IT was a race with a difference at a Hampshire point-to-point when four wheels took over from four legs and ended in a defeat for a cheating bookmaker!

It had been a bad day as favourite after favourite prevailed and Harry Newman knew there was nothing left if Court Lady won the last.

The mare had caught the eye of Captain Hastings Perrett, an officer with the Royal Garrison Artillery who was stationed at Fareham.

“A sovereign on the nose,” he wanted and the bet was gingerly taken.

Court Lady galloped to victory but when the delighted captain went to collect his winnings, Newman had quit his pitch.

The Captain contacted the police who commandeered a vehicle at the track and they set off after Newman who had been seen making his getaway on four wheels.

They overtook the vehicle and saw Newman sitting in the front passenger seat with a rug over his head, pathetically trying to conceal his identity.

When arrested, Newman claimed he had left a friend behind to settle the wagers but on his way to the police station, he finally confessed: “I’ve had a bad day. I lost more than £16.”

In an extraordinary twist Newman pleaded not guilty to theft when he appeared at Hampshire Quarter Sessions in 1911.

Jurors however found Captain Perrett was obviously an officer and a gentleman and preferred his version of the events.

The defence submitted Newman was not “a welsher” and had paid up until the last race when he realised he was in trouble and had left someone else to settle the bets.

As he was jailed for six months, Newman sarcastically shouted: “Why not sentence me to death.

“I’ve not had a fair trial.”

He then struggled with dock officers who had to bundle him down the steps to the cells.