Barney Curley RIP

Agree with Ramruma however his berating of Big Mac and Luke Harvey was wonderful to behold ;the tub of lard melted before our eyes.

rip barney

Sad News,i was a fan.

genius,legend,benchmark of how to beat the bookmakers.

a rogue but great for racing...genius...RIP barney

RIP Barney

You will be sorely Sir

RIP, Barney. Nice piece in the Racing Post about the man.

He Certainly knew how to pull off a Coup.
The Bookies Will Be Happy.

curley always got the job done. there have been none better (that we know of) but the 'tub of lard' did not melt. he was on the right side all his life, ie punters

whaw a person that youd think would never die, a real legend of the sport i loved

Barney was the greatest gambler there has ever been, but something that always gets overlooked is his talents as a trainer, he could get a low grade dodgy handicapper fit and ready for the day after months sometimes years off the track,he deserved more respect for his training feats.

It goes without saying that Barney Curley was a tremendous philanthropist who actually put the work in for his charity in Africa as opposed to your average virtue signalling celebrities who just want to tell you what wonderful people they are...
But what I really want to know is:  What did Barney mean when he said to Big Mac, "I saved your bacon when you were gone.!" ?
Big Mac did not dispute this.  In fact he just nodded in agreement.  Now that they are both sadly gone, I doubt whether we will ever know.

Bailed him out i think (cash)

Marksman he bailed Big Mac out after Mac got into debt with the bookies.

how did he do bettingwise without the coups,i have only ever heard about him pulling off coups which is basically inside information

Thanks scaredmoney and the sportinglife, I'd been wondering about that for years.

when he trained it was only a small string and the boxes had numbers rather than names so no work riders had an idea which horses were ready.

Barney and Big Mac seemed very different people, not likely close pals
So why did BC bail BM out?

https://www.theirishfield.ie/from-the-archives-barney-curleys-four-timer-betting-coup-173070/

4 horses dropped a total of 142lbs in a total of 20 races to land a £4 million pay out. I hope no one backed any of them in those 20 races.

probs stuck up for him at the time writing for Racing Post - got sacked only to be re employed by Sporting Life so dont quote me on that but had displeasure/pleasure of meeting em both on the same day at Newmarket late 80s when Rodrigo De Triano won one of the top 2yr old races of the time - only rememba cos the toon had just drawn 6-6 wiv Tranmere previous night 6-6 only to lose on pens in Zenith Data Cup or sumfing and me mate asked BigMac to sign his RP only for fatty to tell him to feck off cos he wudnt wipe his arse wiv that rag - true story- and then we got a cracking photo of Barney stuffing his face wiv Sausage and Chips and having a bit craic wiv him even though we got feck all out of him tips wise

Many will disagree but those coups in recent years were great fun to watch unfold when you knew Barney was involved you knew it wouldn't be like the fake invented action we've seen recently.

Only seeing this thread, know his brother Cathal, great dog man, same as his brother trying to get bets on with Ladbrokes shops a pantomime. Never met Barney, a loveable rogue possibly best ye can say and shrewd. RIP.

Very very clever man
Came to our local in athenry
Fleeced everyone of us
For his charity
Organised putters
And within a year
We got it all back
Very very clever man

Ask any true racing/gambling fan for a short list of characters in the game they would like to meet and Barney would be on most of them. Not necessarily on the punters side, but loved by many and his charitable work in Africa is testamant to the benevolent side of him, as are glowing tributes in the media from those who knew him.

In this day of electronic communication it's incredible to think that a simple old fashioned telephone box was instrumental in one of the most audacious and profitable betting coups in Irish racing.

RIP Barney, you will forever be part of racing and gambling folklore.

He was the master of the coup. I don't think anyone was so audacious..  He took the bookies for millions every few years via shops through a network. Very clever.

Barney in full flow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUU0AlrNSt4

That is very sad news indeed,  may he r.i.p.

