Five arrested in Australia for harness race fixing

Five people were arrested Monday after police conducted a series of raids in Mildura and Melbourne related to harness race fixing.

Police seized some items during the raid on a property here and another four in Mildura, 550 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, reports Xinhua.

Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky.

Five men aged between 29 and 57 years were taken into custody after the culmination of a 10-month police investigation into allegations of harness race fixing in Victoria state, involving local owners, drivers and trainers.Fairfax media reported the investigation focused on the family of Shayne Cramp, one of the state's leading harness racing drivers who is also involved in a major training partnership with his father.

"What we've got here is a situation where people are alleged to have been manipulating outcomes of races and then also betting on those races," Superintendent Peter Brigham of Victoria Police's Intelligence and Covert Support Command told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"This is not about drugging or doping of horses. This is about controlling horses in order to manipulate a pre-planned outcome."

Police believe the alleged fixing was an isolated matter related to two races around Mildura late last year; however other races are also under scrutiny.

The matter first came to light about a year ago, Victoria's racing integrity commissioner Sal Perna told the ABC.

Superintendent Brigham said the offences did not involve "huge amounts of money".

If charges are laid, it will be one of the first major tests for the state's relatively new laws concerning cheating in sport.

The Victorian government recently ordered a review of harness racing in the state due to falling revenues in the sport.