Dettori recounts fond memories of Barney Curley Frankie Dettori will be in action at Bellewstown on Thursday to ride in the fund-raising race for the late Barney Curley's Direct Aid For Africa charity and to celebrate the life of one of the most colourful characters in racing in recent decades. In an interview with Claire Byrne on RTE Radio on Wednesday morning, the world famous jockey reflected on his association with the legendary punter, owner and trainer. "I stumbled into Barney's life from a young age and we became family friends. He became a part of my rollercoaster life, I was a bit of a tearaway and he was always there to guide me and to tell me to do the right thing. "We are coming to Bellewstown to celebrate his life and to raise awareness of his charity DAFA. "We were very close right up the end and he passed away right in front of my eyes. He went quite quickly but up until his last days his mind was very sharp and he told me he was at peace with the Lord. "I have great memories of my time with him on holidays and when we crossed the country to different racecourses. "He helped a lot of people both within racing and outside of it, and that’s why Jamie Spencer, Shane Kelly and Tom Queally are coming with me to Bellewstown because they were part of Barney’s life along with Declan Murphy and so many others that he touched in racing. "He had a red leather chair in the house which was a little bit like a confession booth! I knew him the best part of thirty years and the red chair never moved. I spent many hours on that chair discussing things and opening up to him. It was the wisdom chair, I would say! "He would listen to me there as a mentor and a father figure. He had studied philosophy to become a priest, so he was very deep and wise, and was also very kind. He always tried to point people in the right direction. "I didn’t know anything about his gambling operation. His horses were stripped of their names and given a number, he was a very secretive person and he did his own business his own way. "One time, in my early twenties, he brought me to Galway to go on a retreat. I’m Catholic but I didn’t know what to expect. Obviously during the day people meditated and did their own thing. I was in in my room, reading a book or something. "But then myself, Barney and the priest went to the local pub in the evening to have something to eat and before you knew it, we had a couple of Guinness, the guitars were out and we were singing songs. "I thought to myself, this is the complete opposite of what I expected. It was an eye-opener and it was an amazing time." "There were two sides to Barney. One was the guy who loved to get one over on the bookies and the other was the religious guy, who would always give good advice, a very kind, warm-hearted person.'"
