Barney Curley went home £12 richer that day⁠—equivalent to about $500 USD these days. “It made me realize how much I’d been pampered.”Upon returning home from England, Barney Curley declared his intention to enlist in the seminary. It became rational to presuppose that something was afoot if Barney Curley was at the track, and eyes were askance at any horse saddled with a Curley wager. “In all honesty,” Curley later recalled, “he was one of the worst horses I’ve ever owned.” The horse happened to be called Yellow Sam. If the animal failed, either by underperforming or taking a fall, Barney Curley would be destitute.