They say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes those first impressions really do tell you everything you need to know.

Such as the case of Chantilly, the two-year-old filly pacer who has been every bit as dominant as she looked like she would be when she first began training.

“When I first got her down in the training facility, I would say she stood out from the rest of the horses. She was just built a lot different,” said Chantilly’s trainer, Nick Gallucci. “She’s just developed into a fine-looking racehorse at this point. Nothing’s really changed with her physically.

“I would say, obviously, being in training and racing, she’s muscled up and is a lot fitter looking, but she’s always just been a very well put together animal.”

Chantilly has been as dominant a rookie pacer as you’re going find anywhere, going a perfect eight-for-eight, highlighted by a career-best 1:50.2 score in the $532,000 Shes A Great Lady Stakes and going a perfect five-for-five in Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series races, including the $150,000 Mid-Season Final. The Big Jim-Shiraz Seelster filly is 25 points clear of second-place rookie pacing filly Wickedpace in the OSS leaderboard and has already earned $611,000 in total season earnings, with $272,500 coming from OSS winnings alone.

Heading into Saturday’s Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals at Woodbine Mohawk Park, the Millar Farms homebred is the heavy favourite and anything short of a victory will be a disappointment.

“She’s passed every test so easily, so I expect her to be great,” said Chantilly's regular driver, James MacDonald. “I expect her to do everything she’s done so far and more.”

“The pressure builds every week," added a slightly more cautious Gallucci. "I feel like as long as she races as she has been then it would be hard to see her get beat, but that all comes down to her. She’s got to maintain, and she’s got to stay at that level. Week to week a lot of things can change. At this point, I’m pretty comfortable, but a lot of things can change and we’re just hoping she stays on her game.”

Blessed with quick feet and a great mind for racing, Chantilly has all the tools needed to win at the highest level, and so far has proven herself able to do just that. Saturday's race is expected to be yet another feather in her cap as her connections eye bigger challenges heading into her sophomore year.

“A horse like her that shows quick speed dominates [as a two-year-old], but when it comes to the three-year-old year, the horse has got to be a lot more versatile and a lot more durable,” said Gallucci. “So, we’re going to stake her as heavy as we can, we’re going to make sure she’s in the Breeders Crown, make sure she’s in a few races in the States, but we’re going to stick mostly to Ontario if we can.

“But we’re going to make sure she has a heavier schedule next year and barring anything unforeseen happening, we’re hoping we can make a few more stakes races with her.”

For a horse with as much talent as Chantilly has shown, those next steps will be of great interest to watch.

First race post time on Saturday night is 7:10 p.m. with the Super Finals starting in the back half of the early daily double. The first 300 people on site to buy a program will receive a commemorative 50th anniversary OSS hat.

To view Saturday's entries, click on one of the following links: Woodbine Mohawk Park: Saturday Entries || Saturday Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).

(With files from Ontario Racing)