Barry Delaney retired yesterday after 35 years as a steward, concluding an extraordinary contribution to Victorian harness racing by trading in his binoculars and hat to spend time with his wife Monica and family.
Barry has made the decision not to return from long service leave, admitting he will miss the good people of harness racing, but is relishing the chance to enjoy things missed while on the road.
Picture: Barry Delaney (centre) in the stewards' tower with his dad John and son Callum.
“I’ve enjoyed being at home,” Barry said. “I can spend time with Monica, and I can honestly say there hasn’t been a day when I’ve been bored.
“I do miss the people though. Most harness people are very good people. Salt of the earth. Maybe I’d think about putting in a day or two after winter.”
Harness Racing Victoria CEO Dayle Brown said Barry had an outstanding career and would be sorely missed.
“Barry is well respected by his peers and the harness racing industry for his exemplary service over more than three decades,” Mr Brown said. “His professionalism and kindness have set a high bar for all to follow and I wish him well in his much-deserved retirement.”
Harness Racing Victorian General Manager of Integrity Brent Fisher said Barry had provided outstanding service and he looked forward to celebrating his career with the wider industry post covid-19.
“Barry has left an enormous imprint on Australian harness racing and is still in contact with many past stewards, including many of his mentors, and I think that speaks to his character. He always found time for people,” Mr Fisher said.
“Barry was a great mentor to the younger stewards during his time. As one door may close, then another may open, as it would be great to keep Barry involved in harness racing in the future. His significant experience and knowledge is too valuable to just walk out the front door.”
Originally from Adelaide, Barry followed his father and grandfather (both named John) into the racing industry, a sport that has defined much of his life.
Barry’s father was a talented horseman, driving a metropolitan winner at his first drive at the Wayville Showgrounds in Adelaide. However, by the time Barry was 16, his father was a steward for the Trotting Control Board.
Keen to leave school, it seemed a foregone conclusion that with the choice of two jobs – one with Adelaide City Council, one with the Trotting Control Board – Barry would take the harness racing option. Still, he had his father to help him think it through, and John Snr favoured the trots: “he said ‘you were born into it, so you might as well go there’.”
While employed by the Trotting Control Board in handicapping and administration, Barry still found time to help his father (who was by then Chief Steward) at the races. When a job as a steward became available in Melbourne in 1981, Barry decided to make the move. “I always thought that Victoria had the best racing,” he said.
However, it very quickly becomes obvious that it wasn’t the main reason for the transfer.
“There might have been a lady I had an interest in,” Barry said. His judgment was again impeccable – that lady, Monica, would in time become his wife.
“I owe Monica everything,” he said. “There was no way I could have continued in this job without her. We had three boys, and I was away at the trots while she sat home.”
Barry and Monica were lured for a short time in the early ‘80s to Perth to give Barry the chance to work with Chief Steward Alan Pearson.
“It was an amazing time. The horses that raced there at the time were just incredible – horses like Village Kid and Preux Chevalier.”
Back in Melbourne for the 1985 Interdominion, Barry had an advantage when talk turned to the likely winner. “Everyone was talking about this horse and that, but I told them: If Preux Chevalier comes over here, he will brain them.”
Correct in his assessment, he lists the 1985 Inter Dominion as the best night of racing he had seen. “There were 40,000 people there – the place was packed.”
With an obvious love for harness racing, Barry has countless people and horses to look back on with affection.
“The best horses I’ve seen are Maoris Idol, Poppy (Popular Alm), and Preux Chevalier – those three are the only horse photos I have in my house. I saw Maoris Idol have his first start at Globe Derby – he galloped and missed the start by 150 metres and brained them. We saw something special that day. He regularly beat the best pacers.”
As for drivers, in South Australia Ross Sugars and Geoff Webster drew Barry’s admiration, something which is returned by Ross.
“I’ve known Barry all my life,” Sugars said. “You always know where you are with Barry, he is a very easy man to deal with. I hope he thinks of me the same way.”
However, to find the best he has ever seen, Barry came to Victoria.
“Gavin Lang is the best driver I’ve seen. You’d watch races and say, ‘how did he get there?’ and have to go back and watch again. I’d say to him sometimes after a win, ‘I’m glad you knew what you were doing,’ and he’d just smile. But with what he’s achieved recently, Chris Alford deserves a huge amount of credit too.”
Victorian Trainers and Drivers Association president Lance Justice has known Barry since they were both children, having grown in the same circles.
He said Barry was “a steward with a lot of common sense”.
“He is fair but firm,” Justice said. “You know if you cop a penalty then you deserve it. On the outside, it seems like he is such a nice guy, you might get away with a bit. That’s not the case. If you come to Barry with a bad attitude or playing games, you’ll know about it. We will all miss him.
“He’d be a great mentor to young stewards or drivers. His dad was brilliant at teaching kids, bringing the new generation through, and he and Barry are very similar.”
The number of workmates Barry counts as friends is too long to list: “There’s been so many good people. People like Lou Austin, John Wilson, Leigh Kirby, but probably the biggest influence was (former Victorian Chairman of Stewards) Rod Osborne. He never knocked people down, he was always positive.”
And being positive is something Barry’s been quick to embrace in his new life at a slightly slower pace.
“I’m doing the things I wasn’t doing when I was doing that job,” he says happily.