Barney's Blog

Star spotting

HELLO everyone, living legend Barney McGrew here.

When you’ve been around as long as I have, you can spot talent a mile off.

I remember the first time I saw Mecca’s Angel going up the gallops as a young un. I said to myself, that lass’ll be a Group 1 winner one day – and I was spot on. It was the same with Mabs Cross - she had class stamped all over her too.

Well, I saw a new star in the making last week when a budding little jockey human called Kaden went up the gallops like lightning on his pony.

Kaden’s sire is the Connor Beasley human and he’s obviously a chip off the old block: great balance, lovely hands, and oozes confidence. He clocked 34mph on the speedometer, which is faster than some of the lazy buggers that call themselves racehorses can go.

Here’s my prediction: young Kaden, pictured on his pony below, will be riding a winner for the yard within the next 10 years. All he has to do is keep working hard at school, focus on getting better and better in the saddle, and pop over to my field whenever he needs advice from a real expert.

I looked up the origin of the name Kaden, and it means "fighter - someone who never gives up". I reckon our Kaden is a star in the making but he’ll only ever make it big if he brings me some carrots.

HEY, I see it’s the Dante festival at York next week. I love that meeting, often throws up a good guide to The Epsom Derby and The Oaks.

The Knavesmire’s a lovely track too. I won The Symphony Group Stakes there in 2009 with that Phil Makin human in the saddle. I always liked him – lovely hands. I remember coming with a late flourish to catch the favourite, a horse called Hamish McGonagall, trained by the Tim Easterby human. Hamish wasn’t very happy. I can’t tell you what he called me when we were pulling up, but it rhymed with ‘plastered’.

The Gaffer makes no secret of how much he likes having a winner at York and we’ve got bags of entries during the week. I’ll be disappointed if we don’t bring home a couple of prizes.

DANTE, of course, was the last northern winner of the Derby back in 1945 when he was trained at Middleham by Matthew Peacock. It’s about time the north had another winner – they should enter me!

Can you believe that Dante’s entire career winnings were £11,990. The winner of last year’s Derby, Adayar, won a pot worth £1.125 million. Spoilt buggers nowadays.

ON a totally different subject, can anyone explain why humans are so fascinated with Star Wars – the films are bloody rubbish if you ask me.

Last Wednesday was May the 4th, which is now known as Star Wars Day, so I thought I’d tell you about the time Obi-Wan Kenobi was at the races and that Luke Harvey human, from ITV Racing, was still a jockey, although not a very good one.

As Luke went down to the start, Obi-Wan shouted: “Use the horse, Luke! Use the horse!”

OH, and I noticed our blacksmith, the Danny Souter human, has spent weeks trying to flog another dog to my Carole and The Gaffer.

They’ve already got Ollie, the Labrador, and Bruce the Alsatian – and they’re bloody useless – but Danny was very insistent.

“I’ve taught him everything, so he’s very well trained,” Danny announced as he showed them a cocker spaniel puppy.

In the end, Carole coughed up the £50 Danny wanted but she immediately regretted it. As soon as the dog was in the house, he made a bolt for the door!

A BOLT FOR THE DOOR – GEDDIT? Now you’ve got to admit that’s funny!

DID you know, by the way, that the word farrier can be traced back to the Latin ‘Ferrum’ which means iron. You learn something every week reading this column.

FINALLY, we’ve got a few runners at Thirsk tonight. I won my last race there as a 12-year-old in 2015 when I was ridden by the nice Paul Mulrennan human. He’s good round Thirsk – rode a treble there last Saturday. If you read the form of my race, it says I “forged clear”. Not bad for a 12-year-old, eh?

Anyway, I just want to wish good luck to tonight’s runners: Marcello Si, Circoloco, Thin Lizzy and Stallone.

Until next time...MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU.