BARNEY CURLEY R.I.P

Now there was a real character of the game,ever remembered for his betting exploits and his savaging on live TV of John McCririck and Luke Harvey outside the weigh room.

RIP.

He was a complex character Frank.

I spent a few hours in his company at killarney about 15 years ago.

He was with a top UK based jock that was friendly with one of the guys I was with and we hit the bar with him.

Barney wasn't a drinker but came in to us between races .

It was funny to watch the punters who recognised him follow him around the ring while the bookies pretended to quiver or jokingly  usher him to the next joint.

I wouldn't say I knew one iota more about him after the day than I did before tbh.

RIP Barney.

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.

@ punchestown: "that" interview is legendary but it was also nasty at times and showed a man who believed in his own egotistic hubris. He "won" the argument through belligerence and bullying, not any cogent argument.

I think it was more his delivery and aggression than the content of what he said as most (but not all) of what he said was true.

Barney would have some interesting stories, frank. Not sure he'd tell them though.

R.I.P. Robin Hood

A character undoubtedly , made his own rules .