Not too many of those who took bets in the Bellewstown ring of 1975 are still around. Ray Farrell was a teenager, perusing the nuances of what is now a dying craft beside his father, Charlie. Barney Curley, who died last Sunday aged 81, had a runner called Yellow Sam and, even though the horse seemed to be no good, bookmakers were cautious enough to go 10-1. Farrell senior, now deceased, kept glancing over at Sean Graham, now deceased. Graham was much bigger odds than everyone else. “What’s Sean Graham up to here? He’s hawking this,” Charlie said to his son, ‘hawking’…

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