Fbi, State Open Probes Into California Horse Racing

A ring suspected of fixing races at California thoroughbred tracks is part of an FBI and state investigation that includes the case of a top jockey who died mysteriously in 1993.

The probe also includes an August 1996 race at Bay Meadows in San Mateo that was allegedly fixed in an effort to win at least $280,000 at Nevada casinos - believed to be the largest trifecta payout in that state’s history. The same ring also made bets on that race at casinos as far away as Jamaica, winning an unknown amount of money.

In a related matter, the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles last week unsealed charges against a jockey and a bettor accused of fixing races at Los Alamitos Race Course in September 1995.

Those two cases have prompted the FBI to reopen the investigation of Ron Hansen, the Northern California jockey star whose body was found in San Francisco Bay after he disappeared in October 1993, said a federal law enforcement source. Hansen was investigated for fixing races and suspended for six weeks in 1990, and had associations with bettors targeted in the Bay Meadows probe.

Influent set a course record at Belmont Park in New York, leading wire to wire in a 2-1/2-length victory over Flag Down in the 49th running of the $150,000 Bowling Green Handicap.

Ridden by Jean-Luc Samyn, Influent clocked 2:11 for 1-3/8 miles on a firm Widener Turf Course, bettering the course standard by two-fifths of a second.