The five words and three minutes which undermined racing's integrity

"Can I tell you something?" So spoke David Evans to a Ladbrokes trader at 8.43am on January 9, 2015, seconds after the trainer had placed a bet of £6,000 on his horse Black Dave at enhanced odds of 4-1, half a point bigger than was available to the punting public.

The information Evans was about to share was that his other horse in the race, Tango Sky, was going to be withdrawn. "Does that help you out?" Evans asked after relaying the news. "It will do, yeah," replied the trader. Three minutes later Ladbrokes shortened the price of Tango Sky from 7-2 to 3-1, ensuring a 25p in the pound rule 4 deduction instead of 20p.

This sequence of events raises some serious questions, not least the following: was the half-point price boost given to Evans because he is a valued customer (ie, a losing one) or because he is a source of valuable intelligence?