Former trainer and professional punter Barney Curley has passed away at the age of 81. The Irishman, known for his famous bets, carried off arguably the greatest betting coup of all time when Yellow Sam won at Bellewstown for Curley in June of 1975. Born in Northern Ireland on Oct. 5, 1939, Curley found much success beating the bookies as a racehorse owner and also trained from 1984 to 2012.
In 1996, Curley launched the Direct Aid for Africa charity (DAFA), which aims to improve the education and healthcare of the underprivileged people of Zambia.
Curley's former assistant John Butler said of the retired trainer who was battling cancer, “He died very peacefully on the stud [in Newmarket] on Sunday. It was pretty sudden, he got poorly very quickly.
“I came over to England [from Ireland] 18 to 20 years ago and worked for him for seven or eight years. It's a sad day. You could spend all night talking about him. He was very good to me, he was just one of those people.”
Curley also assisted prominent jockeys Frankie Dettori and Jamie Spencer early in their careers among many others.
Butler continued, “He was good to Spencer and [Tom] Queally and Shane Kelly, Frankie–I think Frankie went to see him every day for the last two or three weeks.”
“Very sad to hear that Barney Curley has passed away,” retired champion jump jockey Sir AP McCoy tweeted. “Feel lucky to have enjoyed his company, a man with well-founded legendary status as a trainer/gambler, but one who also raised lots for the charity Direct Aid for Africa. RIP.”
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