Welcome to Live View – Take the tour to learn more
Start Tour
There is currently 1 person viewing this thread.
23 Jul 19
09:54
Joined:
Date Joined:
10 Jan 07
I don't think I have seen the phrase used for decades. I wonder if some of the under-40s on here ( if there are any ) even know the term.
Show More
Used to be under every bookmakers sign, or on a sign dangling by the window, which you couldn't see through!
On my birth certificate it states my fathers occupation as a Commission Agents Clerk rather than just a bookmakers clerk on course.
Betting is supposed to be about risk. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That used to apply to both punter and “turf accountant”.
Today’s off course Bookmakers have decided that they must never lose, and winning is a divine right.
They have been allowed to control FAR too much in both horse racing and greyhound racing and, in my opinion, both sports have suffered because of it..
Today’s off course Bookmakers have decided that they must never lose, and winning is a divine right.
They have been allowed to control FAR too much in both horse racing and greyhound racing and, in my opinion, both sports have suffered because of it..
Oh yes. Commission agent is even more archaic ! The term bookmaker had pejorative overtones (has again now)so I think a number of more respectable terms were tried.
dick pickering ,,, commision agent,,, just those 4 words take me back to a different world , cheers
Turf Accountant - Think it may have been seen as some sort of way of legitimising their presence on the High Street - alongside Solicitors, Estate Agents, and regular Accountants.
- following the legalisation of 'Betting Shops' in the early 1960s
'Bookies' were not allowed 'over-advertise' their presence - and, as you say, stewarts - people were not allowed to be able to see inside a Betting Shop from the street.
- following the legalisation of 'Betting Shops' in the early 1960s
'Bookies' were not allowed 'over-advertise' their presence - and, as you say, stewarts - people were not allowed to be able to see inside a Betting Shop from the street.
FOBTs and other guaranteed win products (eg Virtuals) “happened”.
I'm under 40 and know the term my bets were placed at a local Independent Turf Accountants (R O'Farrell) by my old man in my Primary School years,the same shop was then taken over by another independent WBM bookmakers then Reuben Page then Coral before closing,can remember the R'O'Farrell Turf Accountant slips and shop sign.
denzil went round to o'farrell's to collect his winnings then into the boozer for a few pints on his way home from primary school ... them were the days
Anyone use the Scottish cash postal Bookies before shops were legalised ? You could also post your credit account bets to English Bookies.
Rather than being archaic the term accountant is more appropriate than it has ever been to "layers",only the turf has disappeared,even Bookmaker is a misnomer to the big firms.
Btw oldgit......I had a fair few postal bets with Freddie Williams in the 80s and most bets were by post when overseas so consequently ante post although if I could find a hotel with a direct International line it helped.
Btw oldgit......I had a fair few postal bets with Freddie Williams in the 80s and most bets were by post when overseas so consequently ante post although if I could find a hotel with a direct International line it helped.
Jul 23, 2019 -- 8:53PM, hulk23 wrote:
denzil went round to o'farrell's to collect his winnings then into the boozer for a few pints on his way home from primary school ... them were the days
It was attached to a social club hulk my old man barred me from both til I was 18 and didn't take the pi$$ cos they knew who I was,fortunately there were 5 other pubs and a bookies within a 200 metre radius to fill the gap from about 15/16-18 and my mates were a couple of years older so never had much bother.
Only got caught out once by a barmaid who knew my exact age turned out I was in the first class she looked after at Nursery school but she didn't shop me.
I went to work in London when I was 19 and my father was a postman in Edinburgh. One of the sorters said to him that I was getting a lot of registered letters from Bookies.
At Oldgit. Brilliant! Kids today eh, don't know how lucky they are with their privacy!
Had a browse through the bookie ads in some of my early annuals, and even as far back as 1971, none of them used the term turf accountants. I did find an ad for a firm I'd never heard of, a north east bookie called Wanless and Pallister - anybody remember them?. And also a real throwback, one for the Track Betting Agency (TBA) who were commission agents that would place your bets at 'SP or Tote odds'.
