Barney's Blog

The ups and downs of racing

Evening all, Barney McGrew here again, with another of my world-famous blogs...
Horseracing is a sport full of highs and lows, and I’ve seen it all in my time as a legend of the sport.
But I don’t mind admitting I was gutted to see Arapaho Gold beaten by a pixel in the opening race on Champions’ Day at Ascot today.
It reminded me of the day Mabs Cross got beaten by a nose by Alpha Delphini in the 2018 Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York. Bloody agonising.
Arappy ran a great race under the Connor Beasley human, and he looked the winner all the way to the line until Night In Vegas caught him by a nose.
Everyone at the yard will be gutted to come so close on one of racing’s biggest fixtures of the year, but I’m a great believer in looking at the bigger picture.
Arappy's won three races, including the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes, at York, before running a cracker to be a close third in the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury despite giving weight away to top horses.
Now, he’s come within a whisker of winning another huge prize after running his heart out. And, don’t forget, he’s still only a baby.
I’ll be having a word with him when he gets back home to let him know how proud we are to have a horse of his quality in the yard.
Mark my words, there’ll be plenty more big days ahead for my young pal, Arappy, and his owner, the Doug Graham human.

WITHIN five minutes of Arapaho Gold’s near-miss at Ascot, Lion’s Den provided some consolation for the yard by opening his account at Catterick.
OK, I know there’s a big difference between Champions’ Day at Ascot and Catterick, but a win’s a win.
Anyway, congratulations to members of the Denton Hall Racing syndicate. As humans go, they’re not bad types.
Mind you, it's going to be a while before that mug gets round 'em all.

TALKING of mugs, I've always encouraged the horses in the yard to have a laugh at the expense of the dumb humans.
My old mate Dakota Gold is a good example. Remember how he used to lead my Carole a merry dance at the starting stalls? He used to insist on her going down to the start, pulled her arms off for a bit, and then trotted in on his own.
Well, I had right giggle when I was watching Racing TV on Friday and saw Taygar taking the mickey out of the Lauren Mulholland human at Redcar.
Taygar can be a bit of a madam (to put it politely) and Lauren had to lead her down to the start, while jockey, Dougie Costello, followed on foot.
Lauren’s a lovely lass but I couldn’t help noticing she was puffing a bit before she even got to the furlong marker with another five to go. 
When it came to the race, Taygar got trapped on the rail but finished well once she got switched to the outside.
The filly gets the six furlongs well but, when it comes to Lauren, I reckon half a furlong is her optimum trip.

ONTO matters elsewhere, and I want to wish former jump jockey Henry Brooke all the best with his new business following his retirement through injury.
I was reading in the local paper that Henry’s launched a company called North Yorkshire Toilets – hiring out luxury loos for outdoor events.
I’m very good at headlines and I think they should have gone with ONLY STOOLS AND HORSES! Can anyone come up with anything better?

FINALLY, I hear our travelling head lad, the Kenny Williams human, has found himself in a sticky situation at home.
As anyone around here will tell you, one of Kenny’s many weaknesses is his attention to detail, and that seems to have let him down again.
Last week, Kenny’s long-suffering wife asked him to pass her some lip balm but he handed over a tube of superglue by mistake.
Apparently, she’s still not talking to him.

That's all from me for another week, folks. Send carrots, and don't forget to stick together.