Page 118 - February 2017

Wade bought Joker On Jack, who became a multiple stakes winner for Helton in the Refrigerator Handicap-G1, OHA Mystery Futurity-G2 (shown below), and the Hialeah Laddie Futurity.
Wade purchased Llano Cartel after competing against him with Joker On Jack. Llano Cartel raced and won at distances from 110 yards to 440 yards for Helton, including the 2014 Leo Stakes-G1 (shown below), the 2015 Cherokee
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us Challenge, and the 2016 Tallahassee Stakes.
Wade also enjoys training and selling roping horses. He is shown here with Brown Sugar Pop Tart, a mare he trained, at the Ultimate Calf Roping Finals in Glenrose, Texas.
and win and then run at 110 and win at that distance, too,” says Gregg Sanders of Henrietta, Oklahoma, Wade’s longtime friend and one of his trainers for 10 years or more. “He ran the Blink Of An Eye at Remington and won it two years in a row and has probably won races at any distance at most every racetrack!”
EQUALLY VERSATILE
Not only is Llano Cartel adaptable, but so is Wade, who chooses his trainers and his races according to each individual horse’s qualities. “I’ve got horses that while we’re training at the track, I can see that a different trainer might be better for them,” he says. “Different horses get different trainers and different tracks according to their needs.”
Wade will race Oilwagon’s first foal crop this year. “Pretty much the best 2 year olds I have so far are by him,” he says.
Wade plans to send 11 to the track this year. “I have a nice set of broodmares — stakes winners, placers and producers — and think I’m going to come up with some winners,” he says. “I’m really excited about that!”
When he isn’t drilling for oil, hauling water or cattle or watching his horses race, you’re likely to find Wade at the training track he owns in Pampa — where Esdger Moreno trains for him — or training and selling roping horses. Wade’s son, Loagan, 26, helps out with the track and with Wade’s bucking bull operation. And Wade’s wife, Tammie, has a boutique in Pampa.
Gregg Sanders counts Wade as a loyal friend, and a lucky one at that. “It’s unbeliev- able how lucky that guy is, but he has a great work ethic,” says Gregg. “He’s a seven-day-a- week worker who doesn’t take anything for granted. He’s dedicated his life not just to the horses, but to life and making a living. He’s just a good guy who will help you do anything.”
“He always lets me train a couple for him,” Gregg adds. “And I got him to buy in on Modern Vintage, who won a trial at Ruidoso. That horse won the very first cooler that Wade had ever won! And that was just the start.” — the start to a varied and fulfilling series of interests that have become successful ventures through Wade’s practice of his three R’s, and a fair dose of luck.
“He’s dedicated his life not just to the horses, but to life and making a living.”
SPEEDHORSE, February 2017 115
Dustin Orona Photography
Coady Photography