Barney's Blog
- 28-Nov-2020: Latest News from Denton Hall Stables the home of Michael Dods Racing
- 07-Nov-2020: Dakota Gold storms to a hat-trick as he wins the listed Wentworth Stakes at Doncaster under Paul Mulrennan
- 27-Oct-2020: Perfect Sign strikes at Southwell to give Oisin Murphy his 1,000th winner and our first winner for Qatar Racing
- 27-Oct-2020: Byron's Choice brings up the 40-winner mark for the season, and secures a Catterick double, under Callum Rodriquez
- 27-Oct-2020: Secret Eagle lands 50-1 surprise in the hands of Phil Dennis at Catterick
- 23-Oct-2020: Bellatrixsa steps up in distance to land first race under Callum Rodriguez at Newcastle
- 19-Oct-2020: John Kirkup and Connor Beasley strike at Pontefract
- 16-Oct-2020: First Greyed strikes at Haydock under Connor Beasley to score for the second time this season
- 14-Oct-2020: He's done it again - Dakota Gold blitzes them in the Rous Stakes under Connor Beasley
- 10-Oct-2020: Dakota Gold and Connor Beasley spreadeagle the field to land the Group 3 Bengough Stakes at York
- 26-Sep-2020: Commanche Falls makes it three for the season by winning at Haydock under Connor Beasley
- 25-Sep-2020: Billy No Mates comes from last to first to win again at Haydock
- 21-Sep-2020: Blackrod lives up to debut promise to win impressively at Hamilton under Callum Rodriguez
- 18-Sep-2020: Aliento and Callum Rodriguez win in good style at Catterick
- 15-Sep-2020: Twist of Hay makes it a seaside double at Redcar under Connor Beasley
- 15-Sep-2020: Madreselva gets up in thrilling finish at Redcar under Callum Rodriquez
- 10-Sep-2020: Commanche Falls runs on well under Connor Beasley to win at Haydock
- 04-Sep-2020: Billy No Mates wins at Haydock under Connor Beasley at 16-1
- 01-Sep-2020: Veteran Mustaqbal and Callum Rodriguez make it a double for the stable at Ripon
- 01-Sep-2020: Challet gets up under Paul Mulrennan to win at Ripon
- 27-Aug-2020: Dakota Gold and Connor Beasley make all to land the listed Beverley Bullet
- 27-Aug-2020: Northern Express wins first time out at Beverley under Paul Mulrennan
- 24-Aug-2020: Inductive strikes again at Ayr under Callum Rodriguez
- 21-Aug-2020: Que Amoro runs a blinder to push Battaash all the way in the Nunthorpe
- 20-Jul-2020: 5% shares available in winning three-year-old Gigi's Beach, bought for Denton Hall Racing syndicate
- 12-Jul-2020: Third win of the weekend as Antico Lady holds on gamely under Paul Mulrennan at Hamilton
- 11-Jul-2020: Magisterium and Paul Mulrennan get up in dying strides to win at Newcastle
- 10-Jul-2020: The latest weekend preview - see the news section
- 14-Jun-2020: Barney's Blog latest - all the gossip through the eyes of Barney McGrew
Getting into the Halloween spirit - and looking ahead to The Barneys!
Saturday, 31 October 2020
Evening all, Yes, I know I said I was winding down the blog last week, but I found myself twiddling my hooves with nowt to do. Anyway, there’s been some strange goings on round the yard this week. I kept hearing these high-pitched screams and I t ...
Read Barney's PostHere come the dark nights
Saturday, 24 October 2020
Evening all, I’m feeling a bit sad this week because I can tell from the dark nights that we’re nearing the end of the season. It’s a bit like when the young humans have school holidays, and they don’t see each other for a while. Some of m ...
Read Barney's PostGold and silver service
Saturday, 17 October 2020
OK, folks, I admit to feeling a little bit threatened this week. As everyone knows, I’m the true celebrity round here but I can’t deny that Dakota Gold is attracting a lot of adulation after clocking up eight wins in the past two seasons. On We ...
Read Barney's PostHappy to welcome Goldy to my elite group
Saturday, 10 October 2020
Evening all, Hope you’ve had a good week despite all this coronavirus business causing havoc everywhere. What a bloody carry on! Anyway, a big well done to Dakota Gold for winning his first Group race earlier today. Goldy won the Group 3 Bengough ...
Read Barney's PostThe day Tommo got me all grumpy
Saturday, 3 October 2020
Evening all, WELL, there’s been a fair bit of excitement round here this week because we had a visit from a human known as Tommo, who’s well known from being on the telly. Derek Thompson, to give him his full name, was making one of his "Mornin ...
Read Barney's PostSix of the best
Friday, 25 September 2020
Evening all, It’s been a funny old week, hasn’t it? The humans seem to be very upset about this coronavirus business dragging on and, on that subject, Shaun Sewell has asked the following question: “Dear Barney, I was wondering how these new ...
Read Barney's PostDon't get me started!
Friday, 18 September 2020
Evening all, Barney here. During the week, I was in my field and I overheard a human (who shall remain nameless) refer to us horses as “dumb animals”. Bloody cheek! Well, let me tell you that humans are the most gullible creatures I’ve ever c ...
Read Barney's PostThe talk of the Toon
Saturday, 12 September 2020
Evening all, Hope you've had a good week. As you know, I like receiving questions and an interesting one has come in from Shaun Sewell (the nice bloke who kindly sent me a packet of Polos last week). Shaun says: “Barney, when you raced at Newca ...
