More Famous Gambles Which Came Off
Following on from our earlier post about some of the big gambles which came off, we hereby list an intriguing story about the infamous Salisbury Hermits who certainly made their mark:-
When No Information Equals Large Prices
Even though it may have been the early twentieth century, the Hermits of Salisbury Plain obviously knew the value of information even then! These horse owners pulled off some of the largest betting coups of all time, taking the bookies for a ride in the process.
This group of horse fanatics owned and trained a number of race horses at their top secret Druid Lodge stables, an area which was cut off from public view with visitors by appointment only. They were so paranoid about information being leaked to the wider world that they even opened the mail of the stable lads to ensure no tips were being passed on.
The syndicate were rumoured to have netted about £250,000 (£10m in today’s money) when Hackler’s Pride won the 1903 Cambridgeshire race, with nobody aware of what the horse was capable of before the day. Their strategy of keeping all horses under wraps certainly paid off!
In the same season they also introduced Ypsilanti to the racing world, with the “outsider” backed from 25/1 to 7/2 favourite on the day of the Great Jubilee at Kempton Park. While the bookies had learned to take notice of their horses, the Hermits still managed to lock in a profit equivalent to £4m in today’s money after taking the earlier 25/1 odds!
While the bookmaking industry of today seems to have informants every where, the early days of horse racing were often shrouded in mystery. That is not to say that it is impossible to “hood wink” the bookies in today’s market, but it would be a whole lot more difficult.