
Doped
The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang
Jamie Reid(Author)
Raceform Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 27. September 2013
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-909471-04-7 (ISBN)
Description
Doped is the gripping true-story racing thriller set in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s. Combining a potent mix of horse racing, drugs, sex, class, crime, gambling and the monarchy, it tells the true story of one of the biggest doping scandals in British racing history. In March 1962 an audacious attempt to nobble one of the royal horses alerted police to a well organised band of racecourse criminals, backed by murderous London gangsters. The subsequent Flying Squad pursuit of the gang brought the quaintly deferential world of racing into sharp conflict with the harsher realities of the 'You've Never Had It So Good' era. This also coincided with the birth of the annual Dick Francis novel. The cast of characters is headed by William Roper, a debonair ex RAF Sergeant turned oddsmaker. His team included an ex jockey, numerous underpaid stable lads, an upper class gambling addict and a violent professional gangster who went on to face charges with the Kray twins in 1969. But the most fascinating member of Roper's firm was a beautiful and selfpossessed young Swiss woman called Micheline Lugeon who became the bookmaker's lover.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pitch Publishing Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-909471-04-7 (9781909471047)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jamie Reid has written several books including A Licence to Print Money (Macmillan 1992) and Emperors ofthe Turf (Macmillan 1989). He writes for a number of national newspapers, including the How To Spend It columns in the Financial Times magazine.