Barney's Blog

A four-midable performance!

Morning all, Barney McGrew here again – master of Denton Hall.

Well, what about that at Thirsk yesterday? Four-timers don't come along very often but that's what we had thanks to Tinto, Diamondonthehill, Hale End, and Lord Abama.

Diamondonthehill was a dead-heat with a horse called Yorkshire, but it doesn't matter - it still goes down as a winner. Oh, and I've been telling The Gaffer to stick a pair of blinkers on Lord Abama for ages. Made all the difference if you ask me.

Anyway, well done everyone. A four-timer has got to mean a carrot party, hasn't it?

NOW, as you know, I’m not one for blowing my own trumpet. Apart from anything else – it’s not easy when you’ve got teeth like mine – but I now have to refer you to my last blog.

Remember how I said it was too early to think that Dakota Gold had won his last race. At the age of 10, some people were saying he’s past it. But he’s like that Kenny Williams human – he just keeps going!

And what a race Goldy ran at York’s Dante Festival the other day. As usual, my Carole got him into the stalls safely and he was out like a bloody jack rabbit, haring off down the straight.

I thought he was going to hold on a furlong out, but he just got caught by Aleezdancer, trained by the Kevin Ryan human.

Goldy’s won 15 races in his career so far and I’m pretty sure he’ll be adding to his tally before the end of the season. Well done, Goldy old lad – let’s share a bag of carrots soon.

HEY, and what about Emeralds Pride – or Emmy as I like to call her – winning for the fourth time on the spin at Beverley last week.

I’ve always rated her and I reckon there’s still more to come, so congratulations to her owner, the Trevor Scothern human.

Well done to him for giving her a sensible name too. I’m a big fan of horses reflecting the names of their parents. Emeralds Pride is out of Pride of Dubai – a Group 1 winner as a two-year-old in Australia – and Emeralds Spirit. She was a decent mare who was also owned by Mr Scothern and trained by a human called John Weymes in Middleham. She won four times in 37 runs.

Put the two together and you get Emeralds Pride. It's not rocket science, is it? Anyway, Emmy’s as game as they come so fingers crossed she can keep the winning sequence going.

ON the subject of names, I think humans should be named by combining what their parents are called, don't you?

Imagine if the actors Peter Cushing and Whoopie Goldberg had got together and had a baby - it would have been a Whoopie Cushing. (I'll get my coat!)

AS you can imagine, I’m missing Gale Force Maya a lot since she went off to be a mummy.

Mind you, she sends me the odd postcard, and it was nice to see her colours in the winner’s enclosure last week.

A Girl Named Ivy, owned by Galey’s owner, the nice Frank Lowe human, won up at Ayr at 50-1. Bloody brilliant!

She was ridden by a young lad called Mark Winn – now there’s a name that was made for a jockey if ever I saw one!

TALKING of young riders, I can't let the week pass without saying a massive congratulations to our stable apprentice, a nice young human called Rhys Elliott, for riding his first winner at Hamilton yesterday.

Rhys has never been shy about seeking advice since he joined the yard and he's always coming over to my field, asking for tips on how to ride horses.

To be honest, he wouldn't be half the rider he is if it wasn't for me. I've knocked all kinds of bad habits out of him and he's come on a treat.

It was lovely to see him getting off the mark on a horse called Astapor, trained by a human called John Riches, and I'm sure it's the first of many.

I couldn't help notice there's quite a few humans coming onto Facebook to offer their congratulations, but spelling his name wrongly. I'm a stickler for spelling - and it's RHYS not REECE.

Anyway, Rhys, I'm bloody proud of you. Now get off your arse and bring me some carrots, you lazy sod.

 

FINALLY, on the subject of giving advice whenever I’m needed, one of our owners came over to my field last week to ask me a question.

“Hey, Barney,” he said. “I’ve got a real problem with my missus – she can’t stop biting her nails. Is there anything I can do?”

"Yes," I replied. "Try hiding her teeth."

That's all for this week, folks. Keep smiling!