Hisa Investigates 'Fair Hill Five' Transatlantic Betting Coup

As The Guardian first reported, the US Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (Hisa) is investigating a series of suspicious race results and wagering patterns involving a group of horses known as the "Fair Hill Five."

The event began on August 9, when four horses with poor recent form—all of whom had recently worked out at Maryland's Fair Hill Training Center—won on the same afternoon. At Monmouth Park, The Great Amira (17-1) and Tepeyac (4-1) won back-to-back races. At Saratoga, Classic Rock (8-1) and M BS Melanie Cares (12-1) also secured victories. A sixth horse, Winston Wolf, finished second at Colonial Downs.

Reporting from The Guardian notes that the horses were linked through trainer Angel Quiroz and owner-trainer Ernesto Ochoa, with all six returning from layoffs of four to nine months. In their 17 most recent races combined, the group had failed to finish in the top three in 16 of those outings.

While US parimutuel odds were affected, the most significant impact occurred in the UK. The Racing Post reported a "six-figure betting coup" involving in-person wagers placed at at least 12 London shops. Because these bets were placed overseas, they did not directly shift US odds, but one estimate suggests British bookmakers faced potential exposure as high as £800,000 ($1.1m).

In the US, the coordinated nature of the bets was evident in the Daily Double at Monmouth Park. A Horse Racing Nation analysis of 1,065 comparable doubles since 1998 found that the $2 Daily Double for The Great Amira and Tepeyac—which paid only $25.60—was the worst-performing of its kind in nearly 30 years. Hisa is now determining if the event was the result of "exceptionally sharp betting" or misconduct.