by Karen Briggs, WEG media

Cambridge, ON — The buzz for the 2007 Hambletonian may be all about Donato Hanover and Pampered Princess, but don’t discount a Canadian colt named Laddie, says his owner/trainer Paula Wellwood.

Laddie qualified for the Hambletonian as the richest fourth-place finisher.

Although Laddie was fourth in his elimination to the high-profile filly, in the fastest of the three elims (1:53), he made it to the final on the strength of his $490,417 bankroll, which makes him the third-richest horse in the field. And, as Wellwood points out, her protege was only steps away from second in a tightly-bunched field in that contest.

“He raced very well,” she says. “He proved to me last weekend he could go with them. I thought he made a very decent showing of himself.”

The son of Angus Hall-Victory Dreamer also has an ace up his sleeve.

“He handles the heat extremely well,” Wellwood says. “They’re predicting temperatures well into the 90s on Hambletonian weekend, and I’m very confident that it won’t bother him. But it might bother some of the other horses!”

In addition, Laddie will have the reassuring presence of his regular pilot, Paul MacDonell, at the lines. Trevor Ritchie assumed the driving duties for the elimination, but MacDonell will be heading to New Jersey along with Wellwood and her family on the weekend.

“It’s a small contingent, just the five of us and the two girls who work for me. I’m closing up the farm for the day,” she says.

Of the colt who was purchased for $50,000 at the Harrisburg sale and was honored last year with an O’Brien Award for Canada’s top 2-year-old male trotter, Wellwood says, “He’s very intelligent, but you have to keep his mind occupied. He gets bored very easily, so I have to keep coming up with creative ways to keep him busy. As a 2-year-old he had some concentration issues, but he’s definitely more professional and more focused now. Being away from home has perked him right up — it’s the tedious routine of home that’s the hardest for him. He loves travelling and getting a change of environment.”

If Wellwood is paying any attention to the tantalizing possibility of becoming the first female trainer to win this most prestigious of trotting contests, she isn’t showing it.

USTA/Mark Hall photos

Laddie was an O’Brien Award winner in 2006 as Canada’s top 2-year-old male trotter.

“I’m just hoping to get a piece,” she says modestly. “It’s a notch in our belts just to make it to the Hambletonian. His start before the elim (in the Canadian Breeders Championship, July 21 at Mohawk) hadn’t been great, so I didn’t know if he’d make it. But he’s definitely not out of place with the rest of them.”

It’s for Wellwood’s mother, Jean, that a Hambletonian win would be most special.

“This is more my doing than hers,” says the elder Wellwood. “I just told her I wanted one more shot. I would love to win this race. I didn’t have any qualms about putting him in because of what he’s done. I wouldn’t have put him in if I thought he would be an embarrassment.”

The mother/daughter team had one previous Hambo entry, Gettindownanddirty, in 2005, who finished seventh.

This is also the third Hambletonian bid for MacDonell, whose best finish to date was a show ticket with Duke Of York in 2002.