Fernando Bale passes away at the age of 12

Fernando Bale passes away

There was sad news to wake up to this morning, the passing of Fernando Bale. Described as the greatest of all time by our Antipodean counterparts in the sport, he is without a question one of the most influential greyhounds of all time, both on the track and off it. 

Bred by Paul Wheeler, he arrived in the world on March 12, 2013. A striking brindle and white dog, he would prove to have the talent as well as the looks and temperament. 

Fernando Bale was by Kelsos Fusilieer, an American racer who found success at stud on multiple continents. He produced a decent racer in Jaxx Party Time in Ireland as well as a much more recent July 21 litter out of Killinan Rosie (dam of Tom Heilbron's Clodcar Rosie) which only contained one pup. That is Loggies Morty who was an open race winner at Perry Barr and a multiple trip grade scorer at Towcester. 

His dam was Chloe Allen, runner-up in a South Australia Oaks and a half-sister to Jarvis Bale who was by Sonic Flight. He was from one of just four Sonic Bale litters who raced in Australia.

Fernando Bale was in the care of Paul Westerveld who told the Greyhound Recorder "I came out to the kennels at about 7am this morning and could see that he'd a medical episode during the night.

"I rang Alastair at Sandown Vet Clinic straight away and got him up there and we quickly realised there was nothing we could really do.  

"He was pretty distressed and vomiting and had lost movement in his back legs. It was the hardest call I've ever had to make but it was the right one for him."

An eight-time Group 1 winner

A winner of 35 of his 44 career races, Fernando Bale picked up his first big success in the National Derby at 23 months old. Wins in the Golden Easter Egg, Harrison-Dawson, Peter Mosman, Maturity Classic, National Sprint, Adelaide Cup and Topgun. Add to that track records at Bendigo and Traralgon to give him a deserved spot in the Hall of Fame, inducted earlier on this year.

Trained by Andrea Dailly, he had his track career cut short by injury, but that was only the beginning of what he would give to the sport of greyhound racing. 

Offspring with 55,000+ wins and $205 million won

If Fernando Bale was a success story on the track, it was his career after racing as a sire that stands him apart from others. He won Sire of the Year seven straight years, setting new standards for future generations to attempt to reach.

He has produced excellent sires himself, a couple that we know all about over here include Out Of Range and Tommy Shelby as well as Airmount Nando who has thrown a few decent types himself from limited opportunities. 

Then there has been his excellence with producing brood bitches. There have been a number of those in Ireland and the UK, with one of his most notable being Drive On Betsy who threw Romeo Command. 

His legacy will live on with his name appearing on pedigrees for generations to come. While very few of us in Europe will have ever seen him in action in the flesh, the videos of his career are a clear reminder of one of the sport's most enduring superstars.