B365 in Oz

No wonder the guy was fixing the Tote returns. It helps when you know 2 of the 6 cannot win.

A CASE involving allegations corporate bookmaker Bet365 refused to pay Darwin punter Steve Brunker $70,000 he claimed to have won on an Ipswich greyhound race last month has taken a sharp twist, with Racing Queensland stewards investigating the race in question.

Mr Brunker, who said he had outlaid $4992 on the July 27 race, featured on Channel 7's Today Tonight last week claiming Bet365 had failed to honour a winning First4 bet, which requires punters to select the first four greyhounds across the line in correct finishing order.

Mr Brunker claims he had invested five units on the successful combination, which returned a dividend of $14,632.60, meaning he would be entitled to a payout of $73,163.

During the race two greyhounds - the $2.50 favourite Finished Forcer and $11 chance Octane Moment - refused to chase the lure, which effectively ruled both out of contention.

This month, Mr Brunker told The Northern Territory News: "It was the biggest bet I'd ever laid. I'd just got a tax return and thought I'd have a good bet. I was lucky. I thought I had fluked a windfall."

Instead, Mr Brunker claims Bet365 closed his account and has so far refused to pay the full amount.

Following heavy criticism on racing forums, Bet365, one of the world's biggest betting companies who have only been active in Australia for a short time, released a statement relating to the matter.

"Following a steward's inquiry immediately following the race, two dogs in the race in question, including the favourite, were subsequently suspended for 28 days for 'failing to pursue' and Racing Queensland are conducting an integrity inquiry into the race," the statement read.

RQ chief steward Wade Birch confirmed there is an investigation into the race, with a key element being

the dogs which "failed to pursue", which are trained by Jonathan Daniel (Finished Forcer) and Andrew Wilkinson (Octane Moment).

"Our investigations with Greyhound Racing New South Wales lead us to believe both of those greyhounds are kennelled at the registered property of Matthew Brunker," Mr Birch said.

Stewards are investigating whether Matthew Brunker and Steve Brunker are related.

Darwin-based Steve Brunker failed to return calls from The Courier-Mail yesterday.

The Northern Territory Racing Commission (which licenses Bet365 in Australia) is also conducting inquiries.

Bet365 have said they do not know when the inquiries will be completed and pending the outcome, it will be unable to comment further.