By Jordan Gerrans
After overcoming the “scary” part of Sequana’s injury rehabilitation, Team Zammit are full steam ahead with their top bitch over the coming days.
After tearing a pin muscle around three months ago in a race at Albion Park, Sequana made her comeback to the track on Sunday at Capalaba before her return to Thursday night racing this week at headquarters.
With Sequana to be a valuable brood bitch for owner Russell Farrell once her career is over, trainer Selena Zammit was never going to take a risk with the winner of 24 career races from just 45 efforts, declaring she would be immediately retired if there was any long-term concerns.
Zammit could not have been more pleased with her first-up effort, running second to Capalaba specialist Columbian King on Sunday, and now heads towards a heat of the Queensland Sprint Championship on Thursday evening.
“It took a bit to get her back from that,” Zammit reflected on Sequana’s comeback.
“We had to give her time off for the pin to heal, then it is about getting her back fit again to race, which was six to eight weeks of straight work, and then giving her a trial to see how she is going.
“When they tear a pin, they do not necessarily tear it the whole way, so that can be a setback in them coming back into training, and when you start working them, it can tear again.
“You really want it to tear completely because if it does not, it keeps leading to more setbacks, but we were lucky with her because we were able to get it right and get her fit.”
A pin muscle is at the back of a dog’s shoulder, with the injury occurring during a race that Sequana won at the Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club, with the team behind the bitch only realising the damage the following morning when they were back at their kennel.