Hayden Haitana had found himself in a rather perplexing situation, questioning how the hell he ever became entangled in such a terrible predicament. The horse in question, initially chestnut orange in colour, required a transformation to a dark brown hue in order to deceive the race stewards. This deceptively cunning process marked the commencement of the infamous "Fine Cotton Fiasco," an amateurish, almost comical ring-in attempt that was doomed to failure from the outset. It is the most infamous in Australian racing history.

The horse to replace Fine Cotton, known as Bold Personality, was originally intended to be brown, but due to the dye employed by Haitana in an attempt to darken its coat, it had unfortunately acquired a vibrant orange shade. His objective was to make Bold Personality closely resemble Fine Cotton, the darker horse that was to be surreptitiously substituted as a ring-in for a lowly 1500m novice race scheduled to take place at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane. In collaboration with his shady associates in this deceptive scheme, namely John "The Phantom" Gillespie; horsebreeder, conman and mastermind behind the scheme, and Bobby North; a socialite, Haitana transported the horse to North's residence with the intention of removing the dye. Additionally, he utilised a can of spray paint to add white socks to the horse's legs. Upon concluding that task, the once orange horse now bore a closer resemblance to Fine Cotton, (at least sufficiently enough to potentially deceive the race stewards) the trio quickly proceeded to the racecourse. In poor disguise, Bold Personality won the race by a head, on August 18, 1984, virtually 40 years ago. But, not surprisingly, the subterfuge was quickly discovered and Fine Cotton became one of the most famous racehorses in Australian history - not for being a great racehorse but for being the pawn in a ring-in plan that went spectacularly wrong.

The strategy was devised by Gillespie while incarcerated at Boggo Road Gaol, following his encounter with Haitana's brother Pat, a jockey. Gillespie ascertained that Haitana's brother Hayden was a licensed trainer and resolved to attempt a previously executed scam once more. In 1982, Gillespie orchestrated the substitution of the horse Apparent Heir for Mannasong at Doomben. However, the plan failed as Apparent Heir did not win the race, resulting in substantial financial losses for many unhappy individuals. Gillespie managed to evade prosecution which only emboldened him to attempt it again. Upon his release from prison in March 1984, he commenced formulating his new plan. He discreetly informed mobster Mick Sayers to secure illicit backing for the scheme. Sayers was indebted to infamous crime boss George Freeman, further expanding the scope of the conspiracy well beyond just a handful of insiders.

Gillespie bought a horse, Dashing Solitaire for $10,000, designed as the switch for Fine Cotton, which he acquired from Wellington for $2000, but days before the race Dashing Solitaire was spooked by kangaroo's and injured itself on a barbed wire fence. There was no way it would be well enough to run. Haitana argued he could get Fine Cotton to win the race using amphetamines, otherwise known as a “speed bombs.” But Gillespie insisted on using another horse, bringing up Bold Personality from Coffs Harbour to replace the inferior Fine Cotton. Haitana pointed out the flaw in the plan;

“It’s the wrong f...in’ colour. Fine Cotton is almost black. Bold Personality is brown!!!"

Haitana, sensing trouble, fled to Coffs Harbour but was brought back to Brisbane the next day, “taken” to Eagle Farm by one of Gillespie’s co-conspirators, John Dixon.

Nevertheless, Bold Personality was swiftly transported up the 400km from New South Wales, but on arrival he was in a distressing condition and required rehydration, which caused a nosebleed. Subsequently, the forlorn, unfortunate animal endured the humiliation of being subjected to a full body dye treatment using female hair products - being bay in colour, a year younger and also with no markings on his hind limbs. While it may have been an effective beauty product for women, it resulted in the horse's hair turning an unnatural orange colour. With only a few hours remaining before the race, the men promptly hosed the horse down, applied spray paint to enhance its white leg markings, then bandaged them as insurance and soon escorted 'Fine Cotton' to the track. The poor animal had been carted all over the place, dehydrated, dyed, bled, drenched, kept up late and now was to run over this particular distance for the first time.

Information had circulated widely within the criminal networks indicating that Fine Cotton was a "sure thing," resulting in a significant surge in betting activity prior to the race. Even the Queensland Police Commissioner, Terence Lewis, (who was known for his dirty, corrupt practices), dispatched his mother to place a wager on the horse. The word on the street was that every man and his dog had been tipped off and knew that, 'the fix was in,' Fine Cotton would win.

Queensland officals failed to inspect the horse and were oblivious to the scam, and despite the obvious bandages, not even a once-over check. As the odds fell away from 33-1 to 7-2 the bookies grew suspicious. When the horse presented as Fine Cotton narrowly defeated the favoured Harbour Gold, stewards shared these suspicions and promptly halted the distribution of the payouts. There wasn't a sniff of public whisper at Eagle Farm before the event, but hooters chanted "ring-in" when the horses returned to the enclosure, with word now filtering around the track about the switch. Evidence of dye application and paint dripping down the horse's legs ultimately led to the declaration of Harbour Gold as the rightful winner, and the great legend of the Fine Cotton fiasco was born. Haitana went to the bar for a stiff drink then rapidly left Eagle Farm, eventually arrested in Truro, about 80km north-east of Adelaide.

Gillespie and Haitana were convicted of fraud and subsequently served prison sentences. North received one year in jail. As a result of their actions, both individuals were permanently banned from racecourses, along with several others involved in the fraudulent activities, including famous bookmakers Bill and Robbie Waterhouse. It is worth noting Haitana's ban was eventually lifted, and he passed away in 2017. Haitana always claimed that he couldn’t back out of the sting because of threats to himself and his family. He stuck by that story, pointing to the 1984 torture and murder of Sydney trainer George Brown 48 hours after a failed ring-in attempt at Doomben. The big money player dubbed "the phantom" was allegedly John Gillespie, but Sydney bookie, Bill Waterhouse possibly set the whole thing up on mobster George Freeman's behalf. The crooked Gillespie later asserted that he had won the substantial sum of $1.8 million through a 'double-sting' betting plunge on Harbour Gold and only spent five months in jail. Fine Cotton’s race had lasted less than 90 seconds, but it became one of the greatest ever racing scandals in Australian sporting history.

We also feature the tragic inside story of George Brown's murder and the incredible Doomben ring-in scandal that was tied in with the Tongan Royal family