RIP

posy Robert Cooper smirking in the background as Barney was roasting the other two - priceless

you could listen to him all day, what a legend, had the pleasure of meeting him once

Racing's ultimate Jekyll and Hyde. Gave plenty to charity, but how much of those gains came from fleecing the average punter?

Like everyone else initially I found the Harvey interview amusing, but the more I look at it now the more I think it depicts Curley as a horrible piece of work. I certainly wouldn't put it out as a tribute.

The coups "paid the bills". He did not care about anything else or other punters etc.  T

The 2010 one was the best ive seen and I doubt it'll happen again. The jumper (3rd or 4th leg I can't remember) let him down but he wasn't too bothered..

Racing will be a lot duller without him that is for sure.

Marksman - McCririck was hopeless at many things and that extends to bookmaking. He went bust as a bookmaker and couldn't pay his debts to his clients. Barney saved his bacon by covering those debts, otherwise McCririck would have been warned off for a considerable period and may not have become the racecourse pundit we knew and loved (actually I thought he was a nasty opinionated misogynist).

I didn't know about Barney saving his bacon that is interesting

https://www.racingtv.com/news/the-final-gamble-barney-curley-s-role-in-2014-coup


There was 5 that day

aah right dealer thanks..that was very audacious and I doubt will be repeated

Sorry to hear of Barney's passing.


A tough, clever and nice human being. You have to be tough and clever if you're going to take on the bookmakers and beat them. The work he did for the people of Zambia has been amazing and will continue for many years to come.

The great thing about DAFA (Direct Aid For Africa) was that you knew that EVERY penny of every donation was spent on the care and education of the Zambian people who most needed it. Barney made sure of that.

He's gone physically but he lives on in the hearts and minds of the the many people that he has helped and is helping.

First prices offered with bet 365 the night before punts were

20/1, 16/1, 12/1, 7/1, 10/3, 50p lucky31 came to £123k

The betfair graphs on here for each race were the most one sided markets you will ever see. Any prices were taken.

My own feelings on Barney.

Flawed Genius yes.................most are.
Punters Pal.......Not really.
Charity Work.....2nd to none
Bookie Basher......as good as they get
Unfair to Luke & Big Mc in that interview, probably said what are a lot of people were thinking.not all mind
Saw the future of someone I find an annoying oik in Luke........100%

Overall we all know the racing game and its pitfalls..............I think is overall ledger has been well greened up, take care Barney RIP

If you want to help someone out then good for you, that's your business.
It lacks class to hold it over someone and call them out on TV because you've had a bad day, imo

R.I.P.

i use to enjoy backing the ones he trained for patsy byrne

Very interesting dealer. That was his retirement fund !

It would have been 10's of millions if they all went in. Unreal.

I doubt we'll see the likes of it again.

They did all go in Punts - only the reporting of the gamble was incorrect

Here's Big Mac interviewing him

Copy/Paste:

https://twitter.com/roar1968/status/1396529151797043204

pablo, Patsy Byrne was just as shrewd with the dogs. I knew a lovely old chap who got the nod with the dogs when the stablehands didn't have a clue. Byrne and Curley almost certainly went to the same school of subterfuge.

With regard to the interview with Luke Harvey and Big Mac, I agree with what Barney said:  Each of Cristoforo's 4 consecutive wins prior to the Folkestone run where on the flat on good to firm going.  Before that he was 10th on good to soft.  Before that, there had been 3 wins on standard a novice hurdle win on good to firm, but only one win on soft (flat).
Furthermore, his Folkestone run came after a 179 day lay off.  I imagine that he was only put in odds on in the forecasts as a precaution, because of Barney's reputation.
Cristoforo went on to win 2 more races (on good and good to soft).

Correction; His subsequent wins were on Good to Firm   and GOOD.

I think if Curley had a flaw as a punter, it was a need to justify himself, and for the world to acknowledge how clever he was.

