Why do people enjoy horse racing? There are a number of different answers to that question but the fact of the matter is, it is one of the most popular sports in the UK and Ireland. With that in mind, to what extent would people go to to watch horse racing? Buy a ticket to an event? Watch from betting shops? Stream it from home? Well, in 2019, three men, Michael McCool, Simon Peters and Jason Bishop, took watching horse racing to whole new heights. Literally.

What Happened?

On April Fool’s Day in 2019 the three men pulled up to Chelmsford City Racecourse (named by Tripadvisor as one of the best race courses in the UK), ahead of what was going to be a day of horse racing. They took their drone out of the back of their van and after a few test drives sent it up into the sky. Once over the racecourse, the men turned on the camera and watched some of the races from the drone in the back of the van they arrived in.

They placed bets on every single race that happened, which was easy due to the fact they had access to online gambling websites and as such did not need to be in person in order to place these bets. Placing bets in this manner was a lot more straightforward for these three than it would have been a decade or so ago due to the fact there are such a variety of different betting sites available now.

They vary depending on the sports they specialise in and the country they operate in. For instance, in Ireland, thanks to the popularity of horse racing, there are a lot of different sites available where residents can bet on this sport. Sites such as Bonusfinder Ireland become necessary so that people can compare what different gambling apps offer and as such, which they would like to use.

The Problem with This Move

When you look at the different betting sites, they all come with one thing in common, fairness and transparency. When the three men and their drone started placing bets, they had an unfair advantage as they could place bets off of live footage. One punter in the crowd at Chelmsford worked this out as he saw odds change whilst a race was happening.

Forbes recently produced a list of how to deal with customer complaints which Chelmsford were clearly aware of as when this gentleman notified Brian Wakefield, the facilities manager at the racecourse, the complaint was looked into a lot further. The three men were caught as a result by the police and their drone was confiscated.

The Outcome for the Trio

Following their fateful trip to fly their drone above the racecourse and place different bets as the race was happening, the authorities took a dim view. This, of course, gave them an unfair advantage and as such, when the facilities manager became aware of what was happening, he called the police.

The three men were caught and the drone was taken away from them.

After a court hearing the case was actually thrown out due to the fact the judge did not believe that the CPS had put forward enough evidence to convince them of a reasonable chance of conviction. This decision was not taken lightly by the racing community who are currently still fighting to try and stop drones from flying above racetracks and interfere with the integrity of the sport.