MALCOLM RED MILLS – TO THE MOON AND BACK TWICE

‘Malcolm Red Mills’ is retiring.

Malcolm Clarke

Some know him as Malcolm Clarke, but for the majority of the greyhound industry, the nickname is altogether more familiar.

Malcolm concludes a 23 year career with the feed company at the end of October and the most relieved man will be his mechanic.

Malcolm Red Mills isn’t just a voice on a phone, he regularly piles up He averages 60,000 miles per year taking orders and advising on nutrition. In 23 years, that would have almost taken him to the moon and back – twice.

It is a career that was practically determined by fate after he literally fell into greyhound racing as a nine year old in Stockton On Tees.

He said: “Our next door neighbour had two greyhounds in his garden and despite being told how dangerous they were, by him, his wife and my mum, I used to hang over the fence and talk to them.

“One day, I fell over the fence and the neighbour found me sitting in his garden some time later with the dogs licking my face. I told him that I often talked to his dogs. After all hell had broken loose, he asked me if I fancied helping him by walking them.

“Despite my age, I would go out walking with the two greyhounds every day. He had always been at work in the daytime, but with all the extra attention and exercise the dogs came on leaps and bounds.

“He used to race at Stockton Belle Vue, but he would never let me walk the dogs there. His reputation as a trainer had gone through the roof since I had started looking after his dogs and I don’t think he wanted anyone to know what his secret weapon was.”

The gardening accident developed a love for whippets and greyhounds that has been an on-going backdrop to Malcolm’s life.

After being told by a careers teacher, ‘Don’t look at me to get you a job, you’ll need to do that yourself’. He soon devised a plan.

His 15 year old brain put two and two together and he marched into his local supermarket and asked to be trained as a butcher.

Why?

‘So I will get plenty of meat scraps for my dogs’ Malcolm replied in total solemnity.

Clearly admiring his logic, determination and honesty, the butcher secured an interview with the store manager.

Malcolm said: “They took me upstairs, gave me an English and maths test and said, ‘okay, you can start on Monday’

“I said, ‘I can’t. I’ll be a school. I don’t leave for a few weeks’, but they promised me the job anyway.”

At 26 Malcolm was appointed area manager for a major butchery chain but decided to switch careers to work for Dunnes Stores in Billingham, near Stockton where he has responsible for 115 staff.

He said: “Dunnes is an Irish company and we were selling lots of Irish products to people in Britain. Red Mills was a hugely popular product and we were selling tons of it.”

In fact they sold so much that it raised the attention of the Red Mills head honcho Joe Connolly who decided to pay a visit. The pair hit it off straight away and when Dunnes decided to scrap food sales, Malcolm was offered a job as UK sales manager for Red Mills.

But it would be another member of the Connolly family whose brains Malcolm would soon be picking, Joe’s brother John.

He said: “You have to remember, when I was working in the meat industry, I was getting as much fillet, rump or sirloin steak as I wanted through my job. I was getting brown bread and fresh vegetables and was convinced it was impossible to feed any better.

“But I kept getting injuries as the pups reached racing age, particularly raising of the tibia crest. I spoke to three different vets and none of them could confidently explain what I should change.

“I had already switched my dogs to Red Mills when I met the late John Connolly, who was a qualified nutritionist. I soon realised how little I actually knew about nutrition. It was a revelation.”

Professionally, Malcolm admits that raising the profile of a then obscure Irish greyhound feed (the company were already market leaders in equine feeds) in a UK market then dominated by the likes of Wafcol, Kasco and Spillers was a tough task.

He said: “The breakthrough came through an article in the Greyhound Star with (the late) Geoffrey Thomas, who was head of the BGRB.

“Geoffrey said that they were looking for a sponsor for a new event called Supertrack. The total budget was £183K but for £10K we were able to get sponsorship rights.

“It was hectic. I was racing virtually every night for the next three months. I got to meet so many people and we never looked back.

“People might not remember how big it was at the time, but the greyhound people really bought into it.

“Years later, Geoffrey Thomas admitted to me that the BGRB had culled it at the request of the track promoters because it was damaging their open race competitions.”

Among Malcolm’s many memories of Supertrack was his first visit to Mildenhall.

He said: “Without any notice, the sky suddenly went black and there was this enormous roar as a massive American bomber took off from the airfield next door. I was absolutely shaking but looked over to the dogs on parade and they had ignored it completely.”

Or the visit to Dundee, “the only square greyhound track I have ever seen.”

It was while in Scotland that Malcolm visited the most impressive training set-up he has witnessed.

He said: “It was at Willie Frew’s kennel. He was quite high profile at the time having alternated with Terry Dartnall in the training of Ravage Again at the time. Willie’s kennel wasn’t big but it was absolutely spotless. And the man himself, an absolute gentleman.

“In terms of facilities though, in more recent times, you would go a long way to find somewhere better than Martin Murray’s at Sunderland. Martin is a successful builder and not a penny has been spared. It is simply impressive”

Malcolm enjoyed a short spell as a greyhound trainer himself in the early days following the rebuilding of Sunderland.

He said: “I was there presenting a trophy on behalf of Dewhursts and got to speak to Harry Williams who was one of the owners of the place at the time.

“I told him about my interest and he suggested I get a permit. I thoroughly enjoyed it and still look forward to a chat with Harry all these years on.”

The NGRC ultimately decided to scrap the permit scheme and Malcolm found himself back in whippet racing.

He had became involved in the running of the British Whippet Racing Association when still a teenager and eventually became national chairman, a role he held for seven years.

He said: “I felt I had to give it up after I joined Red Mills because I felt there was a conflict of interest.

“The chairman’s role was a bit like being a policeman, but how I could enforce the rules one day, and be visiting the trainer the next day selling him dog feed?”

Malcolm is still actively involved in the whippet scene and bred both the male and female 2018 BWRA Supreme Champions.

Malcolm’s retirement has been partially brought about by ill health, but he remains active and can surely never turn his back on a return to part time training.

He says: “ I saw Keith Thornton (another former dog food salesman – otherwise known as Wafcol Keith – you may have spotted a trend – Ed) at Belle Vue the other day and he was trying to talk me into a buying a share in of one his world beaters.”

So might we see ‘Malcolm Clarke – Sunderland’ on a racecard again in the future?

“I’m not sure what I will be doing yet, greyhounds or whippets. But I wouldn’t rule out doing something. . .”