The Kilbeggan gambling coup

If Hollywood is looking for a new plot for the Ocean's Eleven franchise, they may well swap the glitter of Vegas for the home spun rural charm of the Kilbeggan racetrack.For it was there, unbeknownst to racegoers enjoying the late Midsummer sun on Monday of last week, that a risky and complex betting coup was underway, that hit some of the leading national bookmakers for five figure sums.The HorseSix year-old "D Four Dave", trained by Conor O'Dwyer's, put some underwhelming runs behind him, to run out a most impressive seven-length winner of the "Hurley Family Kilbeggan Handicap Hurdle" with jockey Mark Walsh in the saddle. The impressive win, also landed some hefty wagers for owner Douglas Taylor in the process.The GamblerMr Taylor, Managing Director of the MCR Group, a Dublin-based recruitment company, arranged for 200 of his foreign national employees to play their part in an elaborate and cunning plan to outwit bookies, by placing a large number of small bets on his horse.The plan was for €40,000 in total to be placed on the horse, which would have netted the owner over a quarter of a million. But it didn't pan out as expected with some of the employees, who were paid €30 for carrying out the command, failing to carry out the instructions with the military precision that Taylor had expected. Odds were also shortened, it is reported, by a number of Mr Taylor's employees placing their own bets on the horse during the day.The GambleThe elaborate plan involved a fleet of drivers, deployed to a hundred different bookmakers accompanied by agency workers who had been given an envelope containing betting instructions, wrist watches with a pre-set alarm and a €200 stake.These best-laid plans began to unravel, when some of the agency workers, who had poor English, handed their instructions over to the teller with their stake.The note said: "Dear employee. Enclosed you will find (1) A completed betting slip for the betting shop that you have been sent to. (2) €200 in cash for which you need to place the bet. (3) A watch with the alarm set to go off at 6.55pm,"The wagers were relatively small and all placed at the same time, so each single bet was placed with favourable odds, which were as high as 14/1. If a single large amount was placed on the horse earlier in the day, bookies would have been alerted and slashed the horse's odds.The RiskKilbeggan's Race Course manager Paddy Dunican believes that no matter how well orchestrated the betting coup was, there was still a big risk that the horse would not win."The race was 3 miles over 13 hurdles with 16 horses in the race. D Four Dave could have fallen at any of the hurdles or been brought down by another horse in the race. That is the big risk in a race like this one. The win was not a certainty but it was well won, with the horse ahead by at least 4 furlongs, which is well over 5 lengths, when it crossed the finish line," explained Paddy.The horse's win under jockey Mark Walsh hit some of the leading national bookmakers for big money, thanks to the carefully orchestrated wagers."Kilbeggan wouldn't be seen as the best place to execute a gamble like this. The race itself had a number of fallers, anything could have happened and as any seasoned race goer will tell you there is no such thing as certainty in racing."After the presentation in the winners enclosure, D Four Daves' trainer Conor O'Dwyer was called to the Steward's Office and enquiries were made about the marked improvement in the horse's form. The horse had run at the last meeting in Kilbeggan and come in 9th place. The trainer explained that they were employing different tactics and that they were racing him over a longer distance. This explanation was noted and accepted by the Stewards," explained Paddy."D Four Dave" was up against favourite "Dizzy Rascal" which was considered a good horse after recently placing fourth at Aintree.The Irish Bookmakers' Association reluctantly saluted the audacious gamble, admitting: "It's a classic. They did nothing illegal."After the race, Conor O'Dwyer said: "three miles suits him well and he jumped great - he handled the ground well enough but I've no plans from here. His part-owner Douglas Taylor was married on Saturday so today will help pay for that party!"The next Kilbeggan Meeting is the Gigginstown Midlands National on Friday 16th July and it will be as much about "clothes horses" as the four legged kind with Mullingar's Khan Boutique sponsoring Ladies' Day.