by Melissa Keith 

Saturday (Aug. 24) night at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Chantilly remained undefeated after downing seven rivals in the first of two $110,000 Eternal Camnation Stake divisions.

The lightly-campaigned Chantilly (p, 2, 1:50.4s; $151,725) is Canada’s fastest 2-year-old pacer so far this season. After a maiden-breaking July 9 victory in Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots at Mohawk, the four-length winning margin suggested that Gold was more to her taste.

She stepped up to capture her first OSS Gold start July 16 for regular driver James MacDonald in 1:50.4, which stands as Canada’s quickest 2024 mile by a freshman pacer.

After a short break, Chantilly was back at Mohawk on Aug. 10, winning a qualifier in preparation for her $150,000 OSS Gold mid-season final on Aug. 16. She reeled off another off-the-pace victory that race, a 1:51.2 win from post 8, which she has also landed for her Eternal Camnation division.

Her trainer, Nick Gallucci, said Friday (Aug. 23) that Chantilly was surprisingly unremarkable during her early lessons.

“Chantilly was very normal to break,” he told HRU. “Can’t really say she stood out at that time. She was always very comfortable in whatever we asked her to do training. Nothing bothered her.”

It might also be surprising that dam Shiraz Seelster (p, 2, 2:01h; $28,670) only won a single race in two years on the track.

“I’d have to say Chantilly would be better compared to her father,” said Gallucci. “Her mother did not have much athletic ability or desire, but Big Jim [p, 2, 1:49.1s; $1,541,924] had everything you could ask for in a young racehorse.”

The stallion was voted 2010 Dan Patch and O’Brien 2-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year.

Chantilly is the first and only racing foal of Shiraz Seelster, who came up barren after a 2023 mating with Shadow Play. With no siblings of racing age and no similarity to her dam’s past performance, Chantilly left Gallucci at a loss for words when it came to explaining her success.

“It’s hard for me to pinpoint what has put her on top in the OSS,” he said. “Up until now, she has just been a special talent. I just hope we can keep her this good.”

Gallucci is aware of the challenges associated with keeping pacing fillies and mares at the top of their game. He also trains 2021 O’Brien 2-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year Prohibition Legal (p, 4, 1:50.0s; $816,800), who faced her currently-stronger stablemate Silver Label (p, 4, 1:47.3m; $1,266,309) and 2023 O’Brien Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year Sylvia Hanover in Saturday (Aug. 24) night’s WMP filly and mare preferred handicap pace (results unavailable prior to press time).

“Prohibition Legal has had some muscle soreness issues so far this year,” he said. “We are hoping to finish the year stronger than she started. I’d say the competition is definitely as good as it gets in the aged mare division. Twin B Joe Fresh, Silver Label, as well as Sylvia Hanover and Tells On A Roll… You have to be on top of your game to be competitive in this division.”

The Stouffville, ON trainer said both Silver Label and Prohibition Legal were both likely to “race like they have been recently” on Saturday night at Mohawk. Gallucci has trained the 5-year-old mares throughout their careers, as they are both Millar Farms homebreds, like Chantilly.

“It sure looks like Millar Farms [of Stouffville, ON] has a great focus on developing female pacers, but I think it’s mostly coincidence, because we always seem to have more fillies than colts,” said Gallucci. “This year, we had 10 fillies versus one colt. George [Millar] is a great owner, and he only wants what’s best for his horses long term, and it has worked out well for him.”

Working with homebreds allows Gallucci to gain early insights not otherwise consistently available.

“I do think having the horses come from the broodmare farm helps me as a trainer,” he said. “You get to see them develop from day one, and you know their tendencies better than you would with a yearling bought from a yearling sale.”

That depth of knowledge about each trainee has convinced Gallucci that Chantilly’s precocious ability is not a drawback to her future racing career.

“I do think early speed in any 2-year-old does have some negative impacts on some horses,” he said. “Others, maybe not as much. But I think, as a trainer, you have to manage them accordingly, to try and keep the horses sound and healthy.”

Gallucci cited the current top horse (mare) in the Hambletonian Society-Breeders Crown weekly top 10 poll as an example.

“Twin B Joe Fresh [p, 4, 1:47.3m; $1,860,165] is a perfect example of good management,” Gallucci said. “She was shut down [in early October] at 2, and is still number one in the game as a 4-year-old.”

The 4-year-old mare was the fastest of her generation at age 2, taking a 1:48.4 freshman speed badge on Aug. 14, 2022 at The Red Mile.

Although Chantilly’s American counterpart Papi Grad has captured attention with her near-perfect record, Gallucci said the two will not face each other on the track this year.

“We did not keep Chantilly eligible for the Breeders Crown this year,” he said.

Two-year-olds cannot be supplemented to the Breeders Crown.

“Who knows, maybe next year they will get to test the waters together,” Gallucci said.