Is former Powderhall trainer Pat O'Flaherty still with us?

Pats still alive.....and he didn't train Arrow House.

My memory aint wot it used to be. I think edgar ramsay owned arrow house, Think Bryce wilson trained him. He was very fast. I think a few of the lads up there would give u a few who could match him for early.

Well, it was a long time ago!

Pat still trained some fabulous 'hounds

Correct Bryce Wilson trained him..i remember every time he came to Shawfield he would go 6 to 8 lengths clear and would always get caught up the run in..the old 500m trip back then was far too severe for him.....BKD Whisper Wishes x Meadowbank Tip Sep 86.

Pat was old school. Didn,t say much. Mostly let his dogs do the talkin. If he had summit to say u listened. Didn,t mince his words or suffer fools. Dogs always immaculately turned out. Mostly home bred.

Geoff de Mulder was perceived to have perpetrated one of the biggest outrages ever at Powderhall.  The anger and sentiment within a packed stadium was so virulent, and lasted so long that he didn't dare show his face at the winning line for the trophy presentation. Edinburgh Cup Final night, Dale Lad, around 1978ish.  He never came back either.  As for the best of Scottish dogs, Black Andrew and Another Spatter both won the Laurels and neither was trained by Pat O'Flaherty. Paradise Spectre was never registered at Powderhall but he too was Powderhall owned and he won many, many top prizes, but again not trained by P. OFla.  Rockfield Era was a Shawfield great as I recall, who took on and beat all the best north of England dogs too.  Smashing trainer he was but he had nothing to do with these great dogs.

Medobank Tip, believe it or not, was taken over to Ireland to be bred to a to leading stud - maybe Desert Pilot, can't remember which - but they didn't book up and when they got there the dog was unavailable.  Then I think they discovered she had taken a false heat so, as an afterthought they entered her in the Oaks at SPK - and she only went and won it didn't she?  Amazing tale but true.  It was after that that they put her to Whisper Wishes.

Paradise spectre was owned by jim glass. Mullins had him at manningtree. Jim had many very fast dogs over the years. Jon barrie won edinburgh cup 1 year a week later i,m sure it may av been a dog called broadford boy was involved in a match. John barrie was odds on i,m sure ray andrews trained him but jim glass,s dog beat him comfortably. Huge crowd to watch it.

Biggest gamble i ever saw at powderhall was on a dog called killouragh chris i,m sure bert hill owned him. I worked as a tick tack at the time. Arms were sore after the race. Started betting him at 20/1 to 7/2 5/2 in places. Any1 who knew the market there knows how much money it would take to cut a dog to that price. Huge amounts. Lads walkin about with holdalls an carrier bags full of money. Was his first ever race if memory serves. Went on to be great dog.

I was only a lad at time. Has taken me sinse last post to remember the trainer of killourah chris. Peter beaumont think he was at leeds b4 sheffield. Used to always look out for him after took so much money out the both powderhall rings. Yes both rings, had near 40 bookies only a a couple would take a monkey few would take up to couple o grand 10 or 12 of them u didn,t av enough money to change the price. 3 or 4 for tax purposes u couldn,t name wot they layed. Massive.

I was only a lad at time. Has taken me sinse last post to remember the trainer of killourah chris. Peter beaumont think he was at leeds b4 sheffield. Used to always look out for him after took so much money out the both powderhall rings. Yes both rings, had near 40 bookies only a a couple would take a monkey few would take up to couple o grand 10 or 12 of them u didn,t av enough money to change the price. 3 or 4 for tax purposes u couldn,t name wot they layed. Massive.

Yep - it was Greenville Boy PH.  To be fair JB missed his break but the same could be argued, in bad luck terms, about the Boy, who drew trap 5 in a railer dominated final, with a Laurels winner and a top sprinter inside to beat down!  Happy days.  Powderhall was a great track, with fabulous books and you could get ANYTHING on.  Between the GRA, Corals and one Norrie Rowan it fell into bad hands and was then run into the ground.  The Cobbolds, the Andrews, the Singletons, the Mullins, etc etc they all brought their best dogs there, knowing how well they would be treated and looked after.  On the rail, Davie Miller, Bill Donaldson, "Blantyre" Bill Smith, Bill Best etc;, looked you in the eye and took your every bet, without murmur.  Then they would sponsor meeting after meeting raising untold amounts for the RGT, Local Hospices etc. On top of that Bill Glennie at the helm, overlooking everything with a particular gift for keeping the running surface right! And all sadly gone!

Ye,was a real travesty when it went. Probably top 4 greyhound bookies in country at the time were plying there trade there when it closed. Alec farquhar ( macbet) douglas somers, bert logan an davie miller. All bet to there opinions. An sometimes if they fancied different dogs in a race the value was huge. Not uncommon percentages per race just over the 100 mark.

yeh - I'd forgotten those three.  Dougie Somers in particular was fearless. He was the first one to get the videos from the office after racing and he studied them like no-one else before the rest caught on.  bright guy.  Pilmar Smith could have been mentioned too.  I still see Bert's brother John at the track occasionally.  Played fitba with him years and years ago.  My own brother once found a grand in a plastic bag as he went into the ground.  He was daft enough - shouldn't say that, straight enough - to hand it in.  It turned out to belong to that daft twwat Gordon Gray, who'd somehow dropped it as he went in.  The numbskull didn't even have the decency to drop Kev a score!

Yeah Private, Beaumont. Couple of other smart ones he had Claremount Moral and stayer Hot News but dunno if they ran at Powderhall?

I remember them names woody, cant say for sure if they ran powderhall. Some great lads with proper dogs from around that way at the time. Obviously sir charlie, ray andrews had great team o dogs, drapers, harry crapper, to name but a few. Regularly took on the alleged big trainers in london an kicked there arses.

Nigel Saunders had the Manx dogs, too

Was at wembley in i think it was 89 or 90 wen marajax won ledger. Good night as i remember. I,m sure it was galtymore lad that got the ex,s. 4 of us drove down from edinburgh. Drove back up road after meeting. We would go anywere to watch good dogs run. Heavily involved in flapping at that time. Saw some fantastic dogs run. Dogs running these days couldn,t hold a candle to them.

Saw Galtymore Lad storm round Hackney once. Pace unsurpassed. That fast at the third bend struggled to negotiate it. Might have done the clock. Won semi of Derby one year but no good in final. Some dog of Geoff DeMulder's that! Same time he said Handsome Dan and a good bitch think it was Daisys something or other

Think Bernie Doyle's Jerpoint Diamond was fav for Marajax Leger and same era, Curtis had a good dog called John Doe. Doyle was well known for Spenwood runners and hurdlers

I'm the sae Private. Go a long way for quality racing. Ireland 3 times for racing one year. Irish Derby and Night Of Stars booked this

I aint missed irish derby or night of stars in a long time. Went clonmel last couple o yrs. Thats my holidays. 3 long wknds. Just back workin with dogs again. Prob gona miss derby n night o stars.