocket because he was "anxious to join" the scheme.
He said: "I asked him what the £10,000 was for. He said I would be getting the best racing information possible. He said by Christmas of that year I would be worth in the region of £100,000. And in three or four years I would be making somewhere in the region of £1 million."
McClean said he gave the cheque to McCracken, explaining: "I thought I'd get horseracing information at least as good if not better than I had already got," adding: "After that he just melted away."
He told the court he was rung by one or two other people on McCracken's behalf, but only to try to sell more services.
McClean attempted to get in touch with McCracken through phone calls and writing only to find the mobile number disconnected and his letter returned.
In cross-examination Matthew Farmer, defending McCracken, said the service being offered was to actually back horses that were going to lose.
McClean denied this and said he didn't know how to put bets on like that.
Asked why he hadn't clarified what special service was being offered for £10,000, McClean replied: "It had worked before three out of four times, you can't argue with that. I wanted to be part of it."
The trial, which is expected to last up to four weeks, continues.
The judge added: "Some of you may feel the losers in this case are gullible, foolish and even greedy. They had forgotten the old adage if something is too good to be true, it probably is."
Sums it up for me . . . . Not Guilty.
The judge added: "Some of you may feel the losers in this case are gullible, foolish and even greedy. They had forgotten the old adage if something is too good to be true, it probably is."Sums it up for me . . . . Not Guilty.
Mind you its good im not on the jury when the judge was summing up my mush would of done this
Judge Hayward went on: "The defendant [McCracken] has admitted to you a propensity to defraud others. That's what he says he does. The Crown suggests that propensity makes it more likely he was involved in the conspiracy in this case. It does not follow that because McCracken has a propensity that he is guilty of these offences."
GOOBELDEEGOOK
Wheres my strawberry punnets
Mind you its good im not on the jury when the judge was summing up my mush would of done thisJudge Hayward went on: "The defendant [McCracken] has admitted to you a propensity to defraud others. That's what he says he does. The Crown suggests that pr
not enough background work plenty of tipsters had the same trick pulled on them one famous one took full page adverts to warm against this type of scam if they could have shown that this was a industry problem not just a one off then they might have swung it. looks like the downfall was not supplying what someone had paid for no matter tipsters or goods its a crime not to do that
not enough background work plenty of tipsters had the same trick pulled on them one famous one took full page adverts to warm against this type of scam if they could have shown that this was a industry problem not just a one off then they might have
only joking,know youre a man of the world. on its merit find hard to believe the jury could conclusively find guilty .saying that mate of mine got 23 years for throwing his bird off the 10th floor isle of dogs tower block.he said she jumped;there was only 2 of them there
only joking,know youre a man of the world.on its merit find hard to believe the jury could conclusively find guilty .saying that mate of mine got 23 years for throwing his bird off the 10th floor isle of dogs tower block.he said she jumped;there was
What 4 years?? Even if he was guilty he was ripping of greedy fookers who wanted something for nothing
These knuts that killed that poor baby p are going to get out soon
To hell in a handcart this mess of a country.
What 4 years?? Even if he was guilty he was ripping of greedy fookers who wanted something for nothingThese knuts that killed that poor baby p are going to get out soonTo hell in a handcart this mess of a country.
Jock was given a choice before the trial ...... put your hands up and plead not guilty for 3 years max ........ or run the gauntlet with a "not guilty" for chance of 7 years max ........ plus confiscation order (that could add 5 years) as in the case of the Spicer Twins, that is served full term (12 years) if you don't come up with the wonga.
So with 4 years, the judge has mitigated on his behalf, but plenty of shyte to follow.,,,,,,,,,
Jock was given a choice before the trial ...... put your hands up and plead not guilty for 3 years max ........ or run the gauntlet with a "not guilty" for chance of 7 years max ........ plus confiscation order (that could add 5 years) as in the case
Jock backed himself to get off ........ but laid the other 2 to be found guilty ...... covered his stake and came out winning on the day .....until his sentence was given ......