Compare him with Albert Davison. Emerald Sunset and Great Things were similar plots to Yellow Sam, and probably landed similar sums, but nobody will ever really know. His across-the-card doubles were similar to Curley's multiples. And when Davison finally did get warned off, there was no anguished declaration of innocence or railing against the unfairness of it all. If it ever bothered him that he had such a poor reputation in the eyes of the great and the good, he never showed it. Instead he just took advantage of the assumption that he was out of the game, and expanded his already bulging roster of trainers.

I'm not getting at Curley personally here. Nil nisi bonum, and all that. And any normal human being would like to be acknowledged for their shrewdness and/or integrity. Just pointing out that it didn't really help his image (or his punting).

Spoke to him one day and told him how the bookies had him over with a first show one day think it was at Exeter horse opened 7/2 on course and the first show in the betting shop was 2/1

curley's flaw was he thought he was a punters pal and ripping off the bookmakers when really he was ripping off the punter

Agree Gazo - any of these 'coup' types are obviously in it purely for themselves (and a few mates) no friend of anyone else, especially not the punters.

Any backers of the countless ones that were being given earlier 'tender' rides would be pretty clear on that.

I don't think he ever considered himself as the punters pal imho

didnt he try to set up a punters organisation or something years ago,not sure about the exact details but remember not many joining him

He was as be-nt a trainer as there has ever been , his gambles were the stuff of legend but his total regard for running a horse on it's merits were plain for all to see.

Quite surprised so much lauding of Curley on this thread.

Curley has helped put a lot of measures in place to stop punters betting with bookmakers and being able to have a bet period. Next time you feel like having a tickle and can’t get a bet on, think of Curley who has taught the bookmakers everything about stopping punters from betting. A bent trainer whose only interest in horse racing, was about himself.

His charity work should be applauded, however I don’t know how his charity actually worked to know how much good he actually did, apart from him standing with a lot of children.

'Charity' always makes me think of the guilty people who try to assuage their consciences by doing it and shouting about it - e.g. Tories banging on about their great charity work, while screwing people over every single day...

GAZO24 May 21 14:53Joined: 10 Aug 02 | Topic/replies: 6,010 | Blogger: GAZO's blog
didnt he try to set up a punters organisation or something years ago,not sure about the exact details but remember not many joining him

Yes. I've been racking my brains trying to remember the name of this wheeze of Curley's and how it worked. Was it something about punters sending him money, which he'd use to protect them, but which he'd return later in the form of interest on a bond?

I've almost certainly got the details wrong, but I remember discussing it with a punter called Cardiff Chris at Wolverhampton one afternoon twenty-odd years ago, and deciding that it had a strong whiff of Direct Aid For Curley about it.

I seemed to remember backing his horses blindly towards the end of the season he had backed himself to have 20 winners (I think it was 20) in a season. He stood to win £250k and just made it.

Anyway RIP a real character. Death was a bit out of the blue anybody know what happened?

..... " A bent trainer whose only interest in horse racing, was about himself.

His charity work should be applauded, however. "


There are some right bell ends on here.

Lot of people on here have no idea ofthe daily struggle being a trainer or owner
Barney knew who the enemy was and knew how to beat them
You go punting with bookies its your look out
They will fleece you for your last half penny and if you win.... stop you betting.... Thats their game
Great thing about Barney was his discipline and his patience,he took his time and was so shrewd .
Of course he wasnt in it for the punters
He was about taking money from the parasites called bookmakers
And giving it to the poor .....African orphans
R I P a great man

A few on here commenting on his lack of regard for punters when running his horses,he wasn`t a public trainer who had owners paying the bills, he ran an operation to fleece  the bookies,if you followed his runners and the money, very rarely would you of been put away,gambles are part of racing and so is getting a horse well handicapped and he was the best at doing just that.

I remember when he was training he deliberatly camouflaged his hosses
So the stable lads didint know which hoss they were ON

Stable staff aint that thick.

