Sport's Strangest Crimes - TopPodcast.com

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Bloodgate: 3. The Cover-ups Mar 29, 2025

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Gripping testimony from the Harlequins dressing-room as Tom Williams persuades club doctor Wendy Chapman to help cover up his act of cheating.

But when new footage emerges of Tom appearing to chew on a fake blood capsule, European Rugby prosecutors decide to press charges against the player, his coach and the club.

Quins agree a cover story - but will it hold water when matters come to a head at a Bloodgate hearing in central London?

Narrator: Ross Kemp Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham Story editor: Tom Fuller Sound design/production: Jesse Howard Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

Bloodgate: 2. It’s Not Real Blood Mar 22, 2025

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The story of one rugby's most notorious matches, told by those who were there.

A European Cup quarter-final between Harlequins and Leinster was always going to be big - but nobody knew how big.

Players from both sides including Ugo Monye and Brian O’Driscoll, commentators, coaches and referee Nigel Owens recall how events unfolded before, during and after the moment that Tom Williams staggered from the field with fake blood dripping from his mouth.

The Leinster officials see through the plot straight away - but can they expose the wrongdoing?

Bloodgate: 1. Dandies to Dark Arts Mar 15, 2025

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Ross Kemp visits the Clapham joke shop at the origin of the Bloodgate cheating scandal that brought rugby union to its knees.

We learn how the advent of professionalism in the 1990s brought a new win-at-all-costs mentality to the sport.

And Harlequins players Tom Williams, Ugo Monye and Nick Easter explain how new coach Dean Richards transformed the club from entertaining also-rans into ruthless winners who began to push the rules to their limits and beyond.

Could a loophole in the laws around blood injuries boost their chances of European silverware?

The Real Story of Shergar the Super Horse: 1. And They're Off! Jun 01, 2021

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A horse is kidnapped in the middle of the night. His name was Shergar.

He’s not just any horse, he's a prize-winning racehorse owned by an enigmatic spiritual leader, made famous for winning the 1981 Epsom Derby by 10 lengths.

A celebrity, a symbol of hope for Ireland, but mostly a real money earner. He was retired and ready to produce more prize-winning offspring, when suddenly he was taken.

Vanilla Ice has become fascinated with the story and sets the scene...

The Real Story of Shergar the Super Horse: 2. Thieves in the Night Jun 01, 2021

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A cold and stormy night in Ireland is made even more terrifying by the presence of armed and masked men.

“We’ve come to take Shergar, we want £2,000,000”

Kidnappings were not unusual in Ireland at this time, except most of the time it was humans that were taken... some never came back.

Who would want a horse? A stallion that no longer raced?

The Real Story of Shergar the Super Horse: 3. A Kidnap is Announced Jun 01, 2021

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The international press had a field day, filling the front pages and the lead item on the news. The world was now watching the case develop. A horse kidnap dominated our screens.

Gossip, rumours, lies, confusion. The papers get tip offs, false calls and leads that sound legitimate.

Then suddenly the kidnappers have one weird request: they're ready to negotiate, but want to speak to three English journalists.

The Real Story of Shergar the Super Horse: 4. Send in the Cavalry Jun 01, 2021

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The Europa 3, unsuspecting sports journalists get flown to Belfast, over 100 miles from the crime scene to a farm belonging to horse trainers the Maxwells.

Phone calls ensue, back and forth, details change, voices get more menacing. The police are on hand to try and trace the calls, but for some reason, they can’t find them.

Suddenly negotiations stop, there is a pause, then one final phone call.

The Real Story of Shergar the Super Horse: 5. The Decoy Jun 01, 2021

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Questions emerge about the validity of the calls outside Belfast and attention is drawn elsewhere where parallel secret negotiations seem to be happening with the mysterious leader and main owner of Shergar, the Aga Khan.

But nothing can stop the rumour mill from churning and there are reports Shergar is in Libya with Gadaffi and also that he has been taken by the New Orleans mafia.

It becomes impossible to separate fact from fiction.

The Real Story of Shergar the Super Horse: 6. Proof of Life Jun 01, 2021

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Whilst the horse wasn’t just owned by the Aga Khan, but in fact a syndicate of many shareholders, this episode focuses on one shareholder that had a lot to lose. Stan Cosgrove. The Vet.

He was keen to get his insurance payout, but the only way to do so was to prove that Shergar was in fact dead. Coordinating with the kidnappers he organised to get a polaroid to prove the horse was still alive.

The Real Story of Shergar the Super Horse: 7. The Final Furlong Jun 01, 2021

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The police used many methods to locate Shergar and most interestingly they sought help from psychics, diviners and the mysterious Mobius group. They claimed to be able to locate Shergar and used parts of his saddle to sniff him out.

A supergrass emerges claiming he knows the identity of the masked men. Is this the end?

Not for Shergar’s legacy, his sporting achievements are still adored and his name used widely today to symbolise something we may never see again.

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