Bernie Delaney, who will celebrate his 100th birthday on May 7, can trace his association with greyhounds back to 1936.
The former long-serving NSW National Coursing Association and Bulli Greyhound Club committeeman grew up in the historic mining town of Cobar, north-west NSW, during the time of the great depression, and as a 10-year-old he and his horse training father William used greyhounds to hunt kangaroos for their skins and meat.
Bernie recalled: "Times were tough and we could get reasonably good money for 'roo skins, while their meat came in handy too.
"When I was 10 a couple of shearers arrived at our place with a greyhound puppy they had bought from Jack Pringle at Orange, asking me to rear it for them.
"They finished up giving this pup to dad and I and after we broke him in, at between 12 to 14 months of age, a local fellow, Sam Prendergast, offered to swap me this greyhound puppy for a pony, saddle included.
"I took the pony but the dog, racing as Wally's Hope, ended up winning hurdle races.
"Later I worked in the coal mines at Cobar but after contracting a serious lung problem there I became a wool classer where I earned good money.
"In 1948 I married a local girl, Beryl Wells, whose family owned hotels in Cobar and Wilcannia, and we moved to Sydney in 1967.
"After living in a unit at Harris Park we bought a house in Blackett, a suburb near Mount Druitt, where I owned a dog called Cheyenne Sun, who was by Best Sun, winner of the inaugural National Sprint Championship in 1965.
"Dick Buttsworth, a highly successful Bathurst trainer and distinguished GBOTA official, trained Cheyenne Sun, but after he led and ran second at Bathurst I sold him for $300 and bought a blue dog called Arctic Estimate from the Pringle family.
"Dick was a wonderful mentor to me, while I also learned a lot from the late Phil Davis, the veterinary surgeon who has an annual race named in his honour at Richmond.
"Arctic Estimate was the first dog I trained and he won first up at Dapto while the first city winner I trained was Dear Ubo.
"Before his city win Dear Ubo was blessed for me by Bathurst priest Kevin Manning, who owned the champion sprinter Tivoli Chief and later became the second Bishop of Parramatta.
"Then I purchased a pup from breeder Tony Duke, who bred all the famous "Moss" dogs, including 1967 NSW Greyhound of the Year winner Pearl Moss and Rose Moss, co-winner of the award in 1965.
"When this pup, which I named Telecom Alf, was broken in, he was the quickest of 64 youngsters on the property at Jerry and Pat West's education centre.
"Pat and Jenny offered me big money for him but I refused and Telecom Alf gave me one of my biggest thrills in the sport when he won at Harold Park, beating big race winners Subtle Sense, a group one final placegetter, and 1982 group one Vic Peters Classic winner King Seagull.
"I had only paid $200 for Telecom Alf and after his Harold Park win I sold him for $10,000, but unfortunately he did no good for his owner.
"Then I bought a pup I named Pretty Andy from the Northfield family in the Northern Rivers for $600 and although he was a very wide runner he beat the 1987 NSW Greyhound of the Year Sonic Wave over 720m at Wentworth Park as a 33/1 ($34) shot.
"In those days we got $50 for turning up and I always put that money on each of my dogs, so when I collected from Pretty Andy's win I received $1650 on top of the prizemoney.''
Bernie Delaney comes from an era when trainers often needed to bet to supplement the moderate prizemoney, which is why says: "I always adopted the adage of putting myself in the best of company and my greyhounds in the worst.
"A greyhound which gave me a lot of fun was Jenolan Band, because she used to tail out a long last in 732m races at Harold Park and storm home to win or be placed.
"In 1990 I trained my biggest race winner when Waverly Brew, at 25/1 ($26) beat hot favourite Master Hilo, the National Derby winner, in the WP Potential Stakes, one of the major puppy races on the calendar.
"Other good ones I have trained were Best Method, who won over sprint and staying distances at WP, and Top Method, who was unbeaten in eight 457m races at Harold Park.''
Bernie has no hesitation in naming Chief Havoc, who broke or equalled 14 track records in 1946 and '47, as the best greyhound he has seen.
But he insists it is impossible to compare greyhounds of decades ago with today's top liners.
"It is so different, the tracks are definitely faster but also the trainers have more sophisticated equipment, such as ultrasonic and laser machines, at their disposal, something the old-timers didn't have,'' he declared.
