Maritime Star Heads West

After two straight wins in track record fashion at two Maritime tracks, Blair Laffin had no choice but to send his stable star west to compete in Ontario

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And while Moblessinsdinblues may not be a household name in these parts, he certainly left his mark in Eastern Canada's harness racing circles by virtue of a 17-plus length romp at Charlottetown Driving Park in 1:58.4. That mile broke the long-standing record of Maple Leaf Hawk, set in 2003.

Laffin was the original owner of the Royal Strength six-year-old, purchasing him as a weanling for $900 from the 2004 SC Fall Extravaganza Mixed Sale. Ironically, the purchase was based more on necessity than appeal.

"I bought him for a mate to one I was weaning," said Laffin. "I then broke him and sold him to a friend of mine (Charles Rennison) who sent him to Dan O'Brian as a two-year-old."

On paper, Moblessinsdinblues has some decent family. His dam Domonique Nelson is a half-sister to the dam of Dell Ridge Image, Dell Ridge Reba and Dell Ridge Riley. Those three alone banked over $900,000 at the time Moblessinsdinblues was sold.

On the track, Moblessinsdinblues rounded out his freshman season in style with a win in the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots at Hiawatha Horse Park. O'Brian guided the gelding through his three and four-year-old seasons, which weren't without incident. Laffin reports that the gelding was kicked in the jaw during his sophomore campaign.

After taking a mark of 1:55.4 at Woodbine in April 2008, Laffin got the horse back in 2009 when more back luck struck - a broken sesamoid last June that limited the speedy trotter to only three starts. Now recovered, Moblessinsdinblues is on a roll with straight wins at Truro Raceway (1:59.1, track record) and CDP (1:58.4, track record) and perhaps outclassing himself in the process. When CDP carded an Invite Trot on Gold Cup & Saucer night, the field was not full and Moblessinsdinblues was not among the starters.

"I guess he was too good for here," surmised Laffin. "they had an Invite here and didn't call him back."

Now under the care of Jamie Copley, Moblessinsdinblues is in to go at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Sunday, August 29. Laffin is confident that the colt will find Ontario to his liking once again.

"The track won't matter, but the gate will," noted Laffin "He gets hot; as long as he gets off the gate, he'll be fine."

Laffin, who has a 14-horse stable in Nova Scotia and has been training horses for more than 30 years, sits just 24 wins from 1,000 lifetime training victories.

"I never thought I'd get that high."

For tonight's entries, which include the Tara Hills Frank Ryan Memorial Trot, click here.