- More
'I was a tearaway but Barney put his arm around me and made me a better person'
David Jennings catches up with a legend before a special visit to Bellewstown
Frankie Dettori is riding at Bellewstown on Thursday. Now there is a sentence I never thought I would type. Racing's greatest showman will discover one of racing's best-kept secrets, hidden away on top of the hill of Crockafotha in County Meath, to honour the man who kept the greatest secret of all.
In a week when everybody wanted a piece of Dettori, craving anecdotes about the day he changed the face of racing forever – more about that later – he managed to squeeze in an interview via Zoom to chat about the one and only Barney Curley who helped change the face of Frankie forever.
"There were two sides to Barney, two men in the one man," he begins to tell me of the late legendary gambler who famously foiled the layers with the help of a phone box at Bellewstown back in 1975.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inInterviews
Last updated
Copy- 'I don't even know what day of the week it is - I'd love a day off but racing is so relentless that you can't do it'
- 'I didn't realise how famous he was!' - meet the grandson of a sporting legend now transforming a famous old yard
- 'The grief hits me quite a lot - so many people think I'm really tough but I get terribly upset by things inwardly'
- 'I've invested quite a lot of money and I'm going to give it a proper go' - meet the drinks tycoon determined to make his mark
- 'The numbers went in the wrong direction and you're an idiot if you don't think about it - but you back what you're doing'
- 'I don't even know what day of the week it is - I'd love a day off but racing is so relentless that you can't do it'
- 'I didn't realise how famous he was!' - meet the grandson of a sporting legend now transforming a famous old yard
- 'The grief hits me quite a lot - so many people think I'm really tough but I get terribly upset by things inwardly'
- 'I've invested quite a lot of money and I'm going to give it a proper go' - meet the drinks tycoon determined to make his mark
- 'The numbers went in the wrong direction and you're an idiot if you don't think about it - but you back what you're doing'