As the countdown to the 2025 O’Brien Awards continues, Trot Insider features the finalists at the heart of Canadian harness racing’s most prestigious honours.

In the three-year-old pacing filly category, Chantilly, Custard Dolce and Perfectly Chic comprise the three finalists.

The 2024 O’Brien Award winner as Two-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year, Chantilly returns as a finalist in 2025 as a sophomore. Her three-year-old campaign saw 11 trips to the track with six wins and a second, banking $540,682 along with a career best 1:49.4 mile at Woodbine Mohawk Park. 

Fresh off a break after her freshman campaign, Chantilly returned in 2025 with four straight wins. She regained her momentum in the fall with a win in the final leg of the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold and a win in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final.

James MacDonald was the regular pilot of the daughter of Big Jim – Shiraz Seelster for trainer Nick Gallucci and owner/breeder Millar Farms. 

“Chantilly is one of the fastest horses I’ve ever driven,” MacDonald said. “She can go zero-to-wide open in a matter of steps. She has been a dream to drive and I expect a lot of great things from her again next season.”

Amplifying her two-year-old season, Custard Dolce raced 12 times in 2025, starting in May with the Alberta Sires Stakes Diamond Circuit and two quick wins back-to-back. After finishing second in the Shirley McClellan Breeders Stakes, the daughter of Custard The Dragon – Blue Star West returned with four straight wins at Century Downs including a 1:54.1 performance in the $103,160 Gordon And Illa Rumpel Memorial Stake on Aug. 2. Her greatest score of the season came in the $123,880 Century Casino Filly Pace on Oct. 18 at Century Mile.

Custard Dolce produced a record of 8-2-1 with earnings of $242,488 in 12 starts for owner/trainer/breeder Jamie Gray and co-owners Jackson Wittup, Max Gibb and Derek Wilson.  Gray and his partners sold the filly to stateside ownership last December.

“[Custard Dolce] is very worthy of the award,” Gray said. “She went eight-for-eight in stakes as a two-year-old and she set a track record. At three, she won her first four stakes, winning 12 straight stakes races. Then, she went on to win four more in 2025, proving she was the best three-year-old filly. 

“She was prefect on the racetrack. In the barn, she has an attitude, but could be bribed with apples and carrots.”

Perfectly Chic rounds out the contenders for the 2025 Three-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year category. Owned by Steve Mihalic, 2729346 Ontario Inc. and trainer John Pentland, the daughter of Betterthancheddar – Fit N Bad recorded stats of 2-4-4 and earnings of $332,125 in 17 starts. Her two wins came in an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Leg worth $140,000, a mile that generated a new career best time of 1:50.4, at Woodbine Mohawk Park, and in the $158,225 Simcoe at Mohawk. The filly finished third in the OSS Super Final behind Chantilly in mid-October.

Co-owner Bob McClure was Perfectly Chic’s regular pilot in her freshman and sophomore campaigns.

“She has been such a fun ride,” McClure said. “Honestly, this whole year was gravy. She has given me, Steve and John a lot of good memories and it’s special sharing those horses with friends.”

This year marks the 37th edition of the O’Brien Awards, named in honour of the late Joe O’Brien, an outstanding horseman and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee. The winners will be announced at the O’Brien Awards Gala on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 at the J-AAR Expo Centre at Western Fair District in London, Ont.

(Standardbred Canada; photos courtesy New Image Media and Cailtin Fancy / Coady Photo )