The shop I worked in as the Saturday boardboy around 1963/64, that was definitely a 'turf accountant' - Bruces in Friern Barnet, North London. Which remarkably was still there the last time I was in the area a few years ago, although it's moved three doors along from the original site next to the pub.
The shop I worked in as the Saturday boardboy around 1963/64, that was definitely a 'turf accountant' - Bruces in Friern Barnet, North London. Which remarkably was still there the last time I was in the area a few years ago, although it's moved three doors along from the original site next to the pub.
Ah Bruces in Friern Barnet...remember it well. Used to visit my mum who lived next to Friary Park at the time. On the walk from New Southgate station always used to pop in to
said shop.
said shop.
its called evolution they started off with big balls cahonas which over time shrivelled, shrunk and morphed into big ****S
Remember Wanless & Pallister adverts Anorak,may have seen them in the HIT books my Dad always got?
Remember as a 13 year old we had a class with the careers master,had to fill a form in and the main question was what you wanted to be and half jokingly put "Turf accountant" which I remember the master finding very amusing.
The rest is history as they say.
Remember as a 13 year old we had a class with the careers master,had to fill a form in and the main question was what you wanted to be and half jokingly put "Turf accountant" which I remember the master finding very amusing.
The rest is history as they say.
well anorak , im minded to ask you to tell me more about your Annuals,,, i got topper and beezer annuals for xmas , it seems you got more interesting stuff
Jul 23, 2019 -- 10:32AM, Aladdin Sane wrote:
Betting is supposed to be about risk. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That used to apply to both punter and “turf accountant”.Today’s off course Bookmakers have decided that they must never lose, and winning is a divine right.They have been allowed to control FAR too much in both horse racing and greyhound racing and, in my opinion, both sports have suffered because of it..
This exactly sums up the industry, as things stand.
Nobody willing to stand up from the rest for the fear of losing. I appreciate everything has it's price (and liability) but it's surely gone too far when there's a fear of a repeat of Frankies 7. These guys should know the true odds of that ever reoccurring and I mean ever.
A firm who truly embraces the practice of standing behind their prices and taking bets, heaven forbid a bookmakers firm doing such a thing, would surely force the hand of the other firms to follow suit, if it was proven that customers were leaving them to go elsewhere.
There's still millions in profit to be made regardless of the small percentile who win, to varying degrees granted.
Fully agree with Aladdin Sane’s post,SS.
RE Dettori And Royal Ascot,the firms were in a panic the following day — like,he was gonna have the first four again ? Don’t think so.
RE Dettori And Royal Ascot,the firms were in a panic the following day — like,he was gonna have the first four again ? Don’t think so.
ribero1:
I had an account with Wanless and Pallister at one time. Did they not go out of business or get taken over.
I had an account with Wanless and Pallister at one time. Did they not go out of business or get taken over.
Looks like they were formed in 1960 - and taken over by Corals, at some time - Gala Coral Secretaries became Director in 2000 - Dissolved in 2014
They have regrouped, and renamed 'forensic' Turf Accountants eg Ladcrookes/ok koral, billies, ***way, boils, etc.
Think its been mentioned before but remember plenty of Guntrip adverts from that era.
I go back before betting shops when you only had ‘bookies runners’.
They were illegal, so the “runner” was either down a side alley or in the case of a factory it would be a person who worked there.
You wrote your bet out on a slip and the ‘runner’ would put it into a large leather purse with a time lock on it.
Only people who had bank accounts could bet with ‘Turf Accountants” and that was usually just an office above a shop in the high road.
Other than that it was ‘postal betting’ whereby you had to have the envelope time-stamped and recorded delivery at the Post Office. You can imagine the scams that went on there.
One firm I remember was a Scottish firm called McLauchlan’s- anyone remember them?
My wife worked in one of the early betting shops, John Crosby’s, in Wood St Walthamstow (glamour pulled the punters in). If anyone swore the manager would ask them to leave the shop. How times have changed.
One firm I remember was a Scottish firm called McLauchlan’s- anyone remember them?
They were illegal, so the “runner” was either down a side alley or in the case of a factory it would be a person who worked there.
