HARRY REDKNAPP knows a thing or two about horses – but it’s the jockeys that have given him trouble.
Or, rather, a conman who pretended to be one and tricked the former Spurs manager out of £10,000 over five years.
He even made his way into Tottenham’s dressing room, rubbing shoulders with Gareth Bale and Luka Modric.
Fortunately, Redknapp, 74, can laugh about it now.
But there was a time a few years ago, as he kept handing out thousands to this mystery fraudster, that the ex-West Ham boss must have wondered where on earth all his money was going.
Turns out, the whole thing came about via Sir Alex Ferguson.
A big gambler friend of the former Manchester United boss introduced Redknapp to who he thought was jockey Lee Topliss.
The truth was very different.
Redknapp, who talked about the episode in his book and extensively in the years after, said: “When I was managing Tottenham I used to stay in London overnight after a mid-week game.
“I was in Les Ambassadeurs. I walked in about half 11 and I went to have a plate of pasta and one glass of red wine because I had training in the morning.
‘DRINKING RED WINE LIKE I’VE NEVER SEEN’
“Anyway, Fergie’s best mate, a big gambler who loves a bet, was sitting there with this little guy.
“He waved me over and said, this is Lee Topliss, the jockey.
“I said hello. He’s drinking red wine like I’ve never seen, half gallons of it – bosh.
“He’s eating everything he can get his hands on, but he says he keeps fit and runs round the track twice to keep his weight down.
“He says he loves football and if there’s any chance I can get him a ticket – next week we’re playing AC Milan at White Hart Lane.
“Suddenly it’s 20 minutes before kick-off, I’m in the dressing room… ‘Harry, there’s a little jockey here who ain’t got a ticket’.
“‘Blimey’ I said, ‘get him in’. They get him the best seat in the house. He’s up in the directors’ box.
“After the game he’s in my office. All the top players and people are there. He’s in dressing room collecting shirts.
“He’s got Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, he’s got Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He’s got a dustbin bag with about 16 shirts in.
TRICKED FOR FIVE YEARS
“Anyway, for five years he told he was Lee Topliss the jockey and he’d call me saying, ‘Harry, have a few quid on this today’. And? Nothing!
“‘Harry, can you do me a favour? I’ve got to go out to Dubai to work for Godolphin and I’ve got no money, I’ve got my wages coming next week, can you lend me £500?’ Yeah sure, OK, Lee.
“He’s got me for five years!
“One day we’ve taken him out for dinner after football, he turned up against Chelsea and I got him into a box next to Roman Abramovich.
“Me, Kevin Bond, Joe Jordan and Clive Allen went for dinner with the little Lee and he’s ordering everything he can eat, drinking red wine like it’s water, and I said to him, ‘you’re riding tomorrow, Lee, are you going to be all right?’
“Anyway, I believe everything!
“Eventually, I get a call from a mate of mine who told me, he wasn’t Lee Topliss, he works in a pub in Newmarket collecting glasses!”
‘IN A BAD PLACE WITH NO MONEY’
‘Lee’ was eventually revealed as Stephen Corrigan, who swindled Redknapp out of money by passing on tips.
Corrigan was caught after a player’s agent tried to thank the real Topliss for a tip.
Speaking about his con, the imposter said: “I was in a bad place in my life without any money and I had started using Lee Topliss’ name.
“When I met Harry I told him I was a jockey. I was small and Irish and he believed me.
“He said ‘I’ll have race tips off you and I’ll look after you’. I’d say that I got around £10,000 from him.
“I imagine he made a lot of money initially because he bet a lot of five-figure sums.”
Amazingly there was no bad blood between the pair and it didn’t put Redknapp off racing for good.
The legendary boss said: “I just felt sorry for the lad. If he’s that skint I’ll give him some more money.”
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Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chases their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
