WHEN is a gamble not a gamble? Well, a lot more often than you’d think, it seems. When four horses with a connection to Barney Curley were combined in multiples on a quiet January day two years ago, there was no denying the modus operandi on show, and all four won to net someone a hefty profit.

The other intriguing aspect of that coup was how quickly bookmaking firms slashed prices on the quartet, meaning that the liabilities faced were much less than would have been the case in the pre-internet age. Since that day, there have been cases which have echoed the method if not the results of that successful plunge, with the most notable being an apparent gamble on four horses trained by Sheena West and running in the colours of former handler Daniel Steele.