Not a name well known to many of you I suspect, but he has always held a special place in my life.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57222812My own recollections are when I went racing in the late eighties, he was well known as a bit of a dodgy trainer. Some intimations of certain horses of the same colouring being switched and cantering up to big wins at long odds. The feeling was that you never backed a Barney Curley horse unless the odds started to fall near race time. At one such meeting we went to, this happened - a 12/1 shot went down to tens, then eights, and we all piled on. It romped home! Happy days.
A few years later, in early 1996, I went on a work trip with a work colleague, and the client took us to Folkestone after the work meeting to watch the gee-gees. We were doing OK, and then there was an announcement - "Would Barney Curley please go the the stewards room". What? BC is here - does he have a horse running??? Sure enough, he did in the next race (I hadn't noticed previously). I told the two people I was with of the story and we stood watching the bookies boards. 8-1, was the price on show. Then it came down to seven's, I got in at 6's, and it started at 9/2. All three of us backed it, although they weren't as confident as me. Won by five lengths! My client was well chuffed, and the work colleague was too (she's now my wife!).
So Barney Curley is a name that my wife and I will never forget from that day as his winner went a long way to cementing our future relationship.
RIP Barney!
Comments
RIP
RIP.
RIP
So many stories and all amazing about Barney certainly was a true character of racing
1) Peter O'Sullivan
2) Barney Curley
Both were gold-plated judges or in Curley's case, may have had something plotted. If you were lucky enough to see them enter the fray, then you were wise to follow up with a bet of your own. Finding out who they'd backed wasn't a problem for my Dad.