Ringers and Rascals

Horseracing has more scams and artful dodgers to the furlong than any other sport but, with the advent of microchip technology, "the most exotic of racing's dark practices" may have had its day. David Ashforth, the "Racing Post's" senior reporter and columnist, examines the most celebrated and less well known cases of skullduggery and "ringing" in horseracing in Britain and elsewhere. It offers additional research to bear on what are often familiar cases, such as that of Francasal, the ringer whose victory at Bath in 1953 almost landed bets worth #1 mllion for Lt. Colonel Dill and his fellow conspirators.