His passing much regretted.  One of the great characters associated with racing.  R.I.P. Barney Curley.

RIP Barney

Just showed the underachiever 2 bananas to 1 banana clip with a young Bob Cooper in the background classic TV


RIP Barney

One of my very early touches and fondly remembered, j p Spencer claiming 5lb riding Magic Combination in a conditional jockey race OVER HURDLES at Ascot backed it on the tote paid about 12/1 so 11/2..

Rather unorthodox character   a Jesuit, music industry, horse racing.                         Think he was a smart guy, a go getter.
Not many details online of his sons death in a car accident in 1995, always thought Barney looked highly strung and carrying a lot of baggage, a major event for anyone and a pivotal one for him, fair play to him for his charity work.

Of his gambling exploits I am not sure just how good a trainer he was but he could certainly get one ready, rem wondering how the horses he used in the coup had been dropped so much and so quickly, was bizarre imo.
When his horses won, they moved well and could be picked as winners long way out, had a decent spell on AW,can't rem ever looking at one and thinking it was a non trier.

Also the fourth one, the loser, the one that started odds on, reckon he collected on the exchange on that one, never looked like winning.

Backed a few of his over the years and rem backing a few winners at decent prices, as far as him and Fred fighting over a bet  goes, just two cheeks of the same arse imo.

Punters pay for the game, not trainers and owners.He never acknowledged that, just like the bookies.

Think he was a smoker, reading he had TB as a kid, so got a good innings,fair play to him.

Funny how we regard people.Curley messes about with a horse to have a touch & he’s a rogue.Prescott does it & he’s a genius.

Both cheats in my humble opinion mate. I wont lose any sleep over Barney, and I certainly wont lose any when Prescott dies either. Barneys charity work doesnt cut the ice with me, most of these do gooder types have an agenda of their own which has nothing to do with charity.

Has Sir Mark lauded himself as the game's greatest gambler, or reduced people to quivering wrecks live on tv? If you know anything about pedigrees it is pretty easy to pick up on Sir Mark running horses over the wrong trip. When they run over the wrong trip they are quite possibly doing the best they can.

He was about taking money from the parasites called bookmakers

what about someone who's waiting on the last leg of a life-changing acca, only to see Barneys no-hoper breezing on by with 2 stone in hand ?

Barney never won with a no hoper,and of your last leg of a life changing acca is a first or second fav....your point is exactly?

absolute legendary at gaming the system, although that doesn't sit well with my high integrity, do think he made up for that with all his charity work in africa  R.I.P

you cant train mediocre horses to run to their best consistently or they couldnt win . you look to get a touch with them . top class racing is different from ham and egg . ham and egg you look at the money ,top class you look at the form

Indus Valley  (IRE) 66/1
Martin Harley
Des Donovan
5    91 b    54    –    –    –   
Held up in touch, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened rapidly, tailed off

you're right moon, the form was there for all to see, apologies ...

I'm always willing to learn.
Can someone please enlighten me as to how punters "pay for the game", because it's beyond me how.

it always amazes me how so many people whine on about all the strokes that are pulled in this game - its gone on since the sport began and there are very few in the game that have always run their horses on their merits from top to bottom so its pointless banging on about it - if you dont like it then get out of it cos this games not for you simples.

The fact that Barney was so good at his craft shud be lauded and not belittled cos they are all at it in one form or anutha and its not known as the sport of kings for nothing cos us paupers i.e the punters are way down the foodchain when it comes to priorities - always have been always will be

@LoyalHoncho -- I'm always willing to learn.
Can someone please enlighten me as to how punters "pay for the game", because it's beyond me how.

