I saw on the Thoroughbred Times site that the losing ticket purchased by the hacker from old hilltop went "All-All-Starine-WhyWhyWhy-Denon-War Emblem".

Does this ticket tell us anything about the other ticket?

It seems obvious that the losing ticket is just a dodge - a sacraficial lamb offered up to add a touch of verisimilitude to an otherwise unbelievable play.

But what about Starine being a single on both tickets? If this sham is indeed a fraud, would it make sense that he would past-post the third leg on this ticket as well? So he can say afterwards "I really, really, really liked Starine"? Or, did he just get lucky on that one?

And what about the fourth leg? Did he want to change that one too but ran out of time? Or, was having two of the top juvenile choices singled on different cards (after Vindication won and was past-posted) fine and dandy on its own?

Do the singles in the 5th and 6th legs tell us anything? Besides the fact that you would not have wanted any part of that ticket? Pardon my redboarding.

One last thing. I find it interesting that when discussing this story with people who have a casual interest in racing ... they all seem to want to believe that it's legit. They look right through the preposterous premise, and think it is sour grapes on my part since I didn't have Volponi and am now learning to love crochet. Is anyone else seeing this latest version of the sympathy-with-Rose-Ruiz-syndrome? The "Yeah, I could win the Boston Marathon if I got into shape" howler?

I guess people are capable of believing some pretty funny things.

Bob