LOOKING BACK TO THE FUTURE

Rolf Johnson finds election date betting furore marks 'golden anniversary' of 50-year-old Carmel track coup

- Rolf Johnson

The sweet smell of Sticky Toffee Pudding pervades the oh-so-neat village square of Cartmel. Fifty years ago the odour of skulduggery wafted across it from the bijou racecourse next door.

Nothing beats 'being there' and half a century on it seems like yesterday that we made our way round Morecambe Bay from Lancaster University to the tiny jumping course to witness one of the most stylishly orchestrated racing gambles.

The four of us never missed a Cartmel meeting. We weren't, though, wanted 'as witnesses' at Preston Crown Court when the perpetrators of the coup appeared there 18 months later.

It's the 50th anniversary of the Gay Future affair at the 1974 August Bank Holiday jumps meeting on the edge of the Lake District.

The audacity of it all made headlines beyond the racing pages but were soon trumped by the even more infamous disappearance of Lord Lucan after the murder of the family nanny. The difference between the two unconnected incidents was that Gay Future was seen again and nobody died.

The mechanics of the gamble on Gay Future in the Ulverston Novices' Hurdle were so outrageous what could possibly go wrong? 18 months later the judge at Preston all but directed the jury to let the Cartmel defendants off. His Honour summed up: "It was ingenious and nobody got hurt."

His words went unheeded; 'victimless crime' wasn't around in those days and the swingeing fines for the mastermind, Irish building contractor Tony Murphy and his 'accomplice' Ayrshire permit holder Tony Collins amounted to £1,000 each, plus costs.

The Jockey Club's punishment was more targeted: both men were 'warned off', banned from racecourses for 10 years.

But was it a 'crime'? 'Inside information' weren't then the dirty words they've become. A damning verdict is awaited on the betting scam using such 'privileged' information on the date of the last month's General Election with the -matter still under investigation at time of writing.