Xmoneyx ........ wanted for Murder ........ gave himself up to BF Police ,,,,,,,, bang to rights,,,,,
Jock will post in future under his new forum name ,,,,,,,, "Cellmate" ,,,,,,,,,
Jock backed himself to get off ........ but laid the other 2 to be found guilty ...... covered his stake and came out winning on the day .....until his sentence was given ......Xmoneyx ........ wanted for Murder ........ gave himself up to BF Police
kennythebetboy • July 31, 2013 1:26 PM BST Jock backed himself to get off ........ but laid the other 2 to be found guilty ...... covered his stake and came out winning on the day .
surely these are both losing bets
Jock backed himself to get off - LOST GUILTY
laid the other 2 to be found guilty - LOST BOTH GUILTY
poor Jock a loser right to the end, lets hope he uses his jail time constructively to address his gambling compulsion and perhaps learn a useful (legal) trade
kennythebetboy • July 31, 2013 1:26 PM BSTJock backed himself to get off ........ but laid the other 2 to be found guilty ...... covered his stake and came out winning on the day .surely these are both losing betsJock backed himself to get off - LO
just because the gullible lost money doesn't imply there was no crime.
taking money for a service you know you're not going to provide is a crime. being stupid (sadly) isn't.
just because the gullible lost money doesn't imply there was no crime. taking money for a service you know you're not going to provide is a crime. being stupid (sadly) isn't.
Mange ....... look out for the work party from Lewes Prison ...... all wearing fluorescent HMP Lewes work bibs ....... he is the bald headed one .... unless he is wearing his wig ..... not interested in your hedge,,,,,,,,, just your "Grass" ,,,,,,,,,,
Mange ....... look out for the work party from Lewes Prison ...... all wearing fluorescent HMP Lewes work bibs ....... he is the bald headed one .... unless he is wearing his wig ..... not interested in your hedge,,,,,,,,, just your "Grass" ,,,,,,,,,
Mange ....... you only about 5ft 2" ...... your garden is now 4ft high ....... do you ever get lost? .......... open it as a maze ..... or get the crop circle mob in. Reminds me of that joke about the "Wherethefukarwe Tribe" ...... they were 4ft pygmies and the grass grew 5ft. .... they kept chanting "Wherethefukarewe?, Wherethefukarewe?" ,,,,,,,,,
Mange ....... you only about 5ft 2" ...... your garden is now 4ft high ....... do you ever get lost? .......... open it as a maze ..... or get the crop circle mob in.Reminds me of that joke about the "Wherethefukarwe Tribe" ...... they were 4ft pygmi
As stated what is the difference between a fraudster preying on the gullible and
The alleged "Bookmakers" preying on the gullible by closing down all winning accounts....
Nothing whatsoever....
This will have to change things as it has been proven in Court that if you cannot win you go to Gaol...
Look forward to that inbred family from the Potteries facing Charges as well as those in charge of the Publicly Quoted Companies...
That is a disgrace...As stated what is the difference between a fraudster preying on the gullible and The alleged "Bookmakers" preying on the gullible by closing down all winning accounts....Nothing whatsoever....This will have to change things as it
Harsh sentence in my opinion ... he'd have got less if he'd gone down Brighton on a Saturday night and cracked somebody with a bottle.There's a few other "tipsters" who should be looking over their shoulders after this,and if they aren't then they should.
Just a thought on paper money with "traces " of various drug residue on them ... If some of the newspaper articles posted online are accurate then 80% of the world's notes have traces of drug residue on them.
Harsh sentence in my opinion ... he'd have got less if he'd gone down Brighton on a Saturday night and cracked somebody with a bottle.There's a few other "tipsters" who should be looking over their shoulders after this,and if they aren't then they sh
I am no expert in legal matters but I had a strong impression that the Judge
in his summing up of the case was far from convinced of the case having been
proved against Jock. When the jury found Jock guilty the Judge could have
suspended part of the sentence, all things considered whose was the most serious
offence that vile person Hall abusing young kiddies or Jock getting a few quid
off the greedy. Imo two years would have been an adequate punishment.
I am no expert in legal matters but I had a strong impression that the Judgein his summing up of the case was far from convinced of the case having beenproved against Jock. When the jury found Jock guilty the Judge could havesuspended part of the se
Very light sentence indeed for a career conman, drug dealer,scammer and race fixer etc, I'm glad the jury weren't as gullible as some of the posters on this thread.
Very light sentence indeed for a career conman, drug dealer,scammer and race fixer etc, I'm glad the jury weren't as gullible as some of the posters on this thread.
xmoneyx, If someone conned me for £10000 I would be angry no doubt it,
if however someone had abused my twins when they were at a young age I
could willingly seen them topped, one offence is horrendous the other
is a scam.
xmoneyx, If someone conned me for £10000 I would be angry no doubt it,if however someone had abused my twins when they were at a young age Icould willingly seen them topped, one offence is horrendous the otheris a scam.
