NORTH SYDNEY, N.S. -- Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil’s iconic message to “stay the blazes home” during the COVID-19 pandemic is the inspiration behind the name of a Nova Scotia racehorse.
Health-care worker Randy Getto, along with his sister and a family friend, recently purchased a two-year-old filly. When he brought the horse to her new home in North Sydney, N.S., Getto decided she needed a new name.
“They're all pre-named and when we had it home, we weren't too fond of the name that she had,” says Getto.
When Getto heard McNeil utter the now-famous words “stay the blazes home” during a news conference about COVID-19 last month, he decided it would be a fitting name for the filly.
“A lot of people have laughed over it, gotten some enjoyment out of it, so we're getting a lot of kicks out of it,” says Getto.
Lee Collins is training Stay The Blazes Home at Northside Downs, in North Sydney, N.S.
He says the name rolls off the tongue.
“I really like it, I think it suits her well,” says Collins.
Getto says, as a health-care worker, the premier’s words resonated with him.
“We all have connections to health-care workers. So we're not only sending the message, the horse is sending the message too,” says Getto.
Stay The Blazes Home will continue to train at Northside Downs in hopes of racing one day, when the pandemic is over.
“If we lose, I can say to Randy, ‘we should have stayed the blazes home,’” jokes Collins.
