Bella Senora Scores A Sentimental Victory
They say that a dog is a man’s best friend and Bella Senora has proven to be precisely that for her trainer, Adam Wade. Sadly, Wade recently lost his beloved wife Karen and on Wednesday night his gallant chaser did her best to cheer him up, as any best friend would, winning at Bulli in a slick 22.62.
The fawn bitch began cleanly from box four and quickly gathered speed in the early stages, stretching out to score by a widening six lengths at the finish.
Wade said that he thought his brilliant chaser had a great shot going into the event and agreed that she may have had a little extra help getting across the line.
“There might have been a bit of divine intervention”, Wade said.
“I thought she had a really good chance, she has been going very well. I’ve kept her to the 400s and she is racing very strongly and keenly at the moment.”
Wednesday’s win was Bella Senora’s fourth victory from her last five starts since returning from an injury sustained at Wentworth Park in August.
“She broke down and pulled up, she did an egg muscle and then tore her shoulder muscle.
“It was a bit of a blessing in disguise because it forced me to give her eight weeks off, a bit of a break and some time off. It was never a career threatening injury, she probably could have come back a but quicker, but we just thought we’d give her a lengthy spell at the same time.
“She has always been quick but I think she has come back as a better bitch.”
The triumph took Bella Senora’s record to 13 wins and 10 minor placings from 35 career starts. The 27 kilogram speedster has won on five different tracks including two victories at Wentworth Park. Wade has enjoyed a great run with the daughter of El Grand Senor which he owns and bred from his handy racer Wacky Car Races.
“Wacky Car Races was out of my bitch Scar Crash which was one of my first dogs, she (Scar Crash) wasn’t very good on the track but it turns out that her breeding has been phenomenal. Her first litter won around 70 or 80 races and one of those from the litter was Wacky Car Races.
“Wacky Car Races was a very good bitch. I think she only won three from ten races, she did her stopper bone and broke down. We kept her for breeding and this has been her first litter and they have been very successful for us.”
Wade, who has been training for the past 10 years, has about 60 greyhounds on his Kings Langley property with 18 of those currently in work. He looks set to have a busy time ahead with the next litter out of Wacky Car Races, which was a repeat mating to El Grand Senor, presently 17 months old.
He also has Bella Senora’s litter mates Army Surplus and Peta Pitstop in work. Army Surplus has been a good money spinner for Wade and won in a blistering 29.61 at Wentworth Park last night, whilst Peta Pitstop has won five from 15 and is set to return to the track next Wednesday at Richmond after two months on the sidelines.
“I think Peta Pitstop is quicker. She was out for six months, she broke a bone in her hock, and I got her back to win a few in a row and then she was leading at Dapto and hurt herself and pulled up. She is now back and trialling very quickly.”
While Adam no doubt faces a challenging time ahead, he is thankful to the assistance from his family, in particular his brother Paul and daughter Emma, who help him out with the greyhounds.
“It is a real family affair, it always has been, we are a fairly close knit family.
“It is tough… (but) you have got to keep going on. The dogs have got to eat, the dogs have got to walk, the dogs have got to trial and the dogs have got to race. It is just life going on.”