It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of ‘Big Phil’ Bradley, a former kennelman who committed his life to greyhound racing – writes Star editor Floyd Amphlett.
Phil Bradley with Toms The Best before the 1998 Derby Final – pic Steve Nash
My personal memories of the strapping Lancastrian go back to our kennel lad days at Northaw in the mid 1970s when Phil worked for Derby winning trainer Adam Jackson at White City.
In the following years, Phil worked for many top trainers who respected his work ethic, understanding and kindness to the dogs he looked after.
He was associated with Nick Savva for many years and led Toms The Best in the Greyhound Derby Final.
He later moved on to work with Linda Mullins before setting out on his own in Scotland where he soon found himself in conflict with the old NGRC following a series of time finding incidents.
John Mullins recalls Phil with great fondness.
He said: “Phil knew the time of day with greyhounds. Apart from looking after Toms The Best with Nick, he handled Heavenly Lady when he worked for mother. He was a good dog man all his life and it is a great shame that he has gone.”
Unfortunately Phil was diabetic and was incapacitated in later years after a series of amputations including the loss of a leg.
But there is one story that perhaps needs retelling and one in which he took great delight in his participation.
The night in question was in the early 1980s when Bolton was still a flapping track. It was the night of the Bolton St.Leger heats and two teams were piling on the money in the betting ring.
The two sets of connections – who later turned out to be connected to the Meek and De Mulder kennels – saw their runners contest the first lap before a big fawn ran straight between them and won easily.
The hound would turn out to be Scottish Derby winner and English Derby runner-up, Special Account.
And the man who led him from the track, grinning widely, was a six foot two inch Lancastrian.
God Bless – Big Phil
