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Times
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Times
Barry Hills obituary: Prolific racehorse trainer
Barry Hills believed the secret to having a successful flutter at the races was to 'never bet odds on' on the grounds that 'if you could buy money they would sell it at a shop down the road'. He would know as his own career as a leading trainer began with a cunning gamble that gave him the funds to set up his own stable. It was March 1968 and Hills was travelling head lad for the trainer John Oxley. Throughout the winter he and a group of friends had placed numerous small bets at different bookmakers on the Oxley-trained Frankincense, 100-8 winner of the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster; his share of the winnings was said to be more than £60,000 — then an enormous sum. Moreover Hills had already started to rake it in the year before, in 1967, when he backed the 50-1 winner of the Stewards' Cup at Goodwood. For decades afterwards he continued to enjoy a punt, at one stage aiming to increase his annual income by £50,000 through betting and telling Pacemaker magazine in 2006 that he had 'maybe ten decent bets a year'. He nearly always backed his own runners and on occasions, when he had two horses in a race, he would engage in what he called 'respectable skulduggery'' by booking a more illustrious jockey for the one less favoured to achieve a good price. He was born Barrington William Hills in Worcester in 1937. His mother, Phyllis (née Biddle), was from a family of hay and coal merchants and was said to have chosen his name because she believed it would look suitable on a brass plaque outside a solicitor's office, though her son was to spurn a career in law. His father, the jump jockey Bill Hills, was head lad for Tom Rimell at the time and subsequently held the same post in other stables, but he suffered from ill health and later died of tuberculosis. One of Bill Hills's employers was George Colling at Hurworth House in Newmarket, and it was in that stable that the young Barry spent the bulk of his apprenticeship. He had begun his working life in the stable of Rimell's son Fred, but headed back to Newmarket when it became obvious that his small stature made flat racing a more appropriate choice than National Hunt. Barry Hills rode nine winners during his short career as a jockey, the first of which was the Colling-trained Sudden Light at Newmarket in July 1954. However, after he had completed a short stint of National Service in 1957, he ceased to ride in races and was instead promoted to the position of travelling head lad. After Colling died in 1959 the stable was taken over by Oxley. Hills remained the travelling head lad until leaving to start training himself in 1969, the catalyst being his accumulated pot of betting money. Having bought South Bank Stables in Lambourn (from Lester Piggott's father Keith) for £16,000, Hills operated on a shoestring in the early days. However, he was successful from the outset and soon the size and quality of his string began to increase. Having sent out 17 winners in 1969, Hills won his first feature race in 1970 with Hickleton in the Great Metropolitan Handicap at Epsom. That autumn the stable's first champion arrived: Rheingold, bought for 3,000 guineas at Tattersalls' yearling sale. Rheingold showed top-class form as a two-year-old in 1971 before proving himself a true star. In 1972 he won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud after being beaten by a short head by Roberto in the Derby, while in 1973 he won the John Porter Stakes, Prix Ganay, Hardwicke Stakes, Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud again and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. In the process, he established Hills among Britain's training elite. Rheingold's narrow defeat at Epsom represented the first of four second placings achieved by Hills's charges in the Derby, a quartet completed by Hawaiian Sound (1978), Glacial Storm (1988) and Blue Stag (1990). Despite the Derby eluding him though, Hills enjoyed classic success in the 2,000 Guineas with Tap On Wood (1979) and Haafhd (2004); the 1,000 Guineas with Enstone Spark (1978) and Ghanaati (2009); and the St Leger with Moonax (1994). A slipping saddle denied Dibidale victory in the Oaks in 1974, compensation for which came the following month when he sent the filly to the Curragh to land the Irish Oaks. That success was the first of his five Irish classic victories. Hills trained for most of the sport's major patrons, including Prince Khalid Abdullah and Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum. However, the owner with whom he established the warmest rapport was Robert Sangster, for whom he trained many high-class horses including dual Ascot Gold Cup winner Gildoran. The deep friendship between Hills and Sangster (who died in 2004) was clearly based on a shared passion for racing and betting on horses, and on mutual respect. In 1984 Sangster had bought the 2,300-acre Manton estate near Marlborough and spent millions developing it. When the purchase was seeming a serious mistake because of the lack of success of the trainers whom he had installed there, Hills came to his friend's rescue: he moved his string there from South Bank in 1986 and proceeded to send out over 400 winners in the next four years. When Sangster sought to sell Manton in 1990, Hills returned to South Bank but three years later made the short move to a magnificent new stable on the edge of Lambourn at Faringdon Place. Hills was a dapper dresser who was rarely seen without a tie. Certainly he had exacting standards in business — such was his temper