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The Fine Cotton Fiasco

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The Fine Cotton Fiasco

By: Peter Hoysted, Pat Sheil
Narrated by: Shane Jacobson
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About this listen

Brisbane, 1984. It all started with a simple plan to secretly swap a mediocre horse with a faster one, and rake in the cash with a few well-placed bets. What could possibly go wrong?

In The Fine Cotton Fiasco, Peter Hoysted and Pat Sheil brilliantly tell the scarcely believable tale of how - through a combination of horrendous mismanagement, terrible judgment and comically bad luck - the scheme gradually unravelled.

How did a horse with white painted socks dripping onto the turf come to hold the hopes of punters across Australia and beyond? How was a supposedly secret plan so widely advertised that even the Queensland Commissioner of Police placed a bet? And how much of a cover-up ensued in the aftermath of this absolute debacle?

The story of Fine Cotton is the stuff of Australian legend. It features hardcore crims, likable rogues and a supporting cast that ranged from the hapless to the hopeless - with some entirely innocent bystanders thrown in for good measure. Not every crazy scheme cooked up by a couple of inmates in Boggo Road Gaol would culminate in a story that will be told across the nation for the next hundred years. But this one did.

©2019 Peter Hoysted, Pat Sheil (P)2019 Penguin Random House Australia Equestrian Sports Horse Racing Sports Animal Sports
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This is a remarkably well written, delightfully comical account of the Fine Cotton story. It is a most witty and original format that gives the reader a sense of being truly involved and is tastefully commentated in an unmistakably Australian dialect. A must read for Aussie true crime or racing enthusiasts.

A laugh and a half

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love the narrator the story is funny great Australia history and most enjoyable thank you more please but narrator

wonderful Australia history

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This was a great read and provided me with great detail on what actually happened, i admit i only ever hear about it through word of mouth and everyone would say Waterhouse was behind it all but after reading this book its quite clear he barely had anything to do with it besides knowing about the switcharoo

Great Book with great details of everyone envolved

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Never been interested in horse racing, but this was just a cracking story throughout. Well written, easy to devour & excellent narration.

Could not stop listening

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The funniest Australian crime written and narrated with insight and humour. I laughed out loud many times

A good yarn

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Recommend to my friends great story well organised story the story is told very well

Great

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Thoroughly entertaining story, hard to believe it is all true. Jacobson does mispronounce some Sydney landmarks, but overall does a great job with this well written yarn that is, at times, hilarious.

Loved this!

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anyone who follows horse racing knows about the fine cotton scandal. while it's hard to believe that every thing in this book happened word for word it's does give us an inside into the men behind it and even those who unwilling got caught up in it.

I listen to this once a week

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Brilliantly researched, colourfully written, perfectly read. Somebody needs to make a movie out of this sooner rather than later.

Crackin’ Aussie Yarn

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Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction and the amazingly insane story of the Fine Cotton Fiasco is complimented perfectly by classic Aussie slang and the refreshing refusal to bow before the monolith of academic vocabulary.

One of the most entertaining stories in horsetory.

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