Barry Curle, who had the rare honour of having the same greyhound in two successive National Derby finals at Wentworth Park, has died, aged 78.
Curle's best greyhound was undoubtedly Fire Ablaze, who twice qualified for Derby finals in the mid 1980s, but did not manage to emulate the Allen Wheeler-trained Steelflex, who remains the only dog to win the Wentworth Park classic final twice, in 1974 and '75.
One time son-in-law Greg Hore said: "While Fire Ablaze was Barry's stand-out, he also trained a very good dog called Respectability, long before the present dog of that name is racing for Northern Rivers trainer Mick Patterson.
"But while Fire Ablaze handled Wenty well enough to make two Derby finals, the dog was virtually invincible at Bulli.''
Barry Curle's final Wentworth Park winner was All Negoa, who scored over 520m in June, 2019, although she was subsequently runner-up on two occasions at headquarters.
Andy Lord, whose wife JODIE is NSW's leading trainer, has fond memories of Barry Curle.
"Many years ago, when JODIE and I were living at Bringelly, Barry often took our dogs to far away race meetings, even to the famous Tweed Heads Galaxy carnival at Border Park,'' Andy Lord said.
"While I enjoyed many road trips with Barry, when he went solo with our greyhounds they were always looked after impeccably, he was a very good hand with a greyhound.''
Barry Curle's daughter Lisa Worthy is currently a highly successful trainer, and prepares the talented Barton, who has had seven wins and nine placings from 37 starts.
GRNSW extends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Barry Curle.
