A secret syndicate of 100 punters, a scam months in the planning. The audacious 1975 sting orchestrated by Barney Curley, who died recently aged 81, was just the start of an astonishing story.
Barney Curley, racing punter on a grand scale who masterminded a legendary betting coup – obituary
Alongside his professional gambling career, he managed Irish bands and trained in Newmarket, encouraging jockeys including Frankie Dettori
27 May 2021 • 3:19pm
Barney Curley in 1984, two years after he moved to England and took out a licence to train
Credit: Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Barney Curley, who has died aged 81, pulled off one of the most celebrated betting coups in the history of the Turf.
It happened on June 25 1975 at Bellewstown, an obscure racecourse in Co Meath in the Irish Republic. Even more obscure was the horse that, at 20-1, landed the money, an indifferent hurdler called Yellow Sam.
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