You wrote your bet out on a slip and the ‘runner’ would put it into a large leather purse with a time lock on it.
Only people who had bank accounts could bet with ‘Turf Accountants” and that was usually just an office above a shop in the high road.
Other than that it was ‘postal betting’ whereby you had to have the envelope time-stamped and recorded delivery at the Post Office. You can imagine the scams that went on there.
One firm I remember was a Scottish firm called McLauchlan’s- anyone remember them?
My wife worked in one of the early betting shops, John Crosby’s, in Wood St Walthamstow (glamour pulled the punters in
). If anyone swore the manager would ask them to leave the shop. How times have changed.One firm I remember was a Scottish firm called McLauchlan’s- anyone remember them?
You just put them in the pillar box. There was no need to go to the post office. The P.O was efficient in those days with at least six collections a day and letters were postmarked within 45 minutes. I could post one for the noon collection with my first bets of the day and get a later one in the post for the 3pm collection.
I was also fortunate to have a Bookies daughter work at the company and would give her bets that she took home at lunch time and would phone others home to her Mum during the afternoon.
I was also fortunate to have a Bookies daughter work at the company and would give her bets that she took home at lunch time and would phone others home to her Mum during the afternoon.
Another Edinburgh postal one was J. Johns.They used to have a full page ad on the back page of racing publications.
I still have a McLauchlan’s ready reckoner that is no good now as it was Pounds, shillings and pence.
I still have a McLauchlan’s ready reckoner that is no good now as it was Pounds, shillings and pence.
Oldgit1,
You are right about the pillar box, that jogged my memory, and it was in the Post Office time-stamping where there was always one trying to beat the system.
Two shillings and sixpence Each Way. = Dollar
You are right about the pillar box, that jogged my memory, and it was in the Post Office time-stamping where there was always one trying to beat the system.
Two shillings and sixpence Each Way. = Dollar
harrysandwich.
Used to bet with PTS ( Postal Turf / Tote ? Services ) in the early 70's.
Wrote your slip out and had to post before 10am on the day of the race .
I think they were taken over by Corals ?
Used to bet with PTS ( Postal Turf / Tote ? Services ) in the early 70's.
Wrote your slip out and had to post before 10am on the day of the race .
I think they were taken over by Corals ?
Remember being sent to post my dads bets to McLaughlin,although a Scottish name I seem to remember the envelopes were addressed to hayling island,Portsmouth area.
Anyone remember "GREYFORM" they used to do the card for Hackney on a Saturday morning? My local independant shop barred it as it was too good!
A typical comment, "Trap 5, Curryhills Boy, if it started yesterday it might make the frame today"!
A typical comment, "Trap 5, Curryhills Boy, if it started yesterday it might make the frame today"!
One betting shop or turf accountant I very much remember in the 1960s was Morry Israel's in Aldgate East London. This shop would never have less than 50 people in during racing hours and every so often the manager would climb onto the board markers platform and shout "I'll Lay 7/4 this favourite" when the blower was calling 6/4. Different world altogether.
Ribero.
I had a Guntrips account for many years but stopped using it when they were taken over by Sunderlands.
Very friendly lady telephonists and handwritten weekly statements.
If you Google Big Mac did an online feature on them.
I had a Guntrips account for many years but stopped using it when they were taken over by Sunderlands.
Very friendly lady telephonists and handwritten weekly statements.
If you Google Big Mac did an online feature on them.
Pixie:
“ Brilliant! Kids today eh, don't know how lucky they are with their privacy!”
I was always getting shown up and embarrassing my mother although my first racing memory is of her with her ear glued to the radio listening to Blue Peter winning the Derby. What's that I asked and she said 'Gambling it's very bad' I though how could something that sounded so exiting be bad?
My landlady in London was also Scottish and once asked if she could travel up with me and visit her relatives in Lanarkshire. She is to stay at my mothers the night before we go back to London. During dinner she says that she looking forward to getting back as her big winnings from the Cambridgeshire will be waiting for her as I had given her the winner (Retrial 1955 )
Another time my mother is entertaining some friends from the church when her brother turns up and gabs out that I hadn’t half caned the bookies again on Saturday. Oh the shame :-)
“ Brilliant! Kids today eh, don't know how lucky they are with their privacy!”
