Barney's Blog

Educating humans

Evening all, Barney McGrew here again, the only racehorse in the world with his own blog.

As you all know, I like to educate my readers and keep them informed about the horses and the humans in the yard, so I thought I'd give you a bit of an insight into a promising young 'un called Educating Rita.

She's a sweet two-year-old, owned by those nice people at Elwick Stud, near Hartlepool, and I've grown quite fond of her. She was an eye-catching runner-up at Redcar first time out and, having been smart enought to seek my advice over the fence, she's gone on to win at Catterick and Hamilton (see picture below).

Now, you might be wondering why she's named after the classic 1983 film starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. Well, Barney's here to tell you the answer.

Elwick Stud is run by a canny enough human called Nick Turnbull, whose sister, Jacqueline Turnbull, is a professional actress who has gone on to be a theatre director as founder of a company called AJ Theatrical Productions.

Whenever Jacqueline was doing auditions, she often used scripts from Educating Rita to show off her talents. On top of that, the filly's dam is Excel and Succeed, which ties in perfectly with the theme of the movie, in which Julie Walters tries to better herself, with Michael Caine as her academic mentor.

So, there you go – that's how Educating Rita got her name! Interesting, eh?

I was having a chat earlier today with the lovely Charlotte Turner human, secretary at Elwick Stud, and she told me: "We think a lot of Educating Rita and we're over the moon with how she's started her career. She's getting better all the time – just like Julie Walters in the film!"

By the way, Elwick Stud is having a cracking season, and they also have Mayberry Moon and War Memorial with us at Denton Hall. They're loyal supporters of the yard, and I wish them well.

Thanks for all the info Charlotte. Bring carrots. Or mints. Love ya lots.

I CAN'T let the week pass without a word of encouragement for our stable apprentice – that nice young Rhys Elliott human.

Did you know the name Rhys means ‘enthusiastic’ in Welsh? And it certainly fits the bill because the young lad has been with us for a while now and I have to say I’m increasingly impressed. In the words of John Travolta, Rhys Is The Word!

For a start, he’s always cheerful, no matter the weather, and he’s getting more and more rides from outside stables.

I watched him ride his sixth winner at Redcar at the weekend, on a horse called Gastronomy, trained by the Phil Kirby human over at Richmond.

Gastronomy means ‘to do with food’ and Rhys served up a real treat. It’s a horse that doesn’t want to hit the front too soon and young Rhys was patient all the way round, hardly moving a muscle, before swooping inside the final furlong.

According to the papers, he got some advice from the Connor Beasley human, who’d won on Gastronomy at Newcastle earlier in the season. That’s as maybe, but the bottom line is that it was me who’s been giving Rhys regular advice on how to get the best out of horses.

I know no-one’s gonna believe me because humans don’t think horses can talk. Then again, some of them don’t believe I write this blog either! Stupid buggers.

Anyway, well done Rhys. You’re going the right way, with seven winners so far, including a pair of dead-heats within the past week. What are the odds of that?

All you need to do now is ride a winner for your home stable. Howay son, get yer finger out!

Oh, and pop a bag of carrots over my door when you’ve got a minute – there's a good lad.

I ALSO wanted to wish the Phil Thomas human well ahead of his ride in a charity race at Thirsk on Friday.

It’s all part of the Go Racing Summer Festival and the race for stable staff is in aid of a great charity called The Matt Hampson Foundation that’s been supporting injured jockey Graham Lee.

Phil’s a nice human – bloody good darts player too – and it’s now been decided that he’ll be riding Masterpainter in the Graham Lee Fund Stable Staff Stakes.

So far, he's raised around £900 but it would be nice to get it over a grand, so here's the link if you want to drop him a few quid: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/grahamleethirskrace

FINALLY, keep it to yourselves, but that Kenny Williams human has been on the lookout for a new job.

Don’t get me wrong – he’s not unhappy, he just fancies trying something different, instead of driving horses all over the country, day in, day out.

He doesn’t want The Gaffer to know, so he went to the Job Centre in disguise last week, and he couldn’t help noticing a vacancy for a “customer services assistant” at a massage parlour.

“What are the responsibilities?” he asked the Job Centre manager.

“It’s mainly looking after our most beautiful female customers, helping them undress, making sure their bodies are oiled nicely, and giving them anything they want,” explained the manager.

“Ooh, that sounds right up my street – I’d like to apply!” smiled Kenny.

“That’s fine but are you OK travelling to Cornwall?” the manager enquired.

“Why? Is that where the job’s based?” groaned Kenny.

“No, that’s where the queue starts,” said the manager.

That's all from me folks. Keep smiling. Lots of love. Bring carrots.