Barney Curley: the trainee priest who became a fearless punter and folk hero

Barney Curley was profiled in July 2019 as part of our Tuesday Profiles series on major racing figures

It was the question of Russia that perplexed Churchill enough for him to describe it as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". His bafflement was understandable, but if dear old Winston thought communism was a conundrum, he should have counted himself lucky he never had to consider the question of Barney Curley.

Here we have an enigma like no other: a trainee priest, a smuggler, a racehorse trainer, gambler and pop impresario, a folk hero – either Dick Turpin or Robin Hood, depending on who you talk to – fleecing bookies, nurturing jockeys, saving lives, as silent as the sphinx or as bold as brass, and wearing a big hat for good measure.