Barney's Blog

Off the mark for 2023!

Evening all, Barney McGrew here again. I need no introduction – I’m a bloody legend.

Well, it’s always nice to get off the mark for the season, so a big well done to one of the young ‘uns, Taygar, for recording our first win of 2023 at Beverley on Wednesday. (See the picture down the bottom of this blog)

She’s a nice filly who ran green on her debut under the Connor human, but boy didn’t she finish well! Once the penny dropped – whoosh!

I know The Gaffer’s always liked her, so it wouldn’t surprise me one little bit if she comes on for that experience. I reckon she's a good 'un.

She’s certainly nicely bred by Churchill, who won the Two Thousand Guineas and the Irish Two Thousand Guineas in 2017 when he was trained by that Aidan O’Brien human. Her mum is called Leoube, who was trained by the Richard Hannon human and ran eight times, winning once. Her win came at Bath - stupid bloody name for a racecourse. Prefer a shower, meself.

Anyway, what a lucky bunch her owners – TG Racing – are turning out to be. They’re the brothers who have Taylor’s Butchers, in Darlington town centre. As well as Taygar, Paul, Stuart and Nigel also have Bold Territories, who won three on the bounce for us last year. They included The Gaffer’s 1,000th career win at Newcastle, so Bold Territories will always have a special place in the history of Michael Dods Racing.

The owners have obviously got a successful business and I hear their pies are famous for miles around. Well, do me a favour, lads - invest your winnings into developing a carrot pie for me, will you? There's a lot of vegeterians around these days, so you'll sell loads. You can call it Barney's Carrot Pie. You'll thank me for the idea one day when you're millionaires.

APART from Taygar, what a bloody race Commanche Falls ran the other day in a Group 3 race down at Newmarket! Commy – as I like to call him – would have won in another stride and I, for one, was dead proud of him.

We were chatting over the wall in my field after the race and he told me he’d prefer to be running in handicaps because he likes the hustle and bustle of big fields, but they’ve lumped him with too much weight for winning the Stewards’ Cup again at Goodwood. That means he might have to stick to listed and Group 3 races for a while and they tend to be smaller fields.

Apparently, it's all down to a mysterious human called ‘The Handicapper’. I’m not sure what he looks like – in fact, I don’t think anyone’s ever seen him - but, if he’s reading this, my message to him is: “Oi! Give my mate Commy a break – how would you like carrying 9st 12lbs around?”

FINALLY, back to Taylor’s Butchers, and a little story I overheard about another local butcher who shall remain nameless.

Many years ago, a young woman turned up at his shop in Darlington, and confronted him with the news that the baby in her arms was his.

“What are you going to do about it?” she demanded to know.

"I'll give you free meat until the boy's 18," he replied, and she duly agreed.

When he was old enough, the boy started collecting his mum’s free meat each week until he finally reached adulthood.

"I'll be 18 tomorrow," he told the butcher.

"Aye, I know," said the butcher with a smile. "I've been counting the days too. Tell your mother, when you take this parcel of steak home, that it’s the last free meat she'll get, and watch the expression on her face."

When the boy arrived home, he told his mother. She nodded, knowingly, and replied: "Son, go back to the butcher and tell him I’ve also had free bread, free milk, and free groceries for the last 18 years, and watch the expression on HIS face!"

Funny buggers, these humans. Anyway, folks, that’s all from me for now. I’ll be back once I’ve got a bit more gossip. If anyone's got any bits of news or questions, let me know. Until then, lots of love and send carrots. Lots of love.