The police were under a lot of pressure to catch the Ben Hall gang. The gang had been able to travel around the country and go anywhere they liked. They made the police look like fools. Sir Frederick Pottinger came up with an unusual plan. He knew the gang liked race horses and horse racing; they had been seen at many country race meetings. Pottinger planned to ride in the races at Wowingragong, near Forbes, on 5 January 1865. He thought this would bring the gang out into the open where his men would be able to capture them. The Ben Hall gang did not appear and Pottinger lost his job. The Inspector-General of Police thought that Pottinger had disgraced the police force by riding in races while he was supposed to be working. Pottinger decided to go to Sydney to make the police force change its mind. On the way he accidentally shot himself and later died.