Charlie Barley (1986–September 9, 2010) was an American-foaled Canadian

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic ...

. He won Canadian Champion Male Turf Horse, one of the

Sovereign Award {{refimprove, date=October 2021 The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing. The most prestigious award for horses is Sovereign Horse of the ...

s, in 1989. From 24 starts in horse races, Charlie Barley won 10 of them, and finished in the top three 20 times. His wins earned almost a million US dollars.

Career

Charlie Barley was foaled in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

, United States in 1986; his parents were

Affirmed Affirmed (February 21, 1975 – January 12, 2001) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eleventh winner of the American Triple Crown. Affirmed was well known for his famous rivalry with Alydar, whom he met ten times, inclu ...

and Au Printemps. Affirmed was a distinguished horse as a

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * T ...

winner. He was purchased for $50,000 as a two year old and relocated to Canada. Charlie Barley was based out of

Caledon, Ontario Caledon (; 2021 population 76,581) is a town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. From a shortened form of Caledonia, the Roman name for North Britain; Caledon is a developing urban area, althou ...

in the

Greater Toronto The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater ...

area of Ontario for the majority of his life and career. He was owned by John Haney and Scott Abbott. Abbott and John's brother Chris Haney were the co-creators of the board game ''

Trivial Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question ...

'', and Charlie Barley was named after Abbot's young son Charlie of similar age to the horse. In 1989, Charlie Barley ran eleven races, of which he won four; placed second in four; showed third in two; and came in seventh in one (the

Ohio Derby The Ohio Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid-to-late June at Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio. The Grade III stakes for three-year-olds is run on dirt over a distance of 1 miles. The race currently offers a pu ...

). This earned him the

of Canadian Champion Male Turf Horse for that year. However, Charlie Barley lost to Canadian Triple Crown winner

With Approval With Approval (May 9, 1986 – June 21, 2010) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1989 under jockey Don Seymour. Even though he missed the rest of his three-year-old season due to injury, he was named th ...

at both Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse and

Canadian Horse of the Year The Canadian Horse of the Year is a thoroughbred horse racing honour given annually since 1951 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is the most prestigious honour in Canadian thoroughbred horse racing. Part of the Sovereign Awards program since 1975, ...

, although he came in second place for both those awards (with

Sky Classic Sky Classic (March 17, 1987 – April 30, 2015) was a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. A son of U.K. Triple Crown champion Nijinsky, in 1989 Sky Classic won the Sovereign Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Male Horse in Canada but inj ...

in third place). Charlie Barley retired from racing in 1990 while around four years old, a fairly typical age for racehorses to be retired. He went on to sire children including Barlee Mist,

Charlie's Dewan Charlie's Group Limited is a New Zealand-based producer of beverage drinks. It is owned by the Japanese beverage company Asahi. Charlie's was founded in 1999 by Marc Ellis, Stefan Lepionka and Simon Neal. Originally the company produced fr ...

, Wings of Erin, and Bo Barley. He died of old age on September 9, 2010.

Legacy

Charlie Barley's owners complimented him as a "super horse." The

Charlie Barley Stakes The Charlie Barley Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early July at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Therace is open to three-year-old horses and is contested on turf over a distance of one mile (eight furlongs). ...

, a horse race held at

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The track ...

that began in 2001, is named after him; it is a race on turf (

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...

) for three-year olds.

References

{{reflist 1986 racehorse births 2010 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred family 17-b Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in Canada Sovereign Award winners