The final gamble: Barney Curley's role in spectacular 2014 coup

Barney Curley landed a number of spectacular gambles and took great pride in fellow trainers applauding his last in January 2014 when four runners linked to him won around the country for different trainers after lengthy lay-offs.

The quartet - Eye Of The Tiger, Seven Summits, Indus Valley and Low Key - had collectively been about 13,000-1 to win overnight, but each went off at short prices in humdrum races run at Lingfield, Catterick and Kempton and none fluffed their lines. Bookmakers managed to dodge laying many bets at the initial prices but the coup still cost them an estimated £2 million.

Curley kept his silence at the time but it had all his hallmarks and he belatedly admitted his part at a Cheltenham Festival preview night in Galway three years later.

He told the audience: "This is from the bottom of my heart. I am serious about this - I don't want to talk about it. I have a reason for saying that because it's a distraction from what I'm trying to do (his charity work with Direct Aid For Africa). It's over now, we've done it - it was very satisfying. Let's hope it does a bit of good.”

However, Curley did reveal former trainers Ian Balding and Martin Pipe, as well as the latter's son David, had written to him afterwards.

"It was very tough but I got two letters which I kept - that satisfies me," he said. "One was from Ian Balding, who probably was one of the greatest sportsmen in England in this last 30 or 40 years. That'd be Clare and Andrew Balding's father.

"It was a great privilege to get a letter from him because he knows all about the horses.

"The other was a letter that arrived through the post one day. There was a photograph of me on the front of the paper and these people had cut off the photograph and stuck it on the front of this letter and it read Barney Curley Genius, Newmarket, England.

"I was going to throw it in the bin because all those things are rubbish, but I looked and there was a first class stamp on it.

"It was probably from one of the greatest training organisations of the last forty or fifty years. One side was signed, Martin Pipe, and the other was signed David Pipe, on a postcard. So I'll die happy enough with that.”

I recall also sending Curley a latter at the same time, when working for The Times, asking if he would indulge me in an interview. I never did hear back, not that I expected to. It was a longshot.

Bookmakers had been on red-alert from early morning that January day after latching on to the well-backed quartet, all of which were returning from lengthy absences and struck at Lingfield, Catterick and Kempton.

First up was Eye Of The Tiger in the 32Red Casino Handicap at Lingfield, eventually going off at even-money and cruising nine lengths clear under Shane Kelly for Des Donovan. Eye Of The Tiger was a German Group Two winner but had not featured in seven starts for Curley, the last of which had been when finishing last of 13 at Haydock in September 2012.

Donovan said: "He's had very bad problems and he won't run under a penalty. I used to work for Mr Curley and I'm in his yard. No-one wanted to buy him and he said 'do what you can with him’.

The trainer could probably have done without the attention of a large number of press being at the track that afternoon. Frankie Dettori was returning from almost four months on the sidelines with a broken ankle (the one that cost him the ride on Treve winning the Arc) at the meeting but was going to end the day completely upstaged, with copy written on him reduced to a footnote.

Like Eye Of The Tiger, the Sophie Leech-trained Seven Summits, sent off at 9-4, was a former Curley inmate and made no mistake in the a handicap hurdle at Catterick. Off the track since finishing third in a novice event at Fontwell in June, the seven-year-old travelled well throughout in the hands of Paul Moloney.

Leech's husband, Christian, told Racing TV: "He's bandaged in exercise and when he's in his stables and we just have to mind him very carefully, that's why he's got so few miles on the clock.”

Indus Valley, also trained by Donovan, landed the third leg of the four in a handicap at Kempton, although the 4-6 shot had to work hard to collect. Seamster was three lengths clear going into the final furlong but Indus Valley produced a power-packed finish to get home by half a length on his first run for 700 days.

Donovan was also interviewed by the Kempton stewards, stating that Indus Valley had been trained on his own following a year's break, as he was known to be a hard puller in his previous races, and was better suited by being dropped back to six furlongs.

All eyes were then on Low Key, trained by Curley's former assistant John Butler also at Kempton. The seven-year-old made no mistake on his first start since finishing seventh of seven over two miles at Southwell 11 months earlier.

Sent off at 4-7 and racing in a first-time visor, Liam Keniry's mount was always travelling with purpose in the mile-and-a-half event and cruised up to take a gap at the quarter-mile pole. Our Golden Girl ran on late but Low Key was a length to the good at the line.

Quizzed by the stewards, Butler stated that Low Key had been gelded since its last run and had benefited from the drop in class.

British Horseracing Authority spokesman Robin Mounsey said at the time: "We were aware of, and have been monitoring, the situation today. In the cases of those horses who have shown an improvement in form an inquiry was held by the stipendiary stewards and all horses were routine tested. It is BHA policy not to comment on specific investigations or speculation surrounding potential investigations, however an investigation would only occur if there is any evidence of Rules being breached."

No Rules were found to have been breached, but not for the first time the bookmakers were left counting the cost of months of careful planning and execution.