The man is a total fcuking scumbag, should of got 10 years. He's a convicted drug dealer convicted fraudster, threatens woman, fixed races, bribed jockeys, and fcuk knows what else he got up too. A lower grade human as you're ever likely to find. Wonder how many lives his drug dealing fcuked up. Yet he's appears some kind of cult figure on here. His behavior is seen as fair game, even seems to be covertly admired. Almost all of the forum to a man cries foul, when there's a supposed dodgy ride or race, yet this low grade c00nt gets convicted of all sorts, and the cries are, sentence too harsh etc. Total Fcuking hypocrisy. I wonder what sort standards, some of ye fcukers live by, when you're not posting on here eh. I really do wonder.
The man is a total fcuking scumbag, should of got 10 years. He's a convicted drug dealerconvicted fraudster, threatens woman, fixed races, bribed jockeys, and fcuk knows what else he got up too.A lower grade human as you're ever likely to find.Wonder
The Racing Post yesterday revealed that McCracken,
understood to be a former
associate of fugitive drugs baron Brian Wright, has been linked through telephone records to the races lost by Ice Saint, Tollbrae and Red Lancer, who all drifted on the betting exchanges.
Amid fears of a concerted campaign of paying jockeys for information and to stop horses, the Jockey Club yesterday tried to play down claims of McCracken having as many as 20 jockeys at his beck and call.
The Club felt unable to comment on fresh claims yesterday that dramatically linked
McCracken to three of the five men cleared of conspiring to dope racehorses when their trial collapsed at Southwark Crown Court in October 2000.
That high-profile case
resulted from races in 1997 at Exeter and Plumpton in which Avanti Express and Lively Knight were doped with the stopping drug ACP.
The alarming revelations and long-running Jockey Club investigation will only renew fears that an organised criminal element is behind the laying of horses to lose races in Britain, carrying with it implications for racing's integrity.
McCracken, who lives in Brighton, is due to appear at Lewes Crown Court this morning for breaching the requirements of a community service order he
received in connection with a drug offence.
It is understood that his appearance
before Judge Richard Brown, at which he faces the prospect of being sent to prison, follows an alleged incident involving his community service supervisor.
Jump jockey Mattie Batchelor, whose phone records revealed calls with
McCracken on the day of the Ice Saint and Tollbrae races, has admitted being
interviewed about their association by
investigators. He did not ride in either race and insists he has done nothing wrong.
The Racing Post has been told that
McCracken, known to the riders as Jock, has up to 20 similar contacts within the weighing room, both in jumps racing and on the Flat, although the Jockey Club has made it clear it would be surprised if it were as many as that, as the mastermind
appears to operate through a smaller number of middlemen.
It is also understood that McCracken has strong links to three of the individuals who featured in the Southwark
trial, although this claim was met with a straight bat by Jockey Club spokesman John Maxse.
Maxse, the Club's director of public
relations, said: "I know there is a bigger picture here of which we are very well aware, [but] from the point of view of
resources and actually getting results, what we have concentrated on are the particular races in question. We are really focused on trying to have a positive outcome to these inquiries into the Red Lancer, Ice Saint and Tollbrae races." This is an old RP article,
The Racing Post yesterday revealed that McCracken,understood to be a formerassociate of fugitive drugs baron Brian Wright, has been linked through telephone records to the races lost by Ice Saint, Tollbrae and Red Lancer, who all drifted on the betti
xmoneyx When I was a young man a youngish woman purporting to be a tourist nicked
a grand out of my pocket when I was asleep and then sloped off, I had been had and
that was that, a few months later I went into a club in central London and lo and
behold I spotted the same Woman with a guy, when she saw me she turned pale and tried
to do a runner, I copped for her told the guy she was with to stay where he was, took
the jebra outside told her to empty her pockets and handbag in which she had in total
around £200 she also had a bit of bling which I relieved her off, kicked her up the arse and
told her to piss off. Went back into the club where the guy she was with was still sitting
asked him how well he knew that young woman he replied he had only met her that day, I said
to him he had probably had a lucky escape. At no time did I think about involving the law.
xmoneyx When I was a young man a youngish woman purporting to be a tourist nickeda grand out of my pocket when I was asleep and then sloped off, I had been had andthat was that, a few months later I went into a club in central London and lo andbehold
For more than a decade, John Maxse was the suave face of the biggest organisations in British horseracing.
But that face was looking rather less suave yesterday following an alleged attack by one of the Queen’s riders in what is believed to have been a fight over a woman.
