Chantilly defeated in puzzling distaff preferred
The undefeated streak for Canada’s 2024 Horse of the Year came to an end on Friday.
by Melissa Keith
On Friday (Aug. 8) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Chantilly made her first start in distaff preferred company. The 2024 Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year entered the race unbeaten following a victory on July 22 in her Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Leg 3 win for 3-year-old filly pacers.
Trainer Nick Gallucci had previously told HRU that he had intended for Chantilly to race in at least one qualifier and possibly a pari-mutuel tightener before OSS Gold event. The Canadian superstar had earlier been sidelined by a lingering respiratory infection that landed her on the short-term Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) vet list after her second-consecutive veterinary scratch on June 21.
Friday’s $36,000 filly and mare preferred was Chantilly’s last prep race before a likely first meeting with 2024 Dan Patch 2-year-old pacing filly of the year Miki And Minnie, currently the #1 ranked horse in the Hambletonian Society / Breeders Crown Top 10 poll. Last year’s Canadian and American divisional champions were finally slated to meet on Aug. 16, in the Grade 1 James M. Lynch Memorial at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
But Chantilly’s unblemished record will no longer accompany her. Her win streak was snapped at 13 on Friday and she didn’t even hit the board after a puzzling trip that openly displeased some in the online community.
Driver James MacDonald settled Chantilly fifth along the pylons as Glenboro (Travis Cullen) led to the :27 opening quarter. In The Spotlight N went three-wide around the first-over Grit N Grace (Jody Jamieson) soon after that point, making front for Jean-Rene Plante and still in control at the :55.4 half. But all eyes were on the 1-5 favorite, caught in as Caviar And Crackers started up first-over from sixth for Ed Hensley. At three-quarters, Chantilly was in an impossible spot, caught inside of second-over Style For a Mile at the very back of the field.
MacDonald looked for racing room as In The Spotlight N maintained her lead past the three-quarters, reached in 1:23.1. Chantilly fought her way through traffic in deep stretch, which proved only good enough for a fifth-place result behind Plante’s 20-1 winner.
AGCO judges ruled that Chantilly made contact with one of Grit N Grace’s hind legs while “trying to split horses,” so she was placed sixth for interference. MacDonald was requested to attend a meeting with racing officials on Aug. 15, “to discuss his driving strategy and the interference in the stretch.” He was unavailable for comment after the race.
Dave Menary trainee In The Spotlight N held off stablemate Style For A Mile by a head in the 1:50.1s mile. She paid $42.40 to win.
Despite the upset, Gallucci remained upbeat about Chantilly’s effort and future plans.
“I was disappointed that she didn’t get any racing luck, but it happens,” he said via text message. “She seems to have come out of the race well from what I can tell at this point [and] if she still seems good we will race her in the next two stakes races coming up.”
After the Lynch Memorial, Chantilly’s next scheduled race is an OSS Gold Leg 4 event at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Aug. 24.
Woodbine Mohawk Park simulcast host Randy Waples interviewed MacDonald later in the Friday night card, after the latter drove 1-9 Sweet Lovin Lou to victory in the $79,000 Dream Maker final. Chantilly was not mentioned, but MacDonald said he would be taking a little time to decompress from Mohawk.
The four-time Keith Waples Driver of the Year leads Canadian drivers by 2025 purse winnings ($5,003,976 Canadian) and by wins (238 as of Aug. 8, one more than Austin Sorrie). He captured the Hambletonian Oaks with Conversano on Aug. 2 and is also scheduled to represent Canada at the upcoming World Driving Championship this November in New Zealand.
“I’m going [to Prince Edward Island] for five days,” MacDonald told Waples. “You know, I missed [Old Home Week] a few years back and I told my mom and dad I’d never do that again, because I was miserable all week up here. It’s my favorite time of the year… As much as I love horse racing, you only get one family and one chance to watch your son grow up, so I don’t take it for granted… We’re going to have a blast next week.”
Chantilly (p,3,1:49.4s; $723,354) is a homebred owned by Armstrong Breeder of the Year Millar Farms of Stouffville, ON. She is the only filly ever to be nominated and sustained to the Grade 1 Pepsi North America Cup.
