I remember him around the So Cal racing scene as well as Vegas. Anyone else remember him?
Richie Fingers fingers himself
In 1997, Richard Sklar, a.k.a. Richie Fingers, admitted fixing 1,000 professional thoroughbred races. Where is he now? The 49-year-old former track rat, petty thief, and two-bit pickpocket is today living the good life in Southern California.
His misadventures with authorities began in mid-’97, when jockey Richard Pfau was implicated in a race-fixing scandal. Pfau told police he’d taken $2,100 from Sklar for slowing his horse in a race at the Los Alamitos Racetrack. When police confronted Sklar, he cracked like a rotten egg. He immediately confessed to fixing scores of races in California from 1983 to 1995.
He even named top jockey Ron Hansen, whose decomposed body turned up under a bridge in San Mateo, California, as one of his clients. “Ronnie and I did a lot of business together,” Sklar says.
But the California Horse Racing Board, fearful of any scandal that could scare away bettors, maintained skepticism. “Five hundred races, 5,000 races…He could pick out any figure, couldn’t he?” Roy Wood, executive director of the CHRB, said at a press conference. “All I can say is we’re continuing to protect the integrity of the sport.”
Finally, the CHRB had Sklar charged with fixing just three races. After betting records were checked, Sklar was ordered to pay a whopping $5,000 in fines.
To this day an unrepentant Sklar characterizes race fixing as widespread—and simple to pull off. “I’d get drivers to go dead (hold back their horses) all the time,” he says. “It was easy. The average purse in California is $3,000, but the winning driver only gets a lousy 75 bucks. I’d offer ’em $500 to lose, and they’d snap it up every time.”
Others maintain incredulity. “I’ve vaguely heard of Fingers’ story,” concedes Eric Wing of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. “But the penalties for fixing a race are so stiff it’s just not worth it.”
Fix 1,000 races and pay a $5,000 fine—where do we sign up?
Richie Fingers fingers himself
In 1997, Richard Sklar, a.k.a. Richie Fingers, admitted fixing 1,000 professional thoroughbred races. Where is he now? The 49-year-old former track rat, petty thief, and two-bit pickpocket is today living the good life in Southern California.
His misadventures with authorities began in mid-’97, when jockey Richard Pfau was implicated in a race-fixing scandal. Pfau told police he’d taken $2,100 from Sklar for slowing his horse in a race at the Los Alamitos Racetrack. When police confronted Sklar, he cracked like a rotten egg. He immediately confessed to fixing scores of races in California from 1983 to 1995.
He even named top jockey Ron Hansen, whose decomposed body turned up under a bridge in San Mateo, California, as one of his clients. “Ronnie and I did a lot of business together,” Sklar says.
But the California Horse Racing Board, fearful of any scandal that could scare away bettors, maintained skepticism. “Five hundred races, 5,000 races…He could pick out any figure, couldn’t he?” Roy Wood, executive director of the CHRB, said at a press conference. “All I can say is we’re continuing to protect the integrity of the sport.”
Finally, the CHRB had Sklar charged with fixing just three races. After betting records were checked, Sklar was ordered to pay a whopping $5,000 in fines.
To this day an unrepentant Sklar characterizes race fixing as widespread—and simple to pull off. “I’d get drivers to go dead (hold back their horses) all the time,” he says. “It was easy. The average purse in California is $3,000, but the winning driver only gets a lousy 75 bucks. I’d offer ’em $500 to lose, and they’d snap it up every time.”
Others maintain incredulity. “I’ve vaguely heard of Fingers’ story,” concedes Eric Wing of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. “But the penalties for fixing a race are so stiff it’s just not worth it.”
Fix 1,000 races and pay a $5,000 fine—where do we sign up?
