Corrie German capitalizing on serendipitous circumstances with Bella Chica

by Matthew Lomon

Timing, in life and harness racing, is everything.

For Corrie German, his wife Brenda and their two children, Lauren and Matthew, the timing of Bella Chica’s arrival was both unexpected and wholeheartedly welcomed.

“We love this filly… right from watching her tear around the paddock and trot for the first time,” said a reflective Corrie.

How the bay out of Wheeling N Dealin mare Wheely Twicky (owned by Corrie and Brenda) came to be a part of the German family is a story shaped as much by circumstance as by serendipity.

On Jan. 15, 2022, Corrie and Brenda’s daughter Lauren was in a life-altering snowmobile accident.

The sudden ordeal, arriving shortly after the discovery of Wheely Twicky’s broken coffin bone, left the Germans at a crossroads.

“When that happened, we were thinking of selling Wheely Twicky — and we actually had her sold twice, once to a breeding farm and once to a fellow horseman — but we couldn’t do it,” Corrie said.

“Something in us, with Lauren going through what she’s going through, we’re running the roads, we didn’t know what to do. It was a tough one to get through everything. It changed for everybody whether we were keeping this mare.”

Corrie and Brenda ultimately opted for the breeding route with their cherished mare.

Following their decision was a phone call to an old friend, who knew Wheely Twicky’s lineage as well as anyone, Bob Budd.

“When I first met Bob in the late ’80s, he had a mare called Vandellina,” Corrie said. “He raced her at 2 and 3 and sold her at 3. When she was at the end of her career, he asked to borrow my trailer so he could drive down to Saratoga to get Vandellina back to be his broodmare.

“She had a bunch of horses, which I helped Bob with, but he had the one mare, Emillina, which is the mother of Wheely Twicky. This is a special family that’s Ontario, Canadian-bred. Every one of these have grit and a desire to race.”

Armed with decades of experience with the breed and the Germans, Budd was happy to have Corrie and Brenda bring Wheely Twicky to his Goderich, ON, farm.

The breeding process, however, brought its own set of challenges.

“We tried four times to breed her, couldn’t catch, and finally the vet said, ‘You’ve only got a week left, you better pick a different sire,’” Corrie said.

Then came the family’s long overdue stroke of luck.

“That’s when we went to Lookslikeachpndale and boom, she caught right away,” he said. “That’s how we got Bella Chica.”

Born in May 2023 into a resilient family, Bella Chica — whose name was suggested by Corrie’s co-worker at Gateway Casinos Clinton, Youdth, and translates to “beautiful girl” — proved worth the wait from the get-go.

“She was mild mannered right from the beginning, which was very surprising as the girls in this family do not have the sweetest disposition,” Corrie said with a laugh. “She’s been so easy out at Bob’s farm. He and Brenda would help me line drive her. She showed an early professional attitude on and off the track. She seems to love her work.”

Corrie, a lifelong hobby horseman from Clinton, ON, first hooked his prized addition to the cart at his hometown track (Clinton Raceway) on Dec. 1, 2024.

At the time, the half-mile oval was undergoing construction as part of its comprehensive grandstand renovation project.

The construction ruckus was invisible to a neophyte Bella Chica.

“She didn’t know any difference,” said Corrie, who was equally effusive in his praise for the “beautiful, above and beyond” grandstand and great track conditions during an especially harsh winter.

“She’d see all these fences and the construction workers every day and not think anything of it. It didn’t bother her at all. We never missed a day.”

After several strong training sessions, Bella Chica, with Corrie in the race bike, made her professional debut July 20 at Dresden Raceway.

The result, as Corrie acknowledged, was more insightful than it was successful.

“She broke at the half because they only went the half in five and four,” he said, adding with a laugh, “We learned that you have to let her roll. It’s hard to imagine you complaining that she went so slow and made a break – it’s usually the other way around.

“She’s green, so it’s all new and you give her the benefit of the doubt.”

Bella Chica’s ensuing four starts still didn’t reflect the caliber of horse Corrie knew he had, but they taught the multi-generational industry veteran that she needed to be controlled rather than pushed.

A second opinion from Paul MacKenzie didn’t hurt, either.

The reinsman with over 9,400 wins on his resume guided Bella Chica to a runner-up finish in his first start with the studious filly – an $8,000 leg of the Ontario Sires Stakes Prospect Series on Aug. 26 at Georgian Downs.

“He said to us, ‘I love the way she goes; she has a beautiful gait, but I couldn’t hold her, I had to let her go,’” Corrie said.

With that, Corrie made the necessary equipment changes.

While the rookie trotter is still “gritty,” the adjustments seemed to increase Bella Chica’s confidence and helped her relax more.

The latter was abundantly clear on Sept. 12 in a $7,000 dash at Grand River Raceway.

With MacKenzie at the helm, Bella Chica stormed out to an early lead and never looked back for the maiden-breaking nine-length score.

The pride of the German barn kept the good times rolling next time out in a Prospect Series leg on Sept. 23 at Flamboro Downs, crossing the wire four lengths clear in 1:58.4.

That figure, as it currently stands, is the fastest for any 2-year-old over a half mile in Canada this year.

“That’s a nice mark for a 2-year-old,” said a proud Corrie. “We weren’t expecting it, but I’ve got to give credit to Paul McKenzie. He said after, ‘That last quarter wasn’t me. That was her. Each eighth, she just grabbed on a little more, a little more, a little more, and she did that all on her own.’

“He said, ‘I’ll pick her for the final.’”

And a wise decision it was.

Working out of the 6-hole, Bella Chica and MacKenzie cruised to a 5½-length victory in the $20,000 Prospect Series final for 2-year-old trotting fillies.

“To us, it was huge,” Corrie said. “I know it’s not a Mohawk big win, but it was big to us.

“All the boys at Clinton watched her train down and thought she was special. They actually thought she’d be racing in the Grassroots, but we’re not big believers at 2, so we wanted to slowly bring her along, see what we have, and we’re just happy with that.

“We’re excited for her 3-year-old campaign.”

Following her landmark triumph, Bella Chica was met by friends, family, and a cohort of Corrie and Brenda’s son Matthew’s work friends, who have, under his urging, become the ascending trotter’s unofficial fan club.

“He’s got everybody at work involved in following her,” Corrie said. “It’s special because they want to have a picture on the wall at work, and so there’s new people that would be coming out to the races now because of her.”

As the Germans prepare for the next chapter, they remain overwhelmed by and eternally grateful for the miraculous journey their adored racehorse has taken them on.

“Here we have a little spot called the Fish and Game to go to watch her,” he said. “The girls would always say we know when you’re racing because we get a whole bunch of people out to watch.

“It’s kind of a small-town thing, but it makes us feel big because everybody’s coming up to congratulate us even though it’s not the big one, but to us, it is, and they know that too.”