I was always getting shown up and embarrassing my mother although my first racing memory is of her with her ear glued to the radio listening to Blue Peter winning the Derby. What's that I asked and she said 'Gambling it's very bad' I though how could something that sounded so exiting be bad?
My landlady in London was also Scottish and once asked if she could travel up with me and visit her relatives in Lanarkshire. She is to stay at my mothers the night before we go back to London. During dinner she says that she looking forward to getting back as her big winnings from the Cambridgeshire will be waiting for her as I had given her the winner (Retrial 1955 )
Another time my mother is entertaining some friends from the church when her brother turns up and gabs out that I hadn’t half caned the bookies again on Saturday. Oh the shame :-)
oldgit, my first ever winner came in the Cambridgeshire. At the age of 11 my dad took me to Newmarket and allowed me a 1/- EW bet which I put on London Cry the 1958 winner ridden by Scobie Breasley.
harrysandwich
I also used PTS ( Postal Tote Services) who were based in Epsom. You could have Tote or SP and I often did forecast doubles.With their low stakes I used to take eight selections and perm them in Yankees to good effect.
I also used PTS ( Postal Tote Services) who were based in Epsom. You could have Tote or SP and I often did forecast doubles.With their low stakes I used to take eight selections and perm them in Yankees to good effect.
"Down to boy" I told Tony Morris I was in my 40's but he always said I was down to boy!
Sparrow.
The Cambridgeshire has always been one of my favourite races. I love those big field handicaps especially the Ayr Gold Cup.
I used to work with someone who was also a punter. We never agreed on the horses we liked and we were totally opposed politically. I had left the company in 1980 and had just started working for one on the old Croydon airport site. I'm walking to the station when Bill pulls and asks how i'm getting on and then asks if I had backed the Gold Cup winner. I tell him that I don't know the result yet. He asks who I backed and I tell him Sparkling Boy and Murrilo EW and in a reverse Exacta. First and second he tells me and drives off leaving me to walk the rest of the way to the station.
The Cambridgeshire has always been one of my favourite races. I love those big field handicaps especially the Ayr Gold Cup.
I used to work with someone who was also a punter. We never agreed on the horses we liked and we were totally opposed politically. I had left the company in 1980 and had just started working for one on the old Croydon airport site. I'm walking to the station when Bill pulls and asks how i'm getting on and then asks if I had backed the Gold Cup winner. I tell him that I don't know the result yet. He asks who I backed and I tell him Sparkling Boy and Murrilo EW and in a reverse Exacta. First and second he tells me and drives off leaving me to walk the rest of the way to the station.
oldgit, Your friend probably thought you actually did know the result and you were winding him up a bit!
As for the Cambridgeshire it's a race I would never even look at these days as I'm mostly only interested in the lower grade stuff.
As for the Cambridgeshire it's a race I would never even look at these days as I'm mostly only interested in the lower grade stuff.
When I was young there was a Turf Accountant near the seafront in Bognor, I thought they sold Turf and must sell a lot as there were loads of people going in there to buy it.
Years later I was chatting to a customer at his house and noticed he had a massive marble doorstep, he told me he got it from the same Turf Accountants when it was knocked down.
I used to work opposite an independent bookies who would always try and underpay when I collected my winnings, he was a miserable old bugger. He had a "Runner" at LEC Refrigeration who used to take all their bets, one bloke had a Yankee come up and the old bugger denied he had taken the bet. A few days later all of his windows were smashed in.
Years later I was chatting to a customer at his house and noticed he had a massive marble doorstep, he told me he got it from the same Turf Accountants when it was knocked down.
I used to work opposite an independent bookies who would always try and underpay when I collected my winnings, he was a miserable old bugger. He had a "Runner" at LEC Refrigeration who used to take all their bets, one bloke had a Yankee come up and the old bugger denied he had taken the bet. A few days later all of his windows were smashed in.
