Barney Curley - professional gambler 'Long Lost Documentary'

His book "Giving a Little Back" was excellent also

Must have been miffed when Mother Theresa gave him the middle finger.
Christopher Hitchen's appraisal of that bint's Modus operandi is interesting.

He was right about George best

Used to see him regulary at a local curry house with John Butler, using the plates etc on the table to illustrate strategies and scenarios. Aways did his homework. Once watched me place a bet on horse at Ascot at 14/1. He then told me that surely the value bet was a 8/1 shot. His came first, mine came second. Been on a quest to identty the value bet.

enjoyed it thanks for posting

Barney's stratergies were well established.He would get a NH Horse 40+ lbs down,get it fit and invariably win

Over 10,000 views in less than a day, there's still fascination for the great man.

His book is very good winger and not just the horse racing bits

Had a lot of Time for Barney saw him once at Newbury think it was and leant him my Paper for a study (He's was in the being used by stable lass) return for a tip saw him maybe 6 years later and still remembered me one of the joys of racing I think the community of us guys that want to take a few bob home, He asked if I had had a winning year like as if was just one year ago we had met, but I replied no a few losing ones as ever. He said listen don't ever let compulsion take over your life in any respects especially gambling, words I try to live by, good fella in my book always spoke when I saw him after that always remembered me but not my name lol.

Nothing great about him. A crook who cheated both the bookies and punters alike, and for what? To give the money away to the 3rd world. If he were alive today he'd be delighted with the on-going Africanization of Ireland

you've got the panorama job WP

Was a good watch. Some irony stating he doesn't care much for material wealth, just before taking a dip in his private swimming pool, within his Newmarket mansion

He certainly had conflicting views but he trained his own horses with the odd one for Patsy Byrne and you were not forced to back them.
As shrewd an individual as you are ever likely to meet

If I had the Panorama gig, I'd ask the BBC to commission an episode on the destruction of the Irish Tourism industry.

Yes, it was mostly punters who paid for BC's crimes.

not many ways you can win  long term so Barney made it a bit easier for himself !   the firms  didn't like it when he shafted them !

And,unlike JP,he didn't have 300 horses in training

Was a good watch; filmed about 35 years ago? At his peak, he must have been a tour de force. The way Phil Bull came across in his documentary was awful in comparison.

Bull did not depend on his gambling for a living,Barney did.
Despite his obvious faults he didn't put punters away.Mind you, he didn't help them either.
Once they were let off the lead was a time to make a decision on whether you backed them rather than guessing when they would be trying

A real punter, you could tell when the horse he backed got beat and he said it was unlucky afterwards.

I’m surprised he took so long to work out the stake on his bet on the rails at the July course.

That's the sort of cutting insight that this forum is yearning for, crusty.

Watch and learn weird uncle, though I fear you just don’t have the minerals

You've certainly got the salt :(

£6,000 exes every week 35 years ago!
Utterly impossible to do now,imo.

Despite his obvious faults he didn't put punters away.

showed his true colours at Folkestone when McCririck wanted an inquiry into the running of his massive drifter Cristoforo.

pulled up, knew he'd been rumbled, went mad. 

plenty punters were put away that day. 

Cristoforo ran last of 7 in it's next race at 5/4 fav.  then came out and hacked up 5 days later. 

so anyone that backed it at 5/4 was probably put away as well.

After the race Hulk,not pre off

He was spot on about McFatso as well

he said McCririck knew nothing about racing.  hardly spot on. 

he said luke harvey was never a rider - Harvey rode successfully for sixteen seasons. His big race victories included the Welsh Grand National, winners at the Cheltenham and Aintree festivals and Sandown's prestigious Mildmay Memorial Chase.  hardly spot on. 

he said harvey shouldn't have a job in racing.  nor should matt chapman.  both still presenting 20 years later, so someone thinks hardly spot on.

he was angry that he was in the process of being rumbled, and john was bandwagoning the rumble.

Put aways are pre race,Hulk,not after
Of course he was peeved about being correctly questioned about the drift and running.

Not often I can understand a post by hulk ,but 742 post very clear you should try and be normal more often ,

At the time,Barney had helped McFatso out of his owing Victor £40,000 and being told to pay up or being warned off.
The Channel paid.
Also Chapman did owe many Firms so you were hardly right Hulk

Didn’t know the about chapman uptheirons

he certainly didn't buy that mansion punting massive drifters that were pulled up half way round Folkestone. 

that was an egg and spoon race, as was the race it finished last in at Bangor.  Same horse then went on to win at Wetherby and Sandown before only finding Sendintank too good in the Mallard Stakes at the St Leger Festival.  Found a bit of improvement then Barney ??

Good grief

to be fair to Barney, i don't recall him ever telling his son to jump off one if he realised he was going to win a race and there was nothing else he could do.

Barney's son was killed in a car crash,Hulk.
Patsy Byrne later named one Chuck Curley after him.
I am not suggesting Sainthood for Barney but,he did not put people away pre off

There's a blast from the past. Sendintank, send in for reinforcements!

if you want to win you need an edge.  never going to win sitting up all night studying the form.
an edge would be knowing, for sure, your horse wasn't winning at Folkestone or at Bangor.

and also knowing, again for sure, that when it re-appeared at Wetherby, a mere 5 days later, with the same jockey on board, the only way it was losing was if it fell. 

that kind of edge gets you a big house.

Having £40,000 on Reberto for the Derby at 7/1 in 1972 was judgement Hulk.

taking on the great Cadeaux Genereux in the July Cup wasn't

He was a man who backed his opinion and did quite well as a result

In his interview on rtv Gosden readily admits to telling the jockey on Halling to get beat. A G1 horse in an average handicap! Presvis is the one that always irks me.

BC was at the extreme end of it, but its ingrained within the sport, and the handicap system rewards poor performance. My view is you take it or leave it, as it will never be eradicated.

You would be correct,Cider.

if he was making that much backing his own opinion why did he need to go into training horses ?   just keep backing your own opinion and watch the billions flow in, no ? 

i've never trained a horse, but i'd imagine someone that trains horses probably has a very good insight into when said horses are gonna win and when they not gonna win, or be pulled up.

Has anybody suggested anything different?

anyone that made millions on the horses without owning any of them would still be hated by plenty of people. Why ? Because you shouldn't be able to do it if they can't do it.

It's why exchanges have never taken off. DIRECT transfer of money without a bookie middleman. Painful.