Barry Hills, the legendary racehorse trainer and head of the Hills racing dynasty, has died aged 88.
Barry, the son of Phyllis and jump jockey Bill Hills, was born in Worcester in 1937. In his early days he spent a brief spell as a jockey, before he became travelling head lad to John Oxley.
During this time Barry enjoyed success on a number of bets he placed. In 1968 a 66/1 horse named Frankincense earned him more than £60,000 and he used this to start his own training business. He bought South Bank Stables, in Lambourn, from Keith Piggott and in 1969 he sent out his first winner, La Dolce Vita, at Thirsk.
In the late 1980s Barry was based at Manton Estate in Wiltshire, returning to South Bank for a spell, before he set up his state-of-the-art base Faringdon Place, in Lambourn, in the 1990s.
One of Barry’s first notable horses was Rheingold, who won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in 1972 and 1973 and the 1973 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Rheingold also provided Barry one of his four runners-up in The Derby, the only British Classic to elude him.
He won the 1000 Guineas twice; with Enstone Spark in 1978 and Ghanaati in 2009; the 2000 Guineas in 1979 with Tap On Wood and 2004 with Haafhd; and the 1994 St Leger with Moonax.
During his extensive career Barry sent out more than 3,000 winners in Britain, and had winners in Europe and the US. He won a number of Irish Classics, the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot twice with Gildoran in 1984 and 1985, and the Stayers’ Hurdle at the 1992 Cheltenham Festival with Nomadic Way, to name just some of his many achievements.
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Barry was the head of the Hill racing dynasty; on his retirement in 2011 following continued ill health, his son Charlie took over his licence at Faringdon Place. His eldest son John was also a trainer, but died from cancer in 2014. Barry’s twin sons Richard and Michael were hugely successful jockeys, and his son George is a bloodstock insurer.
A British Horseracing Authority spokesperson said: “Barry’s contribution to racing was immense. He will rightly be remembered as one of the great figures of our sport.”
Barry is survived by his second wife Penny, sons George, Michael, Richard and Charlie, and grandchildren.
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