that one of the horses he trained was named Mr Combustible after him — but these standards stood numerous protégés in good stead. Many successful trainers learnt their trade in his employ, while his apprentices included the jockeys Ray Cochrane, Alan Munro and Darryll Holland. The most telling testimonials to his example, though, are his sons. His first marriage (to Maureen Newson) yielded three sons: John, who was a successful trainer in Lambourn before his death from cancer in 2014, aged 53; and the twins Michael and Richard, both of whom enjoyed successful careers as jockeys. Each rode several group one winners trained by his father, while Moonax's St Leger win in 1994 was gained at the principal expense of Broadway Flyer, trained by John and ridden by Michael. His second marriage (to Penny Woodhouse) produced two sons, Charlie and George. The latter has forged a successful career in bloodstock in America, while Charlie served as his father's longstanding assistant and took over Faringdon Place in 2011. Throughout a long period of ill health, including throat cancer, Hills's old-school professionalism shone through, his iron self-discipline never faltering. Simultaneously Charlie proved himself to be a chip off the old block, ensuring that Faringdon Place ran with the same efficiency whether his father was at home or in hospital. When Charlie collected the trophy on his father's behalf as leading trainer at Royal Ascot in 2009 (when the stable had sent out three winners including the Richard-ridden Ghanaati in the Coronation Stakes and the Michael-ridden Giganticus in the Buckingham Palace Stakes), Hills, who had spent the previous five weeks in hospital with septicaemia, must have been a very proud man indeed. Barry Hills, racehorse trainer, was born on April 2, 1937. He died on June 27, 2025, aged 88
Telegraph
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Barry Hills, one of Britain's greatest racing trainers, dies aged 88
Barry Hills, one of the great trainers of the post-War era who sent out over 3,000 winners and founded a racing dynasty, died on Friday night after a long illness aged 88. Hills, a stickler for old-school high standards beginning with his own dapper dress sense, commanded enormous loyalty from his owners and staff, some of whom were with him over 50 years and their whole careers. He started off riding a few winners before becoming travelling headland to John Oxley in Newmarket. In 1968 such was his confidence in the horses, despite having to carry a big weight, he won enough money (£60,000 then – at least £1.5 million in today's money) backing the stable's Frankinsense in the Lincoln Handicap to set up the following year as a trainer, buying Southbank Stables in Lambourn from Keith Piggott. He went on to win five British Classics but, famously, the Derby eluded him. He saddled the runner-up four times starting with Rheingold who was beaten a short-head by the Lester Piggott-ridden Roberto in 1972. Had anyone other than Piggott been on Roberto he would likely have won. The following year Rheingold went on to provide Piggott with his first Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe. Hawaiian Sound might also have won but he ended up making the running under Willie Shoemaker who could not hold him, and when he went to block Remainder Man, Greville Starkey shot through on the inside on Shirley Heights. The other two runner-up finishes were Glacial Storm and Blue Stag and he even ran a colt called Mr Combustible, named after the trainer, in the Classic. RIP Barry Hills — History of Horse Racing (@horsevault) June 28, 2025 His eldest son, John, went on to be a trainer but died from cancer in 2014. Hills described beating John's Broadway Flyer with 40-1 outsider Moonax in the 1994 St Leger as the 'most emotional' winner of his career. The identical-twin sons from his first marriage, Richard and Michael, were both top-class jockeys; Richard was first jockey to Shadwell while Michael won the Derby on Shaamit. Charles Hills, the eldest son of his second marriage to Penny, took over Abingdon Place on his retirement in 2011 while his youngest son, George, runs an insurance business in Kentucky. Hills survived over 30 years after being diagnosed with throat cancer, his specialist Professor David Howard overseeing his health for the rest of his life. A number of times in those three decades during bouts of ill-health his family were told to prepare for the worst but every time he bounced back. Speaking from Kentucky, Steve Cauthen, the 'Kentucky Kid' who was lured over by Hills, recalled: 'He asked me to ride Hawaiian Sound in the Derby but it was three days before Affirmed went for the Triple Crown in the Belmont so I couldn't but I watched Bill Shoemaker damn near win and it made me prick my ears to British racing. 'When I came over I did through the back door, via Ireland, to Blackbushe Airport where Barry met me. I said, 'Shall I put my suitcase in the trunk?' and he replied, 'Over here it's called a f---ing boot!' and I thought, 'What have I let myself in for?'.' 'But we became the firmest of friends. He and Penny helped me grow up and I never organised a trip to Britain since without booking in with them first. We won a lot of big races together and he didn't have to tell me what to do which gave me a lot of freedom. The twins and John became like brothers to me. 'He was a great man. To go from stable hand to top trainer was incredible in itself and look at the people he taught; Peter Chapple-Hyam, Darryll Holland, Ray Cochrane, John Warren. He gave me a lot of guidance and instilled my dreams to want to get back to the top again. He wanted everyone to be the best they could be.'
