poor old V'Landys can't even find sympathy from Patrick Smith

Peter V'Landys, CEO of RacingNSW, is trying even harder to make himself look like a fool this week, making a desperate plea for funds collected from bookmakers and exchanges by a fee which is being opposed in court and in all probability will go against RacingNSW. So now he wants to use the money, but also makes the firms in question sign away their rights to getting the money back (if and) when they win the court case. Seriously, this bloke is up there where the heads of the financial world for not having the slightest grip on reality.

V'Landysman wants the money

Patrick Smith is a very opinionated Australian columnist who I rarely seem to agree with. But this time, he's taking a shot at a man completely worthy of ridicule. Bravo.

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Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also, ...

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

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It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

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