Gambling is a mug's game, I'll have a Lotto ticket every now and then, but lucky for me I'm too mean to risk any hard-earned money betting on the gee-gees.

I've just never trusted it.

Seems now I might have been right to be suspicious.

The hints and tips coming out of the scandal in harness racing suggest there's been some race-rigging going on.

And I've got to ask, is anyone really that surprised?

Honestly.

When there's betting involved, and you're in the game, the temptation to make an extra quid from whatever inside information you have is no doubt quite significant.

And if the industry hasn't had problems with cheats of one kind or another, why the need for a Racing Integrity body?

Now jockeys, or drivers as they call them in harness racing, aren't allowed to bet and you can see the sense in that.

But if you read Michael Guerin's piece in the Herald, it's well known there are ways around that, and those rorts are used.

Everybody knows. But of course, nobody wants to say.

The job of the Racing Integrity Unit is to watch over racing and the greyhound game, which is probably even worse as far as crooks go.

Its spin on the raids and arrests is a bit of a laugh, the statement says the searches show the racing integrity system is working.

Come again.

Racing Board Chair Glenda Hughes says the actions resulted from information received by the Integrity Unit, which has initiated a coordinated and careful investigation between NZ Police and the RIU.

And she says this reinforces the value of having an independent integrity body.

Well, that may be.

But what it says to me is the presence of the Unit, which has been in existence more than seven years now, has not been enough to deter cheating and crooked activity.

How far up the industry this goes will be interesting to see.

Look I love going to the races.

I love the colour of it, the excitement, the animals, of course, the atmosphere.

So go to the races, enjoy the spectacle.

But if you're having a bet don't kid yourself it's any more of a certainty than a Lotto ticket.