Racing historian, Tony Byles from Madeley, Shropshire, uncovers new evidence to provide the complete story of how the 1844 Epsom Derby came to be regarded as the most infamous racing scandal of all time in his book, In search of Running Rein – The Amazing Fraud of the 1844 Derby. While The Sport of Kings has been plagued by corruption since its birth, no other scandal before or since has matched The Amazing Fraud of the 1844 Epsom Derby for audacity or infamy.

Byles explains how the racing world was duped when the race, eligible for three-year-old horses only, was won by a four-year-old horse – and therefore far stronger than its competitors – in a criminal scheme of creating an imposter thoroughbred, a four-year-old which would masquerade as a three-year-old. The conspirators sought to make a vast profit on the crime by betting on the four-year-old, a horse by the name of Maccabeus, who would act as an imposter for the genuine three-year-old, Running Rein.

The book uncovers the plot behind the event and how the conspirators would hide behind a patsy who would actually own the four-year-old in name to minimise their implication should their audacious plan fail. Byles brings to life the excitement of the race itself while the intrigue of the subsequent trial surrounds the conclusion of the story and the fate of the conspirators.

How Byles came to write the book is a story in itself. Entirely by chance, Byles’ own daughter found the previously forgotten legal case notes of the scandal’s trial while employed at Newmarket Racecourse, the home of UK flat horse racing. The find set Byles on an eight-year trail of research, including locations as far afield as Russia and Poland, to piece together the complete circle of events.

“As the world’s most important horse race, the Epsom Derby had always fascinated me, and none more so than the most infamous running of the event in 1844,” says Byles.

“While the story will fascinate racing fans, it is a saga of scandal, risk and corruption that should intrigue a far broader audience.”

“I greatly enjoyed Tony Byles’ account of the amazing 1844 Derby,” says nine-times winner of the Epsom Derby, Lester Piggot.

“How it came to be written in the first place, thanks to Gina, is quite a story in itself and the subsequent eight years of research has resulted in a fascinating read.”

In search of Running Rein – The Amazing Fraud of the 1844 Derby, will be published on 3 June 2011 by Apex Publishing, and will be available from Amazon.co.uk, amongst other good book stores. For more information, visit www.1844derbyfraud.com.