I remember slips only shops would open in morning take bets and close before the first race,they did not have extel and saved on expenses.Shop manager /owner would take slips home.Payout next day.
I can't remember if in the early days they photographed betting slips, didn't they just put them in the till and it printed the time the bet was placed on the bottom?
That would have been rife for any staff to make a fortune.
That would have been rife for any staff to make a fortune.
Does anyone remember Hooper and Cox,they were bookmakers on South Ealing rd.London w5.I used to use them 1958 for 4 or 5 years,moved away and have never been back.Are they still there?
Sparrow.
I think he knew we well enough to know that I would not wind him up on a 'serious matter'
The big handicaps are not like they were with a bottom weight of 7-7 and an apprentice on board.
As Mark Johnston said the other week the Ebor is now so valuable that it attracts Group type horses and with a probable weight range now in the range of 8 lbs it is hardly a handicap.
My first Ebor winner was the front running By Thunder in 1954. From the recesses of my memory it was a lowly weighted 3 Yo.
I think he knew we well enough to know that I would not wind him up on a 'serious matter'
The big handicaps are not like they were with a bottom weight of 7-7 and an apprentice on board.
As Mark Johnston said the other week the Ebor is now so valuable that it attracts Group type horses and with a probable weight range now in the range of 8 lbs it is hardly a handicap.
My first Ebor winner was the front running By Thunder in 1954. From the recesses of my memory it was a lowly weighted 3 Yo.
Pixie
My landlady was lucky from when I first knew her as she asked me to put a bet on the Derby for her favourite saying 'Never Say Die'
My landlady was lucky from when I first knew her as she asked me to put a bet on the Derby for her favourite saying 'Never Say Die'
Another phrase the under 40's wouldn't understand, "Chalk Jockey"?
You'll never hear it used these days.
You'll never hear it used these days.
my first bookie was at university 1971..two shops in Aberystwyth.. T.B.Fish turf accountant.
Sparrow:
" oldgit, my first ever winner came in the Cambridgeshire. At the age of 11 my dad took me to Newmarket and allowed me a 1/- EW bet which I put on London Cry the 1958 winner ridden by Scobie Breasley "
Aggressor trained by Towser Gosden who won the King George and Q.E. Stakes two years later was third in that race !
It was a horse I had great success with and conditions really suited it at Ascot that day when it beat some classic winners making me for once not back Petite Etoile.
I also had the Tote Double up that day with another Jimmy Lindley ridden horse. I went to Ally Pally on the Monday where Lindley continued his good run but I can't remember how many he had.
" oldgit, my first ever winner came in the Cambridgeshire. At the age of 11 my dad took me to Newmarket and allowed me a 1/- EW bet which I put on London Cry the 1958 winner ridden by Scobie Breasley "
Aggressor trained by Towser Gosden who won the King George and Q.E. Stakes two years later was third in that race !
It was a horse I had great success with and conditions really suited it at Ascot that day when it beat some classic winners making me for once not back Petite Etoile.
I also had the Tote Double up that day with another Jimmy Lindley ridden horse. I went to Ally Pally on the Monday where Lindley continued his good run but I can't remember how many he had.
Oldgit, I have a copy of a newspaper report of that race but never noticed Aggressor finishing 3rd and of course I later recall Towser Gosden who won quite a few of those big handicaps. Ally Pally was great on Monday nights and the first winner I backed there was Street Bookmaker in the seller.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19581029&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19581029&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Sparrow.
I see that Aggressor was the favourite. Some memories in the names of the others Marshall Pil, Empire Way, Old King Cole and earlier winner Loppylugs a favourite of everyone.
Bottom weights 6 -10 with Norman McIntosh and Kipper Lynch and higher up the list the one they always referred to as pipe smoking Joe Sime. And sadly Manny Mercer. I was living in Edinburgh and was at Hamilton the day he was killed at Ascot. A pall descended over the course and I saw old men in tears.
On Mondays it was a dash to get to A.P. as I worked at one time in Wandsworth and later in Battersea and if lucky just got there in time for the first race. The had a few Saturday afternoon meetings as well.
