Barney Curley Charity Cup

Frankie Dettori raising funds for DAFA this autumn

World-famous jockey and long-standing supporter of DAFA to help raise funds for ongoing education and medical projects in Zambia

Legendary Italian jockey Frankie Dettori will return to Bellewstown on September 28th for the inaugural Barney Curley Charity Cup. The event will bring together two of the most renowned characters in horseracing on either side of the Irish Sea with Dettori, a friend of the charity’s founder Barney Curley, acting as team captain for the English racers, and champion trainer Willie Mullins taking charge of the Irish team.

Frankie Dettori celebrates his win at Bellewstown with trainer Johnny Murtagh

The event follows on from the success of the Barney Curley Race Day at Bellewstown last September which was Dettori’s first visit to the track and raised over €150,000 for DAFA. Curley had a special association with Bellewstown where he staged the renowned 1975 Yellow Sam coup. Occupying the racetrack’s single phone booth, he prevented the odds makers on site knowing what was going on off course where runners were continuing to pile on the bets on the 20-1 horse Yellow Sam who went on to win the race convincingly.

The day promises to be exciting with two racing legends at the helm of the seven-rider teams. Teams will compete over two races with the team that accumulates the highest number of points winning the Barney Curley Charity Cup.

Owners are kindly sponsoring entry of their horses on the day, in an event which organisers hope will become an annual fixture in the racing calendar.

“I’m looking forward to coming back to Bellewstown on Wednesday, September 28 for the Barney Curley Charity Cup in memory of my great friend and to support his wonderful charity DAFA,” said Dettori. “I was delighted to win the 2016 Irish St Leger for Willie Mullins on Wicklow Brave, but I’ll be selecting my team very carefully to try and beat Willie and his home team. Both of us will want to win the challenge, so I can guarantee it’s going to be ultra-competitive.”

Frankie Dettori in the famous Yellow Sam phone booth at Bellewstown Racecourse

Mullins was equally enthused about the upcoming event saying, “Frankie Dettori is one of the most competitive jockeys in the world and I know Barney was such a good friend of his, so the home team jockeys, and I will have our work cut out for us. Barney was one of the great racing characters and did such fantastic work with DAFA, so I’m honoured to support the inaugural Barney Curley Charity Cup and hopefully we can keep the cup at home. It’s going to be a great day.”

DAFA would like to thank the donors and sponsors in the UK and in Ireland for their generosity, as well as last year’s racegoers at Bellewstown who contributed so much to the event.

Tickets can be bought online at www.bellewstownraces.ie with half the admission price going to aid DAFA’s much-needed work in Zambia.