Read Barney's PostFestive greetings - yule love this!
Friday, 4 September 2020
Evening all, I love it when I get fan mail, so big thanks to the Alan Davison human for coming onto the gaffer’s Facebook page to enquire if I’ll be designing any personalised Christmas cards this year. Well, Alan, it’s a bit bloody early to ...
Read Barney's PostWhen the going gets turf...
Sunday, 30 August 2020
Morning all, Last week, I promised to give you my expert opinion on racing coverage on the telly. Well, I have to say that I think ITV Racing do a very decent job and I’m pleased to see they’ve secured a deal to carry on until at least 2023. I ...
Read Barney's PostLove is all around...
Saturday, 22 August 2020
Evening all, Hope you had a good week at the York Festival. I thought there were some cracking performances, not least from my stablemate, Que Amoro, running Battaash so close in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes. I see Shaun Sewell, on the stable’s F ...
Read Barney's PostIt's festival time!
Saturday, 15 August 2020
Evening everyone, Bet you’re all looking forward to The Ebor Festival at York next week. You can keep your Royal Ascot, this is the best meeting of the year if you ask me. A bit of a history lesson for you – records show that York first fully s ...
Read Barney's PostThere's only one Barney McGrew
Saturday, 8 August 2020
Evening all, Big thanks to a helpful human, called Trevor Bowerbank, who got in touch on email to pose the following question: “Can you ask Barney if he's doing a bit of moonlighting? I see he won at Kenilworth last night and he hasn’t mentioned ...
Read Barney's PostHistory in the making
Sunday, 2 August 2020
Morning everyone, Well, it’s been quite a week since my last blog. Enable won her third King George in impressive style, but it was disappointing to see just three runners turn out for such a prestigious race. They should have given me a call to ...
Read Barney's PostWriting on the hoof...
Saturday, 25 July 2020
Evening everyone, Well, what a funny old week I’ve had... It started when Phil, the farmer, decided he needed to worm his sheep. Don’t ask me for the full, gory details. I don’t want to think about it – turns my stomach. Anyway, it meant I ...
Read Barney's PostIt's all in a name
Saturday, 18 July 2020
Evening all, Hope the week went well and you backed a few winners. I wanted to talk about names this week. Young ‘uns often ask me where my name comes from but anyone who’s a bit long in the tooth already knows the answer. Barney McGrew was a b ...
Read Barney's PostStrange creatures these humans...
Sunday, 12 July 2020
Morning all, Well, everyone’s buzzing round here after that Jawwaal won at Ascot yesterday. We love it when us northern yards go down there and put one over on the southerners. Mind you, Jawwaal hasn’t been here for too long. He came up from New ...
Read Barney's PostDerby Day memories
Saturday, 4 July 2020
Evening all, Did you watch The Derby today? What a bloomin' turn up for the books that was! Who’d have thought Serpentine would lead them a merry dance like that? He just kept on going and, before the humans realised what was happening, the bird ...
Read Barney's PostExciting beginnings, a frosty atmosphere, and desert island fantasies...
Saturday, 27 June 2020
Evening all, What an exciting day we have in store tomorrow with Mecca’s Angel’s first foal, Hudson River, running over in Ireland. We always got on well, me and Mecca’s Angel. She was a canny lass and she certainly helped to put the yard on ...
Read Barney's PostReflections on Royal Ascot
Sunday, 21 June 2020
Morning everyone. Happy Sunday. I’ve had a nice quiet week, watching the racing on telly, and enjoying having a bit of sun on my back on Saturday. Royal Ascot seems to have gone well, albeit behind closed doors, and no sign of Her Majesty. Nice t ...
Read Barney's PostShear madness
Saturday, 13 June 2020
Hello again everyone, Hope you’ve all had a good week. Another nice winner for the yard with that Arch Moon. He’s another nice young ‘un – always respectful of his elders, and I like that. I can’t stand these uppity types. There’s a bi ...
Read Barney's PostMaking a Mark on racing history
Saturday, 6 June 2020
EVENING everyone. Hope you’ve had a canny week. It’s been buzzing around Denton, what with racing being back. Seems to have gone really well by all accounts. All the horses that ran were full of how well organised it was, although a few said it ...
Read Barney's PostMaking headlines as a radio star
Monday, 1 June 2020
WELL, I might have been ignored by the telly last Friday but I’m delighted to have made the radio this morning. I was part of the BBC Radio Tees breakfast show where they have a regular feature called ‘The Headline Challenge’. It’s a kind o ...
Read Barney's PostThe secrets of staying handsome
Sunday, 31 May 2020
MORNING everyone, hope you’re having a nice relaxed Sunday and had a lie-in, like me. All the gossip this morning is about racing getting going again on Monday. Dancin' Boy, Twist of Hay and Heath Charnock are full of it – just because they're ...
Read Barney's PostUnbelievable! How could the telly ignore the real star of the show?
Friday, 29 May 2020
We had a bit of excitement here at Denton Hall this morning when the telly cameras turned up – but can you believe I was ignored! How dare they? Don’t they know who I am? More than 80 races I ran, with nine wins. That's a career anyone with a b ...
Read Barney's PostBarney McGrew - Remember Me?
Thursday, 28 May 2020
Hello everyone. It’s Barney here – Barney McGrew. Remember me? I was named after one of the firemen in Trumpton – along with Pugh, Pugh, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub. That’s going back a bit. Anyway, suffice to say, I’ve been around the block ...
Read Barney's Post