Warning: In order to understand and appreciate the following article, the reader will be required to remove their ‘cynical specs’. While they are essential equipment to survive in this industry – viewing all events and statements with caution – remind yourself that without the passionate dreamers and believers – greyhound racing would have disappeared a long time ago – Floyd Amphlett (Editor)
Imagine – you’ve won a dozen trainers championships – every competition worth winning, at least twice. You are rapidly closing in on 100 Category Ones. Almost 5,000 open race wins. The big ‘60’ is approaching over the horizon. How do you stay motivated?
Imagine – you have been born into a greyhound family. You were reared alongside pups but have also been extremely successful in your business life. You decide to cash out and want to put a decent chunk back into the sport you love.
While the MWD Partnership is seemingly greyhound racing’s worst kept secret, very few people know what is going on under the hood. It is a fascinating story.
Barry Davis is pictured in this 1965 article written by the late John Motson
Mike Davis was born into greyhound racing. His mum Jean and dad Barry met while working as kennelhands at GRA’s Northaw kennel. Barry was was head man to White City trainer Joe Pickering. Jean was Head Girl to Ivor Morse at Stamford Bridge.
After leaving Hook Kennels, mum and dad continued to own, train and breed dogs in a very small way.
Mike said: “She also reared dogs for John Melville, brother of Frank Melville who had the ‘Astrosyn’ dogs. Dad had a few dogs on the flaps.”
Mike is an accountant by profession, and has built a livelihood that meant he could afford fast greyhounds. He owned many in Ireland (some he ‘half owned’ or ‘one third owned’, but that is a whole other story) where he now lives.
Mike also had the occasional greyhound in England with Jason Foster, notably Hurdler of the Year Kildare Lark. That connection to Northaw goes back to Jason’s dad, Tom who is a very old friend (and who this particular writer also worked for as a White City kennel lad in the last 1970s!).
Mike’s mum Jean with the Kilroy/Blackfoot Wonder litter that she whelped down in the family’s front room.
Mike Davis as a kid at Northaw
Mike met Irish partner Michelle Connolly through greyhounds though her animal interest in more widespread having bred showbreeds. She also rears horses for National Hunt racing.
After a break as greyhound owners, Mike and Michelle decided to dip their toe in the water again and asked Mark Wallis to find them a couple of dogs.
They started out with minor open racers and Cat 2 runners like Chubbys Caviar and Saleen Ash. That then progressed onto their most successful hound to date, Drumcrow Brent.
The MWD Partnership came about by a chance conversation when Mike asked his trainer something along the lines of ‘what else would you like to achieve?’
It was a bit of a low-baller.
Trainers aren’t used to thinking beyond ‘how do I pay the wages?’, ‘how many entries to I have to make to cover the costs of an open race trip?’, ‘how do I tell the owner that his new dog has just gone lame?’ Blah blah – you get the idea.
Mark thought long and hard and decided that in an ideal world. . . . . . . ‘he would like to leave a legacy’
But being Mark, it wasn’t a personal goal. It was something that he wanted to do for an industry that he hoped son and daughter Daniel and Emily, could continue to enjoy going forward.
That was almost two years ago. Mike came back with a proposition to form a partnership. He could take his interest in the sport to the next level. Mark could guarantee financial security for his family and do all the things have every trainer in the country might dream of, if, practically, money was no object.
So – any reader who started out assuming that Mike Davis was “simply a rich mug who doesn’t understand the game and will disappear like hot snot when he finds out how much it will cost him” might just be underestimating a man whose greyhound roots are probably deeper than their own.
He knows enough to describe the champion trainer as “the most valuable asset” in the partnership and he also understands the economics at least as well as his trainer.
When Mike and Michelle put their first runners at Imperial Kennels, they had a kennel bill issue.
In his quiet respectful way, Mike insisted that it was impossible for a trainer to make it pay at £9 a day, he would pay £20.