In fact, Mr Maxse – former PR director at both the Jockey Club and the British Horseracing Authority, appeared to be sporting a black eye and a number of cuts and bruises. John Maxse suffered 'serious injuries' and required hospital treatment following the alleged attack in Newmarket last Sunday Jonathan Nolan has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent
John Maxse (left) suffered 'serious injuries' and required hospital treatment following the alleged attack in Newmarket last Sunday. Jonathan Nolan (right) has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent
The 45-year-old former jockey, who now works for the Qatari Royal Family, suffered ‘serious injuries’ and required hospital treatment for a suspected broken eye socket, broken collarbone and broken nose following the alleged attack in Newmarket last Sunday.
Jonathan Nolan, 32, who is a work rider for the Queen’s trainer Sir Michael Stoute, has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.
Officers were called to an address in the Suffolk town – considered the global home of horseracing – at about 11.30pm following a call from a member of the public.
Mr Maxse, who splits his time between properties in London and Newmarket, later wrote on Twitter: ‘You know those times when you live through something potentially life changing but it’s just a bit too “big & heavy” for Twitter?’
He went on to joke about how he looked like film character Rocky Balboa.
Yesterday he added on the social media site: ‘Said my Sunday morning goodbye to Newmarket &, for a change, good riddance; on account of some of the toxic people who live there.’ When asked by the Mail if he believed the attack was because of him having an alleged relationship with Nolan’s girlfriend, Mr Maxse was keen to stress that the woman involved was Nolan’s ex-girlfriend. Mr Maxse, the former PR director at both the Jockey Club and the British Horseracing Authority, now works as a communications consultant for Qatar Racing, the horse investment firm owned by the Qatari Royal Family
Mr Maxse, the former PR director at both the Jockey Club and the British Horseracing Authority, now works as a communications consultant for Qatar Racing, the horse investment firm owned by the Qatari Royal Family
He added: ‘There was no argument on the night, there was no fight.’ But he refused to comment further, saying it would ‘cause too much pain to other people’.
Mr Maxse is a prominent figure in horseracing and was the public face of the British Horseracing Authority and Jockey Club when he worked at both as PR director. He was the Jockey Club’s head of PR during the BBC Panorama programme’s damaging investigation into racing a decade ago.
He now works as a communications consultant for Qatar Racing, the horse investment firm owned by the Qatari Royal Family. He also rides out regularly for Newmarket trainer Michael Bell.
'You know those times when you live through something potentially life changing but it’s just a bit too “big & heavy” for Twitter?'
- John Maxse, writing on Twitter
Nolan is a work rider at Sir Michael Stoute’s Freemason Lodge Stables in Newmarket. He used to ride the Queen’s horse Carlton House when it was trained there.
A work rider generally undertakes daily duties that include mucking out, exercising, grooming, feeding, watering, rugging up and bedding down horses. Earlier this year, Sir Michael trained the Queen’s horse Estimate to Gold Cup victory at Royal Ascot. It was the first time in the race’s 207-year history that it was won by a reigning monarch.
Nolan appeared in court in Bury St Edmunds on Tuesday charged with grievous bodily harm with intent and was bailed to a later date.
Newmarket is dominated by horseracing and one in three jobs in the area is estimated to be related to the sport.
There are just 15,000 people but more than 3,000 racehorses in the town, which boasts two large racetracks – The Rowley Mile and The July Course.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380556/Battered-racing-PR-attacked-Queens-rider-woman-Jockey-charged-GBH-row-Newmarket.html#ixzz2aiVYMhPv Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
with a straight bat by Jockey Club spokesman John Maxse..... hee heeehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380556/Battered-racing-PR-attacked-Queens-rider-woman-Jockey-charged-GBH-row-Newmarket.htmlFor more than a decade, John Maxse was the suave
a builder took me for 7k ,showed me false documents he was gas/ safe / registered,I wanted him buried in concrete,took him to court,awarded 7k +costs,builder declared bankrupt,I received £0,
a builder took me for 7k ,showed me false documents he was gas/ safe / registered,I wanted him buried in concrete,took him to court,awarded 7k +costs,builder declared bankrupt,I received £0,
Once again if someone can tell me the difference between McCracken and the alleged "Bookmakers" then I would be forever in your debt.
You are not allowed to win so what is the difference...
At least McCracken intercepted the mug money before it got to the parasites further up the chain..
How Coates and Done are not doing Life is beyond me.....
Half-time in the Rugby on Sky...Once again if someone can tell me the difference between McCracken and the alleged "Bookmakers" then I would be forever in your debt.You are not allowed to win so what is the difference...At least McCracken intercepted
@homefortea -- you don't like the "alleged bookmakers": we get that. To compare them to fraudsters is rather over-egging the pudding, though.
