Barney Curley
Barney Curley's Autobiography - 'Giving a Little Back'
In the following extract from his autobiography, Barney Curley describes how he set off for Galway Races in 1999 with a plan to win back the £100,000 he had lost there
in the early eighties on 'I'm A Driver in the bumper and on other horses'.
"Galway is one of the big events of the summer racing season in Republic of Ireland. Irish people come from all over the world just to be there.
For sheer atmosphere,
it's like Cheltenham, although on a smaller scale, and Irish men love nothing better than to train a winner there.
I warmed up with a win in a mile handicap with my five-year-old Mystic Ridge at Leopardstown at the
beginning of July and then took the gelding on to the Galway Festival. He ran there on the Tuesday
in a seven-furlong handicap, with Jamie Spencer making all on him and getting home
by three-quarters of a length. The horse, who is owned by my good friend Patsy Byrne, was 3-1 favourite
and I must have won well over £100,000.
Later that week, I completed the double when Magic Combination landed a mile and a half handicap.
He was a horse that always possessed ability but appeared to have lost interest on the Flat.
I ran him over hurdles to rekindle his affection for the game and he came good for me twice, winning at Ascot and Kempton.
In between, he ran at Cheltenham, where he unseated Jamie. I was originally going to run him over hurdles here, too,
but the ground was on the fast side and he would have had to carry a lot of weight in the race I had in mind - maybe 11st 10lb -
and I didn't want to chance it.
He cruised to the front just before turning into the straight and the six-year-old was almost pullin Jamie out of the saddle.
Half way down the straight Jamie had time to look back between his legs to check for any dangers. They proved to be non-existent.
He eventually won, pulling up, by three-quarters of a length. It could have been a lot more. When you plan something like that and
it comes off, it feels good, even for someone who's been in the game as long as I have.
Again, I had substantial bets placed by my team , and although I took well over £100,000 from the bookmakers and increased that with off-course bets,
it should have been more. The horse was initially on offer at 9-4 and one of my men asked the Sean Graham firm to take a bet of IR£20,000 to win IR£45,000.
His immediate response was that my man could have IR£1,000 at starting price. It's like the three-card trick. Now you see it, now you don't.
The effect was that Grahams' man used that knowledge to shorten up the horse's price because he knew the horse was the business.
Without laying a bet, he chalked up 7-4. I had told all my team that any price was a good price and in the end he laid another
member of my team IR£4,000 to win IR£7,000.
Now, I don't mind any bookmaker not laying me a big bet. If any individual bookmaker says to me, 'Sorry, but I can't afford to take your bet,
Barney', I accept that. But when it's one of the big firms, the ones who hype everything up on the television, the ones who say 'we're going
5-2 this or that' but you can't get the money on, that's when I take offence. I call it 'spoofing'."
Read
The Autobiography of Barney Curley
'A gem of a book from one of the turf's most famous punters' RACING POST
Check out oil prices in Northern Ireland at
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Oil Northern Ireland
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In the following extract from his autobiography, Barney Curley describes how he set off for Galway Races in 1999 with a plan to win back the £100,000 he had lost there
in the early eighties on 'I'm A Driver in the bumper and on other horses'.
"Galway is one of the big events of the summer racing season in Republic of Ireland. Irish people come from all over the world just to be there.
For sheer atmosphere,
it's like Cheltenham, although on a smaller scale, and Irish men love nothing better than to train a winner there.
I warmed up with a win in a mile handicap with my five-year-old Mystic Ridge at Leopardstown at the
beginning of July and then took the gelding on to the Galway Festival. He ran there on the Tuesday
in a seven-furlong handicap, with Jamie Spencer making all on him and getting home
by three-quarters of a length. The horse, who is owned by my good friend Patsy Byrne, was 3-1 favourite
and I must have won well over £100,000.
Later that week, I completed the double when Magic Combination landed a mile and a half handicap.
He was a horse that always possessed ability but appeared to have lost interest on the Flat.
I ran him over hurdles to rekindle his affection for the game and he came good for me twice, winning at Ascot and Kempton.
