Two trainers that know a thing or two about winning multiple O'Brien Awards have chimed in on their background with this year's Future Star Award finalists.

The 2015 O'Brien Awards marks the third year for the Future Star Award. This year's nominees are trainer Ron Adams, 28, of Lasalle, Ont. and driver Clarke Steacy, 25, of Lansdowne, Ont.

Adams trained 42 winners and horses to $940,000 in earnings while racing primarily on the WEG circuit. Some of his early lessons came from multiple-O'Brien Award winning trainer Bob McIntosh.

McIntosh had Adams in his employ for a number of years in the late 2000s. One of the horses Adams worked with closely was millionaire Windsong Soprano, who was named Canada's Older Trotting Mare of the Year in 2010.

Ron Adams (second from left) among entourage accepting O'Brien Award for Windsong Soprano

"He was good with the horses, didn't have a temper and was kind to them."

According to McIntosh, Adams certainly came to him with the pedigree to be a solid horseman as Adams' uncle is fellow Windsor-area trainer Randy Fulmer. While the two parted ways shortly after Windsong Soprano's 2010 campaign, McIntosh noted they did so on good terms.

"I like Ron, I really like him as a person. I wish him well."

Clarke Steacy drove 80 winners and horses to over $430,000 in earnings while competing primarily at Rideau Carleton Raceway. As expected, his tutelage came from O'Brien Award winning father, Mark, who notes that the horse racing bug didn't catch Clarke immediately.

"He grew up around the horses with me, he's pretty much seen it all right from the start. Never really had a lot of interest at first...not like Shawn," said Mark. "Shawn was hooked right off the bat. Clarke liked to play hockey and all his school sports, and his friends meant a lot to him. But he always helped at the barn, every time we'd go to feed, he'd come with me...and as he got to the end of high school, he started working more and more with the horses and all of a sudden it just kind of clicked with him and he started to like it. "

In the mid 2000s, the Steacy Stable campaigned trotting star Majestic Son, and Mark feels that exposure and success had an impact on Clarke's interest. Since then, Clarke was hands-on with another Steacy-campaigned world champion.

"He did most of the work in the beginning for Sunshine Beach, and that really opened his eyes then. He was the caretaker, at the start anyways, for him. Clarke pretty much breaks all my horses now."

Mark points to Clarke's demeanor and intelligence as key attributes for the young horseman's success thus far.

Clarke Steacy driving Monopoly Blue Chip to victory at Mohawk (New Image Media)

"He's very patient on a horse. As far as being a driver, he's got good, good quiet hands on a horse, he's not dangerous on the track. He was very careful when he first started driving; he might gap out a bit and not get to the gate quite in time but with every drive he got better and better," noted Mark. "And now, I started him at Mohawk with my horses last spring and summer, and he picked up six or seven wins right there. The more he did it, the better he got."

"He's very dependable, he's come a long way in the last seven or eight years. He does have a good brain to work with and a good upbringing, and I think that will work out good for him."

The 2015 O’Brien Awards are scheduled for Saturday, February 13 at the Hilton Mississauga / Meadowvale Hotel. Canada’s harness racing champions will be announced at the Black Tie Gala.

The O'Briens will be hosted by Ken Middleton and Greg Blanchard, with Kaitlin Kozell singing the national anthems.

If you're not at the Hilton on Saturday night, you’ll be able to watch all of the awards presentations live via video stream exclusively on standardbredcanada.ca. Standardbred Canada will also be providing live updates on the event through its social media channels. For anyone tweeting about the O’Brien Awards, please tag your posts with the #obriens15 hashtag.