Barney's Blog

Knot forgotten

Hello everyone, Barney McGrew – equine perfection, living legend, and heart-throb – back again with another blog.

Sorry it’s been a while but I’m getting a bit long in the tooth these days and, with all this nice weather lately, I wanted to relax in my field rather than sit at a computer keyboard in my stable.

Anyway, I often wonder where my old friends have ended up when their racing days are over, so I’m sure you can imagine how pleased I was to hear about my old friend, Get Knotted – or Knotty as I always liked to call him.

Rememer Get Knotted? Beautiful chestnut with a white star. Not as good as me, of course, but a cracking horse – winner of eight races in his career – and owned by a very nice human called David Neale.

His dad was called Windsor Knot, who was trained by John Gosden and then Saeed bin Suroor. Windsor Knot was owned by Godolphin and won four races, including the Group 3 Solario Stakes at Sandown in 2004.

Knotty’s victories included three wins on the trot in the same seven furlongs race at York in July. He made such an impression at The Knavesmire that the race has been named in his honour.

All of which begs the question, how come there isn’t a race named after me? You might well ask. It’s a bloody disgrace - they need to have a look at themselves at the British Horseracing Authority.

Anyway, back to Knotty. Turns out his new owner is a very pleasant young human called Ellie Westhead, and she got in touch with the yard the other day to let us know that he’s living happily in Wimborne, Dorset.

Ellie’s a teaching assistant – training to be a teacher – and Knotty is her first horse. She’s always loved horses but never had one of her own until she bought Knotty from someone in Windsor last year.

Well, the first bit of news is that he isn’t called Get Knotted any more. He’s been renamed Duke for some reason. Don’t ask me why but I’ll tell you this – there'll be hell to pay if anyone tries to change my name. I’m Barney and that’s that!

Knotty (I'll never get used to calling him Duke) is 11-years-old now and, apparently, he’s taken a liking to jumping. He’s convalescing with a bit of a back problem at the moment, but Ellie’s planning to take him show jumping when he’s recovered next year.

When he stopped racing, he started off trying dressage but quickly got bored with it. Well, who wouldn’t? What a silly bloody carry on that is! Like those human ballet dancers prancing around. Dull as ditchwater.

Knotty lives at a livery yard with 12 other horses and Ellie told me: “He’s such a kind clever horse and he’s definitely the yard favourite. He’s a gentle giant and everyone loves him.

“He’s having a lovely life and is spoilt rotten. He loves his treats and has learned to open boxes of mints.

“He really loves galloping and bucking in his field with his friends and he’s treated like the baby of the group. He’s always getting told to calm down because he’s too playful and a bit much for the others.”

His best buddies are called Seamus and Quito, but Ellie says he often asks about his old mate, Barney.

He's got his own Instagram account (@duke_equestrian) but it's only photos and videos. He can't write like me, so he hasn't got a blog.

One very strange thing’s happened though. Ellie says Knotty’s party-piece is kissing humans. Urgh! I’ve seen humans kissing and it’s absolutely nauseating. They hold on to each other, put their lips together for ages, and then stick their tongues in each other’s mouths. What’s that all about? Humans are bloody strange creatures, don’t you think?

Oh, and since he’s been down the south, Knotty’s developed a very odd fashion sense. I mean, look at the clobber he's wearing in the pictures below. He’d never have been seen dead in that when he was living up north.

Having said all that, I’m very grateful to Ellie for getting in touch and she’s promised to stay in contact. I’ll pass on any news about Knotty as and when I get it and I'd love to hear how any of my other old mates are getting on.

BEFORE I go, a few congratulations are in order. Firstly, well done to my old pal Commanche Falls - or Commy as I like to call him - on his listed win over in Ireland at The Curragh. Bloody brilliant, Commy, old lad.

The Gaffer hasn't decided where he goes next but I'd like to see him try for a third Stewards' Cup on the bounce at Glorious Goodwood. I know it's hard for him carrying all that weight in handicaps these days, but surely he's got to give it a go and try to make a bit of history. I'll have a word with The Boss. He listens to me because he accepts that I know more than he does.

AND a belated congrats to Lauren Mulholland for winning a charity race up at Ayr on Langholm, while Tilly Boniface came third on Fifty Sent. Their efforts were in aid of Racing Welfare, which does a great job supporting stable staff, so Lauren and Tilly did the yard proud. That's them in action below. I watched their technique going up the gallops in the run up to the race and gave them a few pointers. Glad to see my advice paid off.

Finally, on the subject of fashion, did you hear about Carole, The Gaffer's missus, wanting another new outfit for the big Ebor meeting at York next month? Her wardrobe must be bigger than an aircraft hangar.

Anyway, she went into a posh clothes shop in Darlington and asked the assistant: “Can I try on that purple dress in the window?”

“If you wish, Madam,” replied the assistant. “But wouldn't you be better using the changing room?”

That's all from me, folks - don't forget to bring carrots. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a video of Knotty - I think he wants to give you a kiss!