In between, he ran at Cheltenham, where he unseated Jamie. I was originally going to run him over hurdles here, too,
but the ground was on the fast side and he would have had to carry a lot of weight in the race I had in mind - maybe 11st 10lb -
and I didn't want to chance it.
He cruised to the front just before turning into the straight and the six-year-old was almost pullin Jamie out of the saddle.
Half way down the straight Jamie had time to look back between his legs to check for any dangers. They proved to be non-existent.
He eventually won, pulling up, by three-quarters of a length. It could have been a lot more. When you plan something like that and
it comes off, it feels good, even for someone who's been in the game as long as I have.
Again, I had substantial bets placed by my team , and although I took well over £100,000 from the bookmakers and increased that with off-course bets,
it should have been more. The horse was initially on offer at 9-4 and one of my men asked the Sean Graham firm to take a bet of IR£20,000 to win IR£45,000.
His immediate response was that my man could have IR£1,000 at starting price. It's like the three-card trick. Now you see it, now you don't.
The effect was that Grahams' man used that knowledge to shorten up the horse's price because he knew the horse was the business.
Without laying a bet, he chalked up 7-4. I had told all my team that any price was a good price and in the end he laid another
member of my team IR£4,000 to win IR£7,000.
Now, I don't mind any bookmaker not laying me a big bet. If any individual bookmaker says to me, 'Sorry, but I can't afford to take your bet,
Barney', I accept that. But when it's one of the big firms, the ones who hype everything up on the television, the ones who say 'we're going
5-2 this or that' but you can't get the money on, that's when I take offence. I call it 'spoofing'."
Read
The Autobiography of Barney Curley
'A gem of a book from one of the turf's most famous punters' RACING POST
Check out oil prices in Northern Ireland at
Oil Northern Ireland
Oil Northern Ireland
Racing Results Today
I warmed up with a win in a mile handicap with my five-year-old Mystic Ridge at Leopardstown at the beginning of July and then took the gelding on to the Galway Festival. He ran there on the Tuesday in a seven-furlong handicap, with Jamie Spencer making all on him and getting home by three-quarters of a length. The horse, who is owned by my good friend Patsy Byrne, was 3-1 favourite and I must have won well over £100,000.
Later that week, I completed the double when Magic Combination landed a mile and a half handicap. He was a horse that always possessed ability but appeared to have lost interest on the Flat. I ran him over hurdles to rekindle his affection for the game and he came good for me twice, winning at Ascot and Kempton. In between, he ran at Cheltenham, where he unseated Jamie. I was originally going to run him over hurdles here, too, but the ground was on the fast side and he would have had to carry a lot of weight in the race I had in mind - maybe 11st 10lb - and I didn't want to chance it.
He cruised to the front just before turning into the straight and the six-year-old was almost pullin Jamie out of the saddle. Half way down the straight Jamie had time to look back between his legs to check for any dangers. They proved to be non-existent. He eventually won, pulling up, by three-quarters of a length. It could have been a lot more. When you plan something like that and it comes off, it feels good, even for someone who's been in the game as long as I have.
Again, I had substantial bets placed by my team , and although I took well over £100,000 from the bookmakers and increased that with off-course bets, it should have been more. The horse was initially on offer at 9-4 and one of my men asked the Sean Graham firm to take a bet of IR£20,000 to win IR£45,000. His immediate response was that my man could have IR£1,000 at starting price. It's like the three-card trick. Now you see it, now you don't.
The effect was that Grahams' man used that knowledge to shorten up the horse's price because he knew the horse was the business. Without laying a bet, he chalked up 7-4. I had told all my team that any price was a good price and in the end he laid another member of my team IR£4,000 to win IR£7,000.
Now, I don't mind any bookmaker not laying me a big bet. If any individual bookmaker says to me, 'Sorry, but I can't afford to take your bet, Barney', I accept that. But when it's one of the big firms, the ones who hype everything up on the television, the ones who say 'we're going 5-2 this or that' but you can't get the money on, that's when I take offence. I call it 'spoofing'."
'A gem of a book from one of the turf's most famous punters' RACING POST
Check out oil prices in Northern Ireland at
Oil Northern Ireland
Racing Results Today