It’s not easy to change most of your team and things not go all ‘Pete Tong’ – or should that be ‘Todd Boehly’?

Let’s all ??? at Chelsea!

Within three weeks of the official April 1 launch, the MWD Partnership produced their first Cat One winner in Coonough Crow who ran away with the ARC Grand Prix.

So – almost five months later, how have things progressed?

 

Zillion times Champion trainer Mark Wallis said: “It has been fantastic and absolutely exceeded everything I had hoped for.

“There have been a couple of setbacks, but nothing major. The biggest has been the sale of the kennels which has dragged on but we are expecting that to complete within the next fortnight.

“That has held up plans for the structural alterations. We aim to knock down a kennel block, put a perimeter fence around the entire four acre site, level out the land and replace all the paddock fencing. We will have 14 large paddocks and a similar number of smaller paddocks.

“We are calling that ‘stage 2’ of the project. Stage 1 was sorting out the kennel strength and we will be announcing the final stage in due course.”

Puppy Classic finalist Ballymac John with Sid Huett

Stage one was the reduction of the kennel strength from 80 runners to “just under 40” with the final goal set at around 30.

Some of the most popular and successful stars in the kennel, notably Antigua Sugar and Hopes Paddington, left the Suffolk establishment and it goes without saying that hounds of that quality are not easy to replace.

But they haven’t done badly. A couple of the MWD stars were already in situ on launch notably Crow and Minnie Bullet. There were also a small group on ‘non MWD’ runners who remained in the kennel including Gougane Jet, Saffrons Dash, Antigua Bigun and Aayamza Magic, though he has since broken down.

Ready for the Puppy Classic! Newinn Syd with Daniel Wallis

The new arrivals included the seasoned Irish open racer Whyayeman who went on to win the Derby Plate. Jet was joined by another major sprinter in Quarteira.

But the real breakthroughs have come via youngsters. It seems incredible to think that Ballymac John won the Seasons Scaffolding Final way back in April but is still eligible for Monday’s Jenningsbet Puppy Classic Final.

Alongside him at Nottingham is Newinn Syd (Oct 21) who was 21 months old when clocking 28.91 for the Derby course at Towcester.

The first Cat One winner Coonough Crow – pictued with a shy Justine Slater – runs in the Jennisbet Select Stayers on Monday at Nottingham

Then there is the exciting New Destiny  (Oct 21) with a 28.86 at Towcester, Irish Oaks winner Crafty Shivoo (Oct ’21), the new marathon star Ballymac Taylor (Sep 21) among the most prominent.

Add in the likes of Jacktavern Magic who also reached the Seasons Scaffolding Final followed by the Regency, Rapido Lady, Fabulous Sonique, Pepinthestep. . . .it has been a remarkable transition.

Mark said: “Last week we had 17 winners from 28 runners. I love to set goals and I wanted to pass 100 open race winners for MWD owned dogs by the end of the year. We are already in the nineties.

“The dogs have come from all different sources. We bought Ballymac John and Rapido Lady through the GreyhoundTrader Towcester sale. To be honest, we had already made contact with Shane and Liam Dowling, who are fabulous people to deal with, but we set out deliberately to get John at the sale.”

27.96 winner Crafty Shivoo, who runs in the Billingham Memorial at Monmore on Saturday, with Liam Aspin

Perhaps the shrewdest pick of the lot was Crafty Shivoo, picked out by the Partnership’s lowest profile partner, Michelle Connolly.

Mark said: “Michelle spotted her after she had clocked 28.68 in the first round of the Irish Oaks and what a spot that turned out to be, going on to win the final in 28.14.

“Generally though, the dogs are chosen after discussions on a WhatsApp group with myself, Mike Davis, Paul Ephremson and Billy Boyle”

“We’ve had a bit of bad luck with a few others, Droopys Buzzer was knocked over, Droopys Prymtime got a cut foot. We are still hopeful of both. We had some reservations about Jacktavern Magic, given he is blind in one eye, but he has done exceptionally well.

“The bad injuries have been to Magical Kyle, who damaged ligaments in his wrist, and has a 5-10% chance of racing again and Crossfield Cora who had a very bad hock break.

“Stefano (Mallegori – vet) warned us it was a bad one, so we took her to the East Anglia Veterinary Centre at Wimpole which I have used previously for difficult operations.

“The bill was well over £5,000 but the vet Mark Bush did a fabulous job. Although Cora will never race again, she will have a future either as a dam or as a pet.”

December puppy Cat Island – who makes his debut at Romford tomorrow having broken 24.00 in his qualifying trials – pictured with Sarah Wallis

From day one, MWD insisted that their whole operation should be welfare led and that includes dogs that fall short of racing expectations.

Mark said: “We aim to have a kennel of Category One runners but that is an aim, not a realistic expectation. So very early on, Mike (Davis) and I discussed what we would do with the dogs who weren’t quite up to that level.

“Don’t get me wrong, there are some very decent open racers among them, but not what we were looking for.

“So we reached agreement with Jason Bloomfield and Kelli Windebank who we have known for a long time. They are a great couple and have a well deserved reputation for caring about the welfare of their dogs.

“They are in the process of buying a new kennel and were on the lookout for runners. So we have reached an agreement to sell them a number of those who have fallen short of our expectations.

“We have sold them at a very decent price on the understanding that we know how well Jason and Kelli will look after their futures. That is paramount.”

But the welfare doesn’t just extend to the dogs.

Mark said: “From day one, Mike has insisted that everything be carried out to the highest possible standards and that includes for the staff.

“Their wages have gone up and they are now part of a pension scheme. They get paid overtime, with more time off, and extra holidays. That security is massive.

“Sarah and I have been on a cruise, and I now take a couple of days a week off. We are going away next weekend for a couple of days. We’ve never been able to do anything like that in the past. It has always just been work, work, work.

“We are only five months down the line but everybody is coming to work smiling, and we are only at the start of the journey.”

Whyayeman – pictured with the photographer (apart from this one – obvs) – Emily Wallis