"The game" is paid for by the following groups, in alphabetical order:-
Owners
Punters via levy
Racegoers (maybe not so much this past year!)
Sponsors

A Man who made racing a lot more interesting when he had a horse in a race.He was a great judge of a young horse.When you look at the horses that he sent to the Dickinsons.I can remember my uncle telling me that Barney had 100000 on one of his own horses in a bumper at Galway one day and the horse lost.That was back in the 1980 S.He sent over a couple of horses to Galway in 1999 with one of them doing the business with a young Jamie Spencer up.Racing needs characters like Barney and Harry Findlay more then ever now.He made racing pay.RIP Barney the world is a poorer place without you.
And so the wild Geese fly heading for home again.

i wonder how much he made out of the sale of Silver Buck to the Dickinsons - what a horse he turned out to be

Dont think it was the sale of the horses he sold to the Dickinsons that he made his money on.

all part of the jigsaw cloone.... from little acorns and all that

BasilBrush if you`re a punter then give up.

Kalingalinga was the horse Spencer rode at Galway for him Cloone, absolutely hosed up never came off the bridle.

Thanks Ramruna
So is it accurate to say that the punters who contribute a proportion of the costs of the racing industry are losing punters - and only bookmaker using punters?

May 24, 2021 -- 8:02PM, basilbrush wrote:

Both cheats in my humble opinion mate. I wont lose any sleep over Barney, and I certainly wont lose any when Prescott dies either. Barneys charity work doesnt cut the ice with me, most of these do gooder types have an agenda of their own which has nothing to do with charity.

His 'agenda' as a religious man was clearly to add to the plus column before he meets his maker  and at the same ti.e help those less fortunate. Cannot see how anyone could have a problem with that.

If anyone should consider giving up betting perhaps it is those who think pulling off strokes is in the interests of anyone other than the person orchestrating them.

I can see how he might be a hero figure to anyone who might aspire to do similar, but anyone else?

He was clearly close to Spencer, a man who appears to despise punters. It is hard to believe that their views were not similar ones.

The biblical philosophy of live like no one else, so that later you can live and give like no one else.

That may have been Barney's philosophy too, accumulate wealth and then distribute it to the less well off, but who knows RIP Barney

RIP Barney. He was obviously a very clever man whose main interest was making a few bob for himself.

As regards his charity work, just get on with it - no need to tell everybody about it.

He is lauded for his coups,and had great skill in setting them up with huge success. So well done for that. But to get good h'cap marks you have to pull horses. Barney is not alone in that.

Nonetheless sad to see him go and his adventures will be spoken about for years to come i imagine.

Differentdrum..what you and plenty others are not grasping is Barney wanted to beat the bookies, beat the system,if you read his biography he states he wasn`t even bothered about acquiring a vast amount of wealth,he didn`t despise punters he was one of them, but he ran his horses for himself to give the bookies some of their own medicine,bookies were refusing bets from winning punters many years ago but would gladly take your cash if you were a mug punter and Barney set out to redress this balance, he had very few runners so no one  had to bet in the races that he had a runner and very rarely if the money was down would you of been put away if joining in,if you see what`s happening now with bookies asking for proof of income from losing punters and continuing to ban/restrict winning punters we should all applaud anyone who extracts money from these so called bookmakers.

Trainer John Butler, who spent several years as assistant to Mr Curley, said his former boss had died after a cancer diagnosis.

"He died very peacefully... on Sunday," he said.

"You could spend all night talking about him.

"He was very good to me - he was just one of those people."

worth a watch,rip barney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGbu_cHoBUE

Differentdrum.....agree 100%, some very naive people on here at times.

was a legend and something of a mythical character for remote punters......i last saw him on the south bank during the protest against the closure of wimbledon greyhound stadium when Boris did not turn up so the petition was given to the second in command......was there to support the greyhound cause which was appreciated by those of us who cared.....RIP Barney......

RIP Barney, an eventful life

This is the “After Dark” episode that Barney Curley was on.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5460980/

imdb want me to sign in - no thanks.

https://www.racingpost.com/news/latest/key-turf-figures-from-past-and-presen...