Integrity firm investigating 5 horse races amid unusual betting - ESPN

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is investigating five races that took place Sunday at racetracks in New Jersey and New York after bookmakers in the United States and United Kingdom detected unusual betting on horses that overperformed and are linked to the same training facility.

Five horses — each coming off long layoffs and having worked out this summer at Fair Hill Training Facility in Maryland — entered races Sunday at either Saratoga Race Course in New York or Monmouth Park in New Jersey.

Four of the horses won, defying the odds and surprising racing experts with their performance.

Messages left with Fair Hill Training Facility were not immediately returned.

Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), confirmed to ESPN that the five horses at the center of the investigation are The Great Amira, Tepeyac, Classic Rock, M Bs Melanie Cares and Scootaloo.

Lazarus said she began receiving calls Sunday night from people concerned about the horses' performances and from others who pointed out anomalies in the betting on the horses in the U.S. and U.K. She said it was the first time that bookmakers from the U.K. had contacted HISA about unusual betting activity on races in the U.S.

«This is very unusual,» Lazarus told ESPN on Tuesday.

The Great Amira, around a 20-1 long shot in the morning line, closed at around 17-1 and won the third race at Monmouth Park by 9½ lengths. Tepeyac was 9-2 on the morning line, went off at around 4-1 and won the fourth race.

A two-leg parlay on those horses at their odds typically would have returned upward of $180. However, enough money was bet on those two horses to win that the payout on the Daily Double, a two-leg parlay on the races, returned