The Fine Cotton Affair
How many boxes of hair dye does it take to change the colour of an entire race horse? One night in 1984, some very drunk Aussie criminals found out. John Gillespie and Hayden Haitana thought they had a sure fire way to win a lot of cash in horse racing - take a slow horse that nobody expects to win, and secretly swap it with an identical, but faster horse. A genius horse racing ring-in! The only problem? The fast 'Bold Personality' looks nothing like the slow 'Fine Cotton'. So Gillespie and Haitana get desperate, and just hope nobody notices on race day... Australian horse racing's biggest ever scandal, the Fine Cotton Affair involves the 'racing royalty' Waterhouse family, a secret hideout at the Big Banana, and a whole lot of empty hair dye boxes. We give you just the gist, but if you want more, there's this: READ “The Fine Cotton Fiasco”, the book Jacob mentioned https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-fine-cotton-fiasco-9780143793700 LISTEN to the first season of ABC’s podcast “Dig”, called “The Ring In” (hosted by our pal Veronica Milsom) https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/presents-dig-the-ring-in/13780332 LISTEN to a chat with the author of “The Fine Cotton Fiasco”, Peter Hoysted, from 2015 https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/05/04/4228556.htm PERUSE some articles with some references images https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-19/fine-cotton-racing-scandal-dig-podcast/100899712 https://www.punters.com.au/news/the-fine-cotton-affair-ringing-in-30-years-of-controversy-20140817/ https://www.alittlebithuman.com/fine-cotton-bold-personality-and-white-paint-the-infamous-australian-horse-racing-scandal/ https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/fine-cotton-mastermind-scandal/news-story/43e4e9657e7962fb21fa0b0c122dab65 WATCH a 2019 clip from A Current Affair featuring the guy whose lawn was destroyed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB1WNDyilNY Follow us on Insta: @justthegistpodcast Send us your suGISTions for stories and guests: [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Just the Gist
Famous scandals, true crime, celeb dramas, conspiracy theories, politics, amazing people throughout history... if it's an incredible story, hilarious hosts comedian Rosie Waterland and Jacob Stanley will tell you about it without bogging you down with any of the boring bits. You'll get just the gist of what you need to know - only get the juiciest, most entertaining details (you know, the ones that make you look very smart and interesting when you repeat them at a dinner party).
- No. of episodes: 210
- Latest episode: 2023-06-26
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