The inquest into how legendary gambler and former trainer Barney Curley hit the bookies for millions again yesterday has begun in earnest, but one of the big questions that remains unanswered in my eyes is the role of the handicapper in his coups.
Firstly, lets run through yesterday’s coup which – in varying reports – has cost the betting industry between £2 million and £15 million depending on who you want to believe.
The first runner to do the job was Eye Of The Tiger in the 32Red Casino Handicap at Lingfield, eventually going off at even-money having been 10/1 with bet365 the night before.
He cruised home 9 lengths clear under Shane Kelly on his first start for Newmarket handler Des Donovan, Curley’s former assistant trainer.
Like Eye Of The Tiger, the Sophie Leech-trained Seven Summits was a former Curley inmate and duly landed the yorkshire-outdoors.co.uk Handicap Hurdle at Catterick having been backed down from 7/1 into 9-4.
Indus Valley, also trained by Donovan, landed the third leg of the four in the kempton.co.uk Handicap at the Sunbury track on his first run for 700 days.
Having been priced up at 20/1 the night before by bet 365 he was sent off the 4-6 jolly due to mounting liabilities.
The fourth leg of the remarkable gamble was then completed by Low Key, trained by Curley’s former assistant John Butler, in division two of the Kempton For Weddings Handicap.
Having been available at 7/1 early doors he went off at 4/7 and easily got the job done in the hands of Liam Keniry.
The coup, undoubtedly masterminded by 74-year-old Curley, has split the thoughts of those involved in racing and punters alike.
While many have labelled it cheating and bad for ths sport, the truth is that he has not done anything illegal and “played” the system.
In my view yesterday’s coup was an incredible a feat of training and planning which nobody else would have been capable of pulling off.
And it’s not the first time that the bookies have been taken to the cleaners by him as back in 2010 he reportedly neetted £4 million after three out of for horses that had connectiosn to him landed punts.
However the key thing to me in all this is how the horses involved in both coups were treated very leniently by the handicapper.
Most horses are dropped a 1lb or 2 after a poor run, and it takes them ages for their marks to come down .- much to the frustration of their owners
But this doesn’t seem to be the case when looking at horses trained by Curley.
A perfect example is yesterday’s winner Eye Of The Tiger.
A former Group 2 winner, he was dropped 55lb in just 6 runs for Curley – and then another 11lb before yesterday’s romp.
Having been rated 112 he was running off just 56 in a class 6 affair, and was a plot waiting to happen.
It was a similar scenario with the horses involved in the 2010 gamble:
*Agapanthus was once rated 89 and won off 63
*Savaronola was rated 75 and dropped to 55 after just 5 runs for Curley and was dropped 10lb after the first run
*Sommersturm – who got beat – was dropped from 85 to 55 after just 6 starts on flat
*Jeu De Roseau dropped 18lb from 100 to 82 after just 2 runs over hurdles for former Curley’s assistant Andrew Stringer
Therefore having analysed what has gone on, I can’t say that I am surprised that Barney has struck once again.
His former assistant Andrew Stringer once said of the bookies: “They were the banks and we are the robbers.”
In both these gambles, the door has been left well and truly open by the handicapper for them to clean out the safes.
