Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (W.I.) a piece of gossip.

1964		A. Bennett God the Stonebreaker 13: Sue regretted that her ‘age’, station and lack of beauty prevented her from getting hints, known as ‘rakes’ in the Drop Pan jargon.
1975		cited in Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage (1996).

2. a betting tip.

1964

A. Bennett God the Stonebreaker 52: This might be a good ‘rake’ indeed. Let’s buy number twelve.