I see that Aggressor was the favourite. Some memories in the names of the others Marshall Pil, Empire Way, Old King Cole and earlier winner Loppylugs a favourite of everyone.
Bottom weights 6 -10 with Norman McIntosh and Kipper Lynch and higher up the list the one they always referred to as pipe smoking Joe Sime. And sadly Manny Mercer. I was living in Edinburgh and was at Hamilton the day he was killed at Ascot. A pall descended over the course and I saw old men in tears.
On Mondays it was a dash to get to A.P. as I worked at one time in Wandsworth and later in Battersea and if lucky just got there in time for the first race. The had a few Saturday afternoon meetings as well.
The thing I always remember about Manny Mercer's day was his brother Joe's reaction who was due to ride in that race. As for that day in 1958 all I really remember was my dad shouting it home as he had already lost his money and at 20/1 that 27/- would have been worth over £20 in today's money!
I don't remember anything about that day at Hamilton apart from the announcement that came late in the afternoon.
Manny Mercer story.
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/%27He+would+have+been+one+of+the+greats.+I%27d+put+him+in+the+same+class...-a0208760067
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/%27He+would+have+been+one+of+the+greats.+I%27d+put+him+in+the+same+class...-a0208760067
isleham 27 Jul 19 09:22 Joined: 10 Aug 02 | Topic/replies: 1,179 | Blogger: isleham's blog
my first bookie was at university 1971..two shops in Aberystwyth.. T.B.Fish turf accountant.
About 6 years later for me, TB Fish next to the Llanrumney Hall in Cardiff
Ken Jones or JM (Gomer) Charles if I was in town
my first bookie was at university 1971..two shops in Aberystwyth.. T.B.Fish turf accountant.
About 6 years later for me, TB Fish next to the Llanrumney Hall in Cardiff
Ken Jones or JM (Gomer) Charles if I was in town
Gomer Charles bit of a lad back in his day. The part about the 'blower' echo's Barney's mate hogging the blower in the Yellow Sam coup.
.....
How Gomer almost got away with his on-course betting scam
Brian Lee tells the story of the Cardiff tipster who served time in jail for fraud only to be killed in the comfort of his own home
Echo readers would have read last year of the Cardiff horse racing tipster Matthew Thole who was jailed for four years for his role in a £5m betting scam.
Re-wind 61 years to 1953, and another Cardiff man, bookmaker Gomer Charles, along with four other men, was accused of conspiring to defraud Bath Racecourse Company Ltd.
For his part in the scam, Charles, a jolly-looking man with a double chin, was jailed for two years after the original trial had failed to reach a verdict.
Mr Justice Byrne told Charles: “You kept yourself in the background but I have not the slightest doubt you were in the conspiracy from the early days.”
Three out of his four co-accused were also jailed for their parts in the scam.
The case arose out of the winning of the Spa Selling Hurdle Plate at Bath Races on July 16, 1953, by a French-bred horse down on the racecard as Francasal but who in reality was a much faster animal, also French-bred, called Santa Amaro.
Charles was well-known in Cardiff and he attended all the big meetings, often chartering airplanes to take him. He also operated at many of the greyhound tracks that were around in those days and in the 1950s he bought out the betting firm of the famed Newport bookmaker Jimmy Jones and became one of the biggest betting firms in the country.
It was reported that the equivalent of more than £100,000 in today’s money was placed on the horse by the conspirators, who had earlier opened up accounts with other bookmakers in different parts of the country so that they could back the horse off-course.
They might well have got away with their skulduggery had they not employed a Merthyr man to climb up a telegraph pole near the racecourse to cut the “blower” line to the track which made certain that no off-course money bets were telephoned to the track, which would have shortened the ringer’s odds.
The ringer romped home at odds of 10-1 but the bookmakers soon smelled a rat and refused to pay out.
A friend of mine, Reg Condon, told me that he had been given a large sum of money to place on the ringer by a very well-known Cardiff character who had worked a similiar scam at a greyhound track.
