‘Boldness was his friend in betting and in life': A tribute to the great Barry Hills

Spectator

a day ago

I have always enjoyed Royal Windsor Racecourse, as it styles itself. It may not have quite so many dignitaries popping in from the castle up the road as Royal Ascot does, but it has long been famed for its friendliness and approachability. Jockeys moving from the weighing room to join their mounts under the parade ring trees pick their way between picnics and the Pimm's and Caribbean cocktail outlets, readily pausing for autographs. In times long past, a former clerk of the course once responded to jockeys complaining about the cold autumn changing room by bringing in a bottle of whisky from the Stewards' Room.
Watching young Olivia Tubb win the opening apprentice handicap for Johnny Portman with a tidy ride on Prima Diva reminded me of Dean McKeown's experience at a similar stage of his career. Having led all the way to win on the 33-1 shot Miss Merlin, he told me he was mystified to be called in by the Windsor stewards. The well-backed horse he had beaten into second was ridden by one Lester Piggott, who had persuaded the authorities that Miss Merlin had 'intimidated his horse', and Lester was awarded the race. Afterwards the public idol turned to Mc-Keown and told him: 'You learned something today, son. Bullshit beats brains.' He could have had a political career.
Of Saturday's winners, both Billy Loughnane on George Boughey's Amorim and Cieren Fallon on William Haggas's Tenability were confident they had been on decent horses with more to come, but perhaps the most enjoyed win of the afternoon was Rossa Ryan's success on Wisper, trained by the ever-courteous Alan King. Hearing after the race that Wisper had also won the best-turned-out prize, Alan declared: 'Thank God they didn't announce that before the race. I always fear it is the kiss of death.' The cheerful Wisper syndicate is led by former Lambourn trainer Michael Blanshard, and before his retirement you could always rely on Michael having a spate of winners in July.
The former Lambourn trainer whose name dominated racing's weekend, however, was Barry Hills, who has died at 88. Back in 2010, interrupted by his ongoing battle with cancer, I managed to persuade him to let me write his biography, Frankincense and More, named after his extraordinary betting coup on the 1968 Lincoln winner. Backing it for weeks, he won enough to buy Lester Piggott's father's Lambourn stable and set out on a training career that netted him 3,181 British winners. Starting as a head lad's son with no silver spoon, Barry was not just a superb trainer of racehorses, with a dozen Classic winners and a Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with Rheingold to his credit, he was the epitome of the self-made man and founder of a much-respected racing dynasty.
Of his five sons, John, who sadly died of cancer in 2014, and Charlie have both been highly successful trainers. George is in the horse insurance business and twins Richard and Michael each rode approaching 2,000 winners as leading jockeys.
One of Barry's achievements, alongside his great friend Robert Sangster, was bringing the supreme US rider Steve Cauthen to Britain. Barry and his wife, Penny, treated the American superstar like family, but even Cauthen occasionally had to suffer Barry's brusquer side, which earned him the nickname Mr Grumpy. Cauthen told me once of the day Penny asked him to take over her usual role of driving them to Nottingham. Normally she would drive with him alongside her, and Barry in the back reading the Sporting Life and smoking a cigar.
'I had very little experience of smaller English roads,' Steve told me. 'I kept pulling out to get by trucks and swerving back in again. I didn't quite know how to kick the Merc in the belly. Penny looked nervously behind them but there wasn't a word from Barry. The comment was saved for when we got to the track. B. Hills climbed out and said: 'I hope you give my horses a better fucking ride than you've just given me.''
Most of those who've asked me over the years about Barry have wanted to know about his ability to get one over the bookmakers. Basically, he told me, he kept things simple. 'I rarely back other people's horses. Sometimes I don't feel I know enough about my own… You can't win backing bad horses, because most bad horses have a problem – they bleed or they won't do it or they need blinkers. You're better off backing one good horse against other good horses than a bad one against other bad horses.' And it was better to back in the second half of the season when there was more form in the book. Finally: 'Never bet odds-on. Never back each-way. And don't be frightened of a long price – the longer the odds, the more you should have on.' Boldness was his friend in betting and in life.