Imagine you want to buy a Rolex. Cartier won't open the door because you are wearing a crash helmet and carrying a sledgehammer. Luckily, there is a guy on the corner of Bond Street selling watches out of a suitcase, so you give him your £10,000 and go home happy. The next day, when you are showing it off down the golf club, you notice there are two Ls in Rollex.
Cartier refused to do business with you: the street seller conned you. Bookies decline bets from winners: McCracken takes your money for a service which he never intended to deliver.
What the bookies do not do is take your bets and then keep the money whether your horse wins or loses. That would be analogous to what McCracken did. There is a difference.
@homefortea -- you don't like the "alleged bookmakers": we get that. To compare them to fraudsters is rather over-egging the pudding, though.Imagine you want to buy a Rolex. Cartier won't open the door because you are wearing a crash helmet and carry
Should a Jockey who has deliberately "ridden horses to lose" for purpose of monetary gain not also be jailed ? He has to all intents and purpose defrauded punters by his actions ... Or is a ban from the sport sufficient ?
... and what about certain tipsters who are TV presenters and also run tipping lines where in effect callers are paying for tips by virtue of call charges.The comments at the end of this piece by the man who this article is about,are enlightening shall we say ? What difference his attitude to callers of his line.
Tommo the terrible tipster
You win some, you lose some, and then you lose some more. Alan English on telephone tipping lines: 'Only an act of God can stop Dubai Seven Stars winning' said telephone tipster The Sweeney. It lost.
Derek Thompson: 89 tips 72 losers The Observer, Sunday 17 June 2001 17.41 BST
Derek Thompson: 89 tips 72 losers. The essence of the tipster's art has always been to convince the gullible that the bookies can be bashed and that enormous profits are just around the corner.
In Flann O'Brien's 1939 novel At Swim Two Birds, this approach is memorably captured in a letter written by a certain Vernie Wright, a tipster with a Newmarket address.
'Bounty Queen was indeed a great disappointment,' Vernie writes, 'but anybody leaving me now because of bad luck would indeed be a "puzzler".
You had the losers, why not row in and make a packet over the winners that are now our due.
SENSATIONAL NEWS has reached me that certain interests have planned a gigantic coup involving a certain animal who has been saved for the past month. To all my friends forwarding 6d and two SAE's I will present this THREE-STAR CAST-IRON PLUNGER and we will have the win of our lives and all the bad luck forgotten.'
Six decades on, sixpence and a stamped addressed envelope have given way to the premium-rate phonecall, but the flow of money from punter to bookmaker has never been interrupted.
'All horseplayers die broke,' wrote Damon Runyon in 1938. A select few professional tipsters are in a position to disagree. One is Melvyn Collier, the Racing Post's Pricewise correspondent, who will soon join the ranks of those with private subscription services.
By limiting his advice to a handful of races every week, those for which the bookmakers offer morning prices, Collier has turned a profit for eight successive years. The only secret, he says, is assiduous study of the form book - and that would also apply to the country's top (and very expensive) tipping lines, Isiris and Marten Julian.
Another tipster with a Newmarket address is Derek Thompson, better known as a Channel 4 racing presenter. Asked for an opinion on the merits of his fellow tipster, Collier hesitated. And then he laughed. Read on, and you'll discover why.
Clean-cut, forever smiling and keen to please - if Derek Thompson was a novel he'd be something by Barbara Cartland. His Channel 4 Racing bosses admire him because they know that if a 90-second gap appears, Thompson will ad lib 90 seconds precisely. 'Tommo' sells himself expertly as the punter's pal. On our evidence he's anything but.
Tommo brings this same effortless quality to his other job, that of professional tipster. Flick through the Racing Post and you will find him, along with many others, casting his net for more customers. Need some tips for Royal Ascot? Tommo can oblige. Just call 0901 5638238 and, for 60p a minute, you're sorted.
If you have an aversion to premium-rate telephone numbers, you can pay up front, £199.99 per year, to join the Derek Thompson Racing Club and get access to a non-premium line. There's even a visit to a Newmarket yard thrown in, an opportunity to see Tommo in the flesh. As Tommo says: 'Shame on you if you haven't joined!'
But if you're the cautious type, the kind who prefers to try before you buy, there's no shame in not joining. Far from it. In the spirit of punter solidarity, Observer Sport called Thompson's tipping line every day for four consecutive weeks, as well as those of two of his rivals. We staked a notional £50 to win on each selection and put a stopwatch on every call.
