Behind thelace

Trainer Nick Gallucci on the absence of Canadian Horse of the Year Chantilly and her prospective return.

by Melissa Keith

Woodbine Mohawk Park was buzzing with a lively crowd on Saturday night (June 21). It’s not clear what percentage was there for the return of Chantilly, 1-5 morning line favorite in the second Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold leg for 3-year-old pacing fillies.

The undefeated daughter of Big Jim—Shiraz Seelster drew attention throughout her perfect 2024 season, after which she was voted the 2024 O’Brien Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year in Canada. Chantilly returned to the spotlight this season, when she became the first filly nominated and sustained to the Grade 1 Pepsi North America Cup.

But on June 14, Chantilly started in neither the North America Cup nor the Grade 1 Fan Hanover filly stake. Her most recent race was a 1:50.1 win in her June 7 Fan Hanover elimination at Mohawk, making her move after first-over Rodeo Drive Deo broke stride past the quarter pole. James MacDonald sent the Canadian champion directly to the front and never looked back, drawing away by five lengths for victory over The Last Martini.

Chantilly (p, 3, 1:49.4s; $672,254) returned to the winner’s circle with her earplugs still in place. It was her 12th consecutive win. Her next race was supposed to be her first against 2024 Dan Patch 2-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year Miki And Minnie (p, 3, 1:48.3s; $1,020,191), in the $390,000 Fan Hanover final. Until it wasn’t.

On Friday (June 13), owner George Millar told Standardbred Canada that his star filly would be scratched due to “inflammation throughout her lungs” revealed in an ultrasound scan.

Out of the Fan Hanover final and now her latest OSS start, Chantilly has now been missing from racing action since June 7. She was scratched sick from the OSS Gold leg 2 on June 21 at Mohawk, after show wagering had already been removed from the wagering menu due to her presence in the original eight-horse field. Perfectly Chic and driver Bob McClure capitalized on the Horse of the Year’s absence, taking a 1:50.4 lifetime mark in a going-away, two-move performance.

On Saturday night at Mohawk, trainer Nick Gallucci was in the paddock with Chantilly’s stablemate, 3-year-old gelding Allstar Maniac (p, 2, 1:53.1s; $103,694), who finished third in a conditioned race for pacers 5 years old and younger.

A former $70,000 yearling purchased at the 2023 London Classic Sale, the All Bets Off—Shes A Maniac gelding captured the 2024 OSS Gold Mid-Season Final for 2-year-old male pacers last Aug. 15 at Mohawk for Gallucci, driver James MacDonald, and owner Millar Farms of Stouffville, ON.

“[Allstar Maniac] ended up having a bit of a soreness issue after the Mid-Season challenge, so that kind of cost him racing in the [Grade 1] Metro [Pace] and his last few races… I’m not saying he would have won the Metro, but he’s probably my second-best 3-year-old,” said Gallucci.

“I think he’s got a lot of ability, but it’s his first start back, so we’ll see how things shake out. I think that on his best day, he can go with any horse in this race… It’s a good time to experiment with him. We were very careful driving him last year, so we made quite a few equipment changes this year, so I’m hoping he’s a lot more manageable in the races.”

What about Gallucci’s best 3-year-old, Chantilly? She last appeared in this column when the decision was still being made about whether she would race in eliminations for the North America Cup or Fan Hanover.

“She still has a bit of infection, I would say,” Gallucci told HRU. “At this point in the year, I don’t think we’re taking a chance on risking the rest of the year, so we’ll hopefully get her cleaned up. She’s got a big break [in her stakes schedule] right now, so I’m sure by the time the next [Ontario] Sires Stake comes around, we’ll have her back to where we want her.”

This would mean that a healthy Chantilly could make her next pari-mutuel appearance in OSS Gold leg 3 on July 22 at Mohawk.

“Yeah, that’s her next stakes race,” confirmed the 2024 O’Brien Trainer of the Year. “We’ll see what happens in the meantime, because I definitely have to qualify her now because of two consecutive scratches. And then we’ll see. If I feel like she needs an overnight race, then I’ll race her; if not, I’ll just go on to the next stake race after a qualifier or two.”

Gallucci was en route to the track when Fan Hanover final winner Miki And Minnie finished second as the beaten 1-5 favorite in her Pennsylvania Sire Stakes division at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Saturday (June 21) afternoon, stung at the wire by Rodeo Drive Deo.

“Okay, that filly [Rodeo Drive Deo] looked pretty good, but it’s pretty surprising [Miki And Minnie lost],” he said, adding that the 1:51 mile over the fast track was also unexpected.

Pocono announcer Jim Beviglia described the race as having “a slow pace… the winning time slow as well for what you might expect from these.”

Gallucci laughed when asked about rumors that Chantilly had been scratched from the Fan Hanover final to protect her win streak from Miki And Minnie, Rodeo Drive Deo, or anyone else.

“Definitely not,” he said. “If I was going to skip a race, it wouldn’t be a $390,000 race. I honestly think that this infection has been ailing her for quite some time, and hopefully with the downtime, we’re able to get it under control.”

The lingering respiratory symptoms are not severe enough to keep Chantilly from light training.

“I still have her in work, just nothing stressful at the moment,” said Gallucci. “I trained her a light trip, and that’s kind of where we made the call [to scratch]. We still didn’t think she was right, so anyway, the road or the path that we’re going to have to travel is the one that we weren’t expecting, but good horses, they seem to overcome a lot.”

Chantilly is visibly smaller than some top fillies have been at 3, like the statuesque Sylvia Hanover and powerfully-built Twin B Joe Fresh, but Gallucci said he didn’t think her size made it tougher to fight off mild illness.

“Not necessarily,” he said. “I think it’s just a matter of getting rid of the infection, getting her lungs clear, just trying to get her back to a hundred per cent at some point. I’m sure we’ll be able to do that with the downtime.”

Chantilly is a homebred owned by Canada’s 2024 Armstrong Breeder of the Year, Millar Farms of Stouffville, ON. In addition to upcoming OSS Gold dates, she is sustained to the Grade 3 Simcoe Filly Stake, slated for Sept. 5 at Mohawk, plus the Grade 1 James M. Lynch Memorial on Aug. 16 at Pocono. Gallucci said that she would likely make the trip to Rideau Carleton Raceway for OSS Gold leg 4 on Aug. 24, depending on how plans work out for the Lynch Memorial. Chantilly is also one of the 56 horses eligible to the Grade 1 Breeders Crown 3-year-old filly pace on Oct. 25 at Mohawk, with eliminations Oct. 18 if required.

To date, all of Chantilly’s starts and qualifiers have been at Mohawk, where she has remained undefeated, purse or no purse, since her June 28, 2024 baby race debut.

Looking back at the North America Cup, won by Louprint in 1:47.1, Gallucci said he was satisfied with Millar’s decision to point Chantilly towards the Fan Hanover instead.

“It would have definitely been a much tougher task than the [1:48.3] Fan Hanover… It would have been exciting, but the Fan Hanover would have been exciting too… Obviously, everybody was very disappointed last week,” said Gallucci. “It was almost a shock. So, we just try to take what comes to us and try to make the most of it.”