This man had been on very friendly terms with Mr Charles and was thought to have played a big part in the scam. How big a part we will never know as he took his secret to the grave.
Fast forward to the early hours of Monday morning, December 12 ,1966. I had just finished my night shift at the Western Mail and was walking home through Gorsedd Gardens when I saw two policemen standing in the doorway of number 22 Park Place, Cardiff, the residence of Gomer Charles.
Around 9pm on the Sunday evening, Mr Charles had gone to the door after hearing the doorbell ring and on opening it was shot dead. He was just 59 and had been shot in the heart by two burglars who were later sentenced to life in jail.
After seeing Charles fall to the ground, they had panicked and ran away leaving £25,000 in cash – no mean sum then – in the house.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/how-gomer-away-on-course-betting-6729425
.....
How Gomer almost got away with his on-course betting scam
Brian Lee tells the story of the Cardiff tipster who served time in jail for fraud only to be killed in the comfort of his own home
Echo readers would have read last year of the Cardiff horse racing tipster Matthew Thole who was jailed for four years for his role in a £5m betting scam.
Re-wind 61 years to 1953, and another Cardiff man, bookmaker Gomer Charles, along with four other men, was accused of conspiring to defraud Bath Racecourse Company Ltd.
For his part in the scam, Charles, a jolly-looking man with a double chin, was jailed for two years after the original trial had failed to reach a verdict.
Mr Justice Byrne told Charles: “You kept yourself in the background but I have not the slightest doubt you were in the conspiracy from the early days.”
Three out of his four co-accused were also jailed for their parts in the scam.
The case arose out of the winning of the Spa Selling Hurdle Plate at Bath Races on July 16, 1953, by a French-bred horse down on the racecard as Francasal but who in reality was a much faster animal, also French-bred, called Santa Amaro.
Charles was well-known in Cardiff and he attended all the big meetings, often chartering airplanes to take him. He also operated at many of the greyhound tracks that were around in those days and in the 1950s he bought out the betting firm of the famed Newport bookmaker Jimmy Jones and became one of the biggest betting firms in the country.
It was reported that the equivalent of more than £100,000 in today’s money was placed on the horse by the conspirators, who had earlier opened up accounts with other bookmakers in different parts of the country so that they could back the horse off-course.
They might well have got away with their skulduggery had they not employed a Merthyr man to climb up a telegraph pole near the racecourse to cut the “blower” line to the track which made certain that no off-course money bets were telephoned to the track, which would have shortened the ringer’s odds.
The ringer romped home at odds of 10-1 but the bookmakers soon smelled a rat and refused to pay out.
A friend of mine, Reg Condon, told me that he had been given a large sum of money to place on the ringer by a very well-known Cardiff character who had worked a similiar scam at a greyhound track.
This man had been on very friendly terms with Mr Charles and was thought to have played a big part in the scam. How big a part we will never know as he took his secret to the grave.
Fast forward to the early hours of Monday morning, December 12 ,1966. I had just finished my night shift at the Western Mail and was walking home through Gorsedd Gardens when I saw two policemen standing in the doorway of number 22 Park Place, Cardiff, the residence of Gomer Charles.
Around 9pm on the Sunday evening, Mr Charles had gone to the door after hearing the doorbell ring and on opening it was shot dead. He was just 59 and had been shot in the heart by two burglars who were later sentenced to life in jail.
After seeing Charles fall to the ground, they had panicked and ran away leaving £25,000 in cash – no mean sum then – in the house.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/how-gomer-away-on-course-betting-6729425
Sparrow.
Thanks for the Manny Mercer link, Very interesting and a lot of memorable horses names. I'm surprised at the number of fatalities in the 1950s.
I don't know of a connection with Joe Blanks but Musselburgh used to have a race in his memory,
Thanks for the Manny Mercer link, Very interesting and a lot of memorable horses names. I'm surprised at the number of fatalities in the 1950s.
I don't know of a connection with Joe Blanks but Musselburgh used to have a race in his memory,
Post Your Reply
Please login to post a reply.
Wonder
Instance ID: 13539