Bookmaker, boxing promoter and owner Barney Eastwood dies aged 87

Barney Eastwood, bookmaker, boxing promoter, greyhound and racehorse owner, and entrepreneur, died peacefully on Monday at the age of 87 after a period of illness at the Ulster Hospital.

Born in Cookstown, Co Tyrone on March 26, 1932, and resident of Holywood, County Down, Eastwood was involved in many sports and is probably best known as a manager of five world champion boxers: Barry McGuigan, Dave 'Boy' McAuley, Paul Hodkinson, Crisanto Espana and Victor Córdoba.

Horse and greyhound racing were passions all his life and, with his great friend Alfie McLean, owned many runners over the years.

With horses on the Flat and over the jumps, the late Con Collins, Mick O'Toole, Toby Balding and Bunny Cox all trained winners for them. Lester Piggott, Dessie Hughes, Dermot Weld and Christy Roche were just some of the famous names to have ridden winners for the pair.

Eastwood loved a tilt at the ring and one of his biggest gambles was on Sandy Creek, who won the William Hill Futurity (now Vertem) at Doncaster in 1978, ridden by Roche and trained by Collins.

Lester Piggott: rode winners for EastwoodCredit: Edward Whitaker

He was also passionate about greyhound racing and in his early days had many runners at Dunmore and Celtic Park, the local Belfast tracks. His involvement culminated in ownership – again with McLean – of Indian Joe, winner of the English Greyhound Derby staged at White City in 1980. He equally enjoyed the field, taking Clonmel’s Derby in 1966 through Dillie’s Pigalle.

He had a lifelong love of gaelic football and his most cherished achievement was to win an All Ireland Minor Medal for Tyrone at Croke Park in 1948.

Lorraine Archibald, the Newtownards-based winner of the Racing Post/SIS Manager of the Year title in 2018, worked for the chain of 54 Eastwood shops from 2000 until they were sold to Ladbrokes in 2008.

She said: “On behalf of all former staff I’d like to express my great sadness at this news and condolences to the entire Eastwood family. We all felt part of that extended family and they were good to work for. BJ was someone that we all knew kept his finger on the pulse and was keen to be part of the action – whatever that was!”

He is survived by wife Frances, sons Brian, Peter, Adrian, Stephen, Fearghal and daughter Fiona, his 23 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. He was predeceased by son Fintan.