Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage, to Maureen Newson: John, Michael, and Richard. John (died 2014) was a horse trainer, while the twins Michael and Richard are retired jockeys both of whom are still active in the horse racing industry, After his divorce, he married Penny Hills, and had two more sons, Charles and George. Charles is a current trainer and George provides bloodstock insurance in Lexington, Kentucky, United States.
Career
In the mid-1950s, Barry was an apprentice jockey to Fred Rimell and to George Colling. In 1959 he was the head lad of John Oxley. In 1969, he acquired a horse training license and began training horses at South Bank Stables in Lambourn. In 1986, he moved to Robert Sangster's Manton Yard where he remained until 1990, when he moved back to South Bank. By the end of 2000, he had trained 2166 winning horses in Britain. He trained his 3,000th winner, when Chapter And Verse won at Pontefract on 7 April 2009.
In 2009 he was presented with two Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Animal Health Trust Equine Awards and at the Derby Awards, both in London.
He ended his training career on 22 August 2011 and his son, Charles Hills, took over the licence. When his son John died of cancer in 2014, Barry Hills was given a temporary licence to take over the running of the Kingwood House stable in Lambourn.
