The Horse racing thread

[Homer]

Curley poised to quit racing over prize-money

BARNEY CURLEY is set to quit racing out of frustration after accepting his long crusade to improve prize-money is no nearer reaching its goal.
The legendary gambler-turned-trainer has put his Newmarket yard on the market and is also preparing to sell hisstring of around 20 horses.

An advertisement for 34-box Cleveland House Stables in Hamilton Road, which is available for sale or rent at £60,000 per annum, will appear in the Racing Post later this week with Curley, 69, characteristically pulling no punches in the accompanying copy when explaining his reason for getting out of the sport after being one of its most colourful characters for four decades.

"In the present climate we no longer feel it's justified to provide at a very substantial cost, with no hope of a return, however small, free entertainment for the big bookmakers and the racecourses who seem to have a stranglehold on racing in England," writes Curley who also blames the regulators for not being more proactive where prize-money is concerned.

Curley, who intends to continue living in Newmarket, said: "Racing is just going down the tubes every day in terms of prize-money, and I have just come to the stage where I have had enough of it."

Curley, who has often cut a controversial figure through his clashes with racing authorities and outspoken views, but with a well-earned reputation as a scourge of bookmakers, went on: "If it wasn't for the Maktoum family, the sport would be a complete disaster. People are making fools of you, racing for £1,200 and £1,400, and there just doesn't appear to be any progress being made. It's all a Condoleezza Rice (US Secretary of State) scenario; people flying all over the place andhaving meetings, but achieving nothing.

"I said 15 years ago that the sport had no future, except if there was a strike to bring people to their senses, and I believe that more strongly today than I did then.

"When you look at it in the cold light of day, you are racing for walk-around money. Some of these races are worth so little that you need 14 before you break even. There is no other country in the world I know of that would stand for this."

Among the horses Curley is offering for sale are Faith And Reason, winner of his last two hurdle races, bumper winner The Bonus Ball, the twice successful Elusive Hawk, and Sereth, a five-year-old with decent form in Germany.

Since relinquishing his licence last winter to concentrate on running his charity Direct Aid for Africa, Curley's training operation has been headed by Andrew Stringer whose arrangement runs to the end of the year after which he is looking to pursue a business project of his own.

[haranguerer]

It's all a Condoleezza Rice (US Secretary of State) scenario; people flying all over the place andhaving meetings, but achieving nothing.

Thats quality...

[orangeman]

Barney gave the bookies some cleaning in his time.

The coup in Laytown was supposed to be the best ever.

[Hardy]

Bellewstown. Yellow Sam. Some stroke.

[orangeman]

Bellewstown. Yellow Sam. Some stroke.

Sorry about that - Bellewstown - one phone in the place - and he had it engaged permanently. Legendary.

[Hardy]

The racecourse was our playground at school. The bookies were a little unimaginative and/or timid. There was one PUBLIC phone. I'm not sure whether there was a lad in the phone box all the time, but with thousands at stake, if I was a bookie I'd have hauled him out of there pretty quick. Or gone to someone's house or the post office, which was about 150 yards away.

[Our Nail Loney]

Was looking up more about Curley there and found this interesting article

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article1050287.ece

[orangeman]

The story I heard was that he put a man in the phone to allegedly make an urgent phone call to a hospital in Dublin about a sick relative.

A real cute hoor.

[orangeman]

18.50 Kempton My Best Bet - EW bet. Don't be going mad.

[Hardy]

Of course - reading that link, I had it arseways. It was an incoming call from the shops to the on-course bookies that was needed to let them know the SP money was on in the shops.

I'm a bit miffed at their description of Bellewstown as an 'obscure' racecourse. They've been racing on The Hill since 1726.

Though there is the story about the queen of England at the Bellewstown races wearing a fox fur hat. Some local lackey admired the hat and asked her how she chose to wear it. Well, says she, I was telling Philip I was coming to the races at Bellewstown and he said "wear the fox hat".

[Our Nail Loney]

Had a fiver in my stan james account, played it up to fourty quid on roulette and decided to stick the lot on Silverburn in the 1.50 at 4/6, now I am regretting it, has been beaten fave 3 of the last 5 runs, I a not confident at all now.

[haranguerer]

Was looking up more about Curley there and found this interesting article

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article1050287.ece

Heres another, was posted on the thread about some boy raffling a house a while ago. Some character aright

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/the-gambling-man-437228.html

[girt_giggler]

Had a fiver in my stan james account, played it up to fourty quid on roulette and decided to stick the lot on Silverburn in the 1.50 at 4/6, now I am regretting it, has been beaten fave 3 of the last 5 runs, I a not confident at all now.

Chinned me also!

[Homer]

Here's the full Yellow Sam story for anyone that wants a look. A master stroke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Sam_betting_coup

[illdecide]

Just watched that race in the bookies and Be won it easy with Silverburn struggling 6F out...I was gonna back Be untill it went to 5/2, if i'd have got up earlier it was 4/1