A lot has been decided in the last two years. The purchase of the kennels by the MWD Partnership (Mark, Mike and Michelle) from Mark’s mother-in-law (and another ex-Northaw kennel girl), Linda Jones, is just the starting point.
The project is set to cover ten years and is funded a long way into seven figures. (Both Mark and Mike have confirmed the figure in the production of this article, though it would not be appropriate to make it public.)
Indeed, being honest about their plans without appearing boastful or setting themselves up for a fall, is a very thin line to walk and neither man is remotely loud or boastful.
But to put the project into perspective, how does this sound?
The cost of upgrading the kennels alone is circa £200K. More money will be spent on the best veterinary equipment for the treatment of the dogs and general improvements to the site.
Kennels to get a revamp
The budget for new greyhounds is very much bigger than the kennel upgrade. So far they have bought 27, the most expensive being the recent 28.61 Clonmel debutant Newinn Syd.
Which brings us to just about the only thing that Mark and Mike disagree on.
Mike said: “I keep trying to persuade Mark to spend more money. We have some excellent people looking out for dogs for us, but they will cost big money. Mark wants to continue winning Cat One races with dogs he has brought through the grades.”
Mark responds sheepishly: “Yes – I know he’s right. But it will take a bit of getting used to.”
But to assume that the MWD Partnership was set up to spend shedloads of money to win lots of races is entirely missing the point.
No, seriously.
To really understand the concept, any trainer reading this article needs to ask themselves the question: “If money was no object, what would I want to do”
Mark Wallis has had two years to formulate his plans.
He said: “We want to do everything just right. And I mean, everything. Mike, Michelle and I are in absolute agreement about this.
But the beds are comfy
“We have had some success over the years but we have had to do everything at 100 miles an hour. Like most kennels I think, doing the best with limited resources.
“Going forward, the staff will be paid decent wages, not minimum wage. And that would include being paid overtime when they work extra hours. That was something Mike was absolutely insistent about.
“You know about the kennels. They are well within GBGB specifications, but how would we ever have the time and money to get them to look like a show kennel?
“We send out the vans on a wing and a prayer hoping they won’t let us down. We will be getting new vehicles.
“We have had to have a graded contract to keep up financially viable. At one stage we had over 100 dogs here. The plan is between 25-30 but we won’t be losing any staff.
“I can’t truthfully say that we will be doing anything differently in feeding, because we have always fed as well as possible. But you can guarantee our dogs will always have the best meat and supplements.
“Welfare has always been paramount and the MWD Partnership will spend whatever is necessary. We will even set up our own retirement kennel if necessary.”
Two of the Partnerships most exciting youngsters: Crossfield Cora & Droopys Buzzer
The only downside of the project is the inevitable shrinking of the kennel strength to reach the 25-30 runner optimum. Hopes Paddington and Antigua Sugar are two of the most high profile departures.
Mark said: “That has been tough. I should say that Nic Jeal has been terrific about it. He understands what we are trying to achieve and how we have had to go about it. We remain friends, though some owners have taken the decision better than others. But I will always be grateful to any owner who entrusted us with their dogs.
“I can’t say that we will never have non-Partnership dogs in the kennel in the future. But we have to get the numbers down over time and people like Nic have been looking to buy new dogs so it wouldn’t work in the short term.”
Ask either Mark or Mike what they actually want to achieve and their answers are very similar.
Mark said: “I would love us to be the model that the industry could be proud of, in terms of the facilities, social media, welfare, treatment of staff, the lot.”
Mike said: “To generally raise industry standards. Apart from what is going on in the kennel, I know that we have created a bit of a wave in the selling market.
“If we are forcing up the prices of good dogs, it will in turn raise the prices of the slightly cheaper ones too which will encourage breeders to keep going. I just want greyhound racing to thrive.”
As for anyone who thinks that this new enthused Mark Wallis might have lost his competitive edge. . . . . . . you really don’t know him at all do you?
Sussex Cup winner Drumcrow Brent with owners Mike Davis and Michelle Connolly. Photo: © Steve Nash
You can now replace those cynical specs.