Of the 89 horses tipped by Thompson - many of them obvious and short-priced - 72 were beaten. Even though he was 40p a minute cheaper than his two rivals, one call to his line can still cost four times as much the Racing Post .
Thompson seems to believe that his callers live in a land where newspapers have been suppressed and he is the source of all information.
'I've got very good news,' he said during the second week, when he was tipping at Pontefract, as though it would never have occurred to anyone that In Space, the 5-4 favourite in the 2.45, might be in with a chance. The horse finished fifth, the same as Puffin, Thompson's tip in the 4.20. After asserting that Benedectine would 'take the beating', he moved on to a lengthy plug for his racing club.
Benedictine was second. Three tips, three losers, but for Thompson, there was no need for an explanation. Had he backed any of the three himself? Did he feel his callers' pain? We can, perhaps, deduce something from the words with which he greeted his regulars the next morning.
'Hi, it's Tommo - and I've got some good news.' It was as if Pontefract had never happened.
One of Thompson's rival services, The Sweeney, is more into bombast than intrigue. Every tip is 'a pearler' that will put his clients 'in clover', every defeat attributable to factors beyond his control: the jockey, the misleading going, the 25-1 shot that should never have been there.
His faith in his own powers would be touching, were it not so misguided. 'I have no doubt whatsoever about the victory of Dubai Seven Stars,' he said on 17 May. Only 'an act of God' could stop this filly. Step forward that act of God in the shape of Arrive, the winner at 6-1.
After tipping four losers, The Sweeney will admit to being 'not totally inspired by the profits'. In week two, he made 24 selections, but the real story was not that 19 of them were beaten, it was that learning their identity cost £64.75, or £2.69 for every tip. At 71p per tip, Thompson was practically benevolent by comparison.
The Sweeney was a master of the delaying tactic. He didn't quite reveal what he had had for breakfast, but it was close. 'Without further ado, let's skate over to Ripon,' he said one day. 'Well, not in a literal sense, of course, but with your newspapers, or whatever...'
The third tipster we followed, Henry Ponsonby, stressed almost daily that he rides out for Mick Channon, but otherwise played a straight bat. He still ran up losses of £748.10.
Over the four weeks, Thompson's tips resulted in a loss of £1,846.05, which rose to £1,921.37, with the cost of calls. Fighting off stiff competition from The Sweeney, he was confirmed as our survey's worst telephone tipster of the four weeks we covered only on the last day of 25, thanks to a clean sweep of five losers at Newbury and Thirsk, including 11-8 and 7-4 favourites. Of course, it may have been a bad four weeks for our selected tipsters, and they may not be alone in that.
Fourteen of Thompson's 17 winners were returned at 3-1 or worse; five were odds-on. In short, they were never going to put callers ahead of the game. In the Channel 4 Racing Guide to Form and Betting , Thompson's advice to readers is brief: 'Never bet odds-on - it's as simple as that.'
If only. On 11 May, Thompson plumbed the depths by tipping two 4-6 shots, both of which were beaten.
On Friday, Thompson defended his tipping line: 'If people don't like the service, then don't ring.'
Asked how much he thought callers should have on his tips, he said, 'At the most, a fiver.' Did he back his own selections? That, said Tommo, was 'a very personal question'. When pressed, he replied that he invested his own money 'as often as I see fit'.
Questions ...Should a Jockey who has deliberately "ridden horses to lose" for purpose of monetary gain not also be jailed ? He has to all intents and purpose defrauded punters by his actions ... Or is a ban from the sport sufficient ? ... and what ab
that's gutter journalism in 2001 some cracking tipsters about most showing profit so who do you think they are going to publish the one that showed a good profit no the worst one over a bad period that's journalists for you
that's gutter journalism in 2001 some cracking tipsters about most showing profit so who do you think they are going to publish the one that showed a good profit no the worst one over a bad period that's journalists for you
With respect it's not really the quality of tipping that I am alluding to,it is the comment "If people don't like the service then don't ring"
Know All With respect it's not really the quality of tipping that I am alluding to,it is the comment "If people don't like the service then don't ring"
The defendant: With intent to make a gain for himself or another, or to cause loss to another or to expose another to risk of loss.
The offence is entirely focused on the conduct of the defendant.
Fraud by false representation (Section 2)The defendant: With intent to make a gain for himself or another, or to cause loss to another or to expose another to risk of loss.The offence is entirely focused on the conduct of the defendant.