Guilty plea in Breeders Cup betting scam

ONE of three men charged with manipulating computerized bets worth $3 million in last month's Breeders' Cup pleaded guilty yesterday to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

Chris Harn of Newark, Delaware, implicated two co-defendant college buddies in saying he had "placed a bet and later modified it so it would win."

By manipulating the wager so that a friend picked the winners of six straight races, the 29-year-old computer programmer admitted assuring the huge payoff. Harn was fired Oct. 30 from Autotote, the company that processed the computerized bets on the Breeders' Cup and other races.