It really comes as no surprise that another race in England has aroused race-fixing suspicions, even it if does involve the country's top jockey, Kieren Fallon. Such is the reality in the new world of race horse gambling, where as much can be made betting on a horse to lose as to win.

A minor March 2 race with a $2,750 purse from Lingfield Park in England has become the focal point of what is fast becoming one of the greatest betting scandals in English racing history. Fallon, aboard a horse named Ballinger Ridge, was leading by 10 lengths midway through the race and seemed well on his way to a certain victory. But Fallon began to noticeably ease up on his mount in the stretch and repeatedly looked over his shoulder, giving the impression that he was trying to lose. Ballinger Ridge was caught just before the wire by Rye, the only other horse in the race given a strong chance.

Fallon was given a 21-day suspension for "failing to ride his mount to the best possible finish," but that may be only the beginning of his problems. In the days before the race, Fallon was duped by reporters from News of the World newspaper who posed as Middle Eastern high-rollers looking for inside betting information. According to the report, Fallon told the reporters beforehand that Ballinger Ridge was going to be defeated by Rye and bragged that he could regularly provide the supposed gamblers with be similar information.

Even with the damaging evidence against the jockey, a case could have been made that he was guilty of nothing more than an overconfident, bone-headed ride aboard Ballinger Ridge. The problem is that Ballinger Ridge and Rye were part of an obvious betting coup involving a betting exchange, Betfair.com.

Betfair is a revolutionary concept unveiled in England in August, 1999 that allows bettors to wager among themselves, without a middleman or the high commission rates taken by the legal bookmakers. Customers can either offer a price on a horse, essentially acting as a bookmaker, or wager on a horse by accepting the price posted by another customer. For instance, if one customer is willing to sell a 20 pound wager on a horse at 3-1 and another customer is willing to buy to bet at that price, the wagers are matched, with Betfair taking only a small commission. Think of it as eBay meets horse racing.

In the Ballinger Ridge-Rye race, about $2.5 million was bet, with much of the action involving Ballinger Ridge, whose price kept drifting higher and higher. There was little doubt that someone had a strong opinion this horse was not going to win and was willing to back it up with a lot of money. Reportedly the amount handled on the race was three times higher than normal and two gamblers were the primary beneficiaries of Ballinger Ridge's loss.

There's plenty to like about Betfair, which does not accept U.S. customers but does take betting on U.S. racing. Because the commissions, ranging from 5 percent down to 2 percent, are much lower than the traditional rates charged by bookies or the takeout rates at American tracks, the prices often represent tremendous value. It's not the least bit unusual to see a horse going off at, say, 4-1 at a U.S. track being available at 7-1 or 8-1 on Betfair.

Plus, it gives a horseplayer the chance to profit handsomely if they can correctly forecast who is going to lose. But that's also Betfair's biggest drawback. It has created a new and very lucrative opportunity for cheaters to profit. A trainer or jockey or anyone else who wants to prevent a horse from winning can offer the horse at generous odds on a betting exchange and attract a substantial mount of money in wagers from those believing they're getting a bargain price. As long as the horse loses, the cheaters win.

It hasn't just been the Lingfield race. Several recent English races have come under suspicion, including a recent race at Redcar where a horse drifted from 11-2 to 18-1 on the betting exchanges before turning in an uncharacteristically poor performance. Even tennis (Betfair takes betting on everything imaginable, including sporting events) has had some integrity problems related to Betfair. Suspicious betting patterns were reported on betting exchanges in a match in October at the Lyon Open between Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Fernando Vicente. After Kafelnikov drifted from a low of 2-5 to a high of 7-2 on Betfair, he lost to Vicente in straight sets.

And another bombshell exploded in England Monday when steeplechase rider Sean Fox appeared to bail off his horse for no reason after he cleared a jump in a race at Fontwell. Fox has already received the same 21-day suspension handed to Fallon. Once again, there have been reports that a few gamblers made substantial profits on Betfair booking wagers on Fox's mount.

"Betting exchanges have, for the first time ever, suddenly and immediately enfranchised 30 million plus people in Britain to make money out of horses losing races," British Horseracing Board Chairman Peter Savill said in a recent speech. "Previously, there were only 3,791 people--the number of on and off-course bookmakers with permits who had passed the 'fit and proper person' test-who were so enfranchised. But when you add to that 30 million figure every other person in the world with the desire to make money out of horses in Britain losing races-including, possibly, illegal Far East bookmakers and even organized crime-you have to wonder whether the decision was reached after appropriate research and analysis."

Betfair has taken steps to police suspicious activities and informed English racing officials just prior to the Lingfield race of the unusual betting patterns. But it was too late. Ballinger Ridge lost, thousands of gamblers may have been fleeced and England's top flat jockey and a prominent steeplechase jockey are in a lot of hot water. Betfair, wildly successful, is not going anywhere, and some people will always have larceny in their hearts. This is not the last you're going to hear of a suspicious races and Betfair.