Saturday, May 15, 2010
GOOD old Barney Curley didn’t half liven up the scene with those well-publicised gambles in England on Monday.
Just how much was won by three horses scoring, two trained by Curley and the other by Chris Grant, we will never know.
What we do know for sure, however, is that defeat for a fourth horse, also trained by Curley, saved the bookmakers a lot more grief than that inflicted.
Eddie Fremantle, described as a professional punter and Racing Post tipster, and John McCririck both had a go at Curley in Wednesday’s Post.
Fremantle certainly made some interesting points, although ones with which you mightn’t necessarily agree. He called on the British Horseracing Authority to ban horses widely regarded as uncompetitive, following a string of defeats. Presumably, the emphasis would be mainly on one man!
Curley, of course, specialises in revitalising horses who return from a long break, after being completely out of form.
Fremantle then said: "There have been several examples over the last couple of years where horses have got dropped (in the weights) until they suddenly find form to win a race, whereas on the form they had been showing before they couldn’t win any race." That’s a more than fair point.
The problem the authorities have with Curley, of course, is the manner in which he often manufactures a gamble.
If a horse shows nothing in a couple of recent runs and then, out of the blue, lands a major touch, involving massive improvement in form, then the stewards can easily act and have a largely open and shut case.
But that doesn’t happen when Curley is the puppet-master. His horses could be missing for huge lengths of time and, when that’s the case, there isn’t a whole lot stewards can do about it. Curley knows that better than anyone.
The coup on Monday was a typical example. Savaronola, 5-1 to 11-10 at Wolverhampton, hadn’t run on the level for 378 days. He did have a pop over flights 64 days earlier, but that was irrelevant in the context of a flat race.
Then you had Agapanthus at Brighton, 7-1 to 2-1. He hadn’t run on the flat for 187 days, but did enjoy an outing over hurdles 112 days before. Again that hurdle spin was irrelevant.
The best one of all, however, was Jeu De Roseau, who used to be trained by Curley, but was now in the care of Chris Grant, over hurdles at Towcester.
He was taken at a morning-price of 25-1 and returned at 6-4. Now to produce him to win a handicap hurdle, on his first run for 742 days, was nothing short of extraordinary. He was included in the multiple bets with Curley’s three and only those who have recently landed from outer space believe this was mere coincidence.
Here’s what McCririck had to say. "All punters who were betting in those races obviously had no idea what was happening.
"Secrecy is obviously the aim and, in an era when we’re supposed to have openness and transparency, it is damaging for racing."
This is McCririck one more time waving the ‘I’m always on the side of the punter’, banner. Look John, seriously, most punters haven’t a clue anyway, that’s why Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, and whatever you’re having yourself make millions every year.
Openness and transparency are just buzz words. The name of the game, when attempting to land a gamble, is a closed mouth and a tight ship.
And as for the notion that this was in any way damaging for racing, well that’s just plain silly.
The Curley coup caused a real stir and was simply the talk of the place. It did what most racing stories cannot do, it extended out beyond the game.
Curley is a complex character and, undoubtedly, not everyone’s cup of tea. But you have to admire the manner in which he repeatedly tries to relieve the bookmakers of as much dosh as possible.
And the only real losers here were the layers, who gave Curley and his cohorts back a fraction of the money they got in the first place off mug punters.
You’d have to say Curley is bordering on genius. Anyone can plan a gamble and arrive at all sorts of different ways of carrying it out. But the real trick is getting the horses to win. Curley does that more often than not and has stood the test of time.
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