As the 2025 O'Brien Awards draws near, Trot Insider shifts the spotlight to the next generation of the sport’s stars, profiling three young participants already making a name for themselves as Future Star Award finalists.
Introduced in 2013, the Future Star Award boasts a list of winners who have gone on to establish successful careers in harness racing, from the award’s inaugural winner Travis Cullen, an all-around horseman and regular driver on Canada’s top circuit who just posted his 10th seven-figure season, to Louis-Philippe Roy, the 2016 award winner and now a two-time Driver of the Year and finalist in that category once again. More recently, Austin Sorrie won the award in 2020 and has risen to the top of the national driver standings with a 400-win season in 2025, and driver Todd Ratchford skyrocketed to the pinnacle of the sport winning his Breeders Crown debut just months after taking home the award last year. And that’s just a sample.
To be eligible for the Future Star Award in 2025, a candidate must be 30 years of age or younger as of Dec. 31 that year; be in the first five full-time years of their career as a trainer or driver; and have made the majority of their starts (over 50 per cent) in Canada in the year of consideration. Candidates cannot win this award more than once and do not have to be a Canadian citizen. Full-time participation for trainers is defined as a minimum of 75 starts per calendar year for trainers and 150 for drivers.
This year’s finalists are Landon Campbell, Damian MacLellan and Mary Ratchford.
Following her brother’s award-winning season, Mary Ratchford has been recognized as a finalist while campaigning stakes winner Ritchie Rich during her second straight six-figure season as a trainer.
The 21-year-old Caledonia, Ont. conditioner earned 17 wins and $281,925 in purses in 2025, bringing her career total to 45 victories and just over $470,000 in purses.
“I am extremely proud of each and every one of my horses in 2025,” Ratchford told Trot Insider. “There were many highlights, but the best was with one amazing horse, Ritchie Rich.”
The three-year-old trotting colt won a $90,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold division in 1:54.1 on May 29 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, marking a moment Ratchford will never forget.
“It was a great feeling to even have a horse in a Gold race, but to have one that was competitive was even more exciting,” recalled Ratchford. “There were not any real expectations for him going in that race. He was racing unbelievably well up to that race, but we weren’t sure what the competition was going to look like. It was extremely special to me, as well as my family. There were a lot of firsts that night -- that was the first time I had ever competed at that level and the first time Todd had ever won a Gold race. To have our friends and family in the winner’s circle with us made it even more memorable.”
While her parents always had horses, a career in harness racing as a trainer wasn’t always the plan for the fourth-generation horsewoman.
“The goal was to go to law school, but plans change and along the way I found myself back into the horses, but this time a lot more hands on,” explained Ratchford. “During COVID, I spent a lot more time at the barn, learning more about the day-to-day routine. I gradually got more invested and once I graduated high school, I developed a lot of responsibilities, which then led me to getting my trainer’s license.”
Ratchford emphasized that her family has been influential to her involvement in the industry and her early success.
“There have been a lot of people who have helped me get to where I am today. None of this could be possible without my parents and my brother. My parents are some of the most hard-working people and I’m very grateful for everything that they have done for me. They have taught me everything I know and still teach me new things all of the time. I am very fortunate to have the support I do. The day-to-day operations of our stable would not work without them. My brother has also played a large role in where I am today. He often gives me great advice and he has always been supportive. I am very lucky to have grown up with the love of the horses in our family.”
Fellow Future Star finalist Landon Campbell’s harness racing pursuits also stemmed from his own family inspiration as the 18-year-old resident of Orwell, P.E.I. grew up hoping to follow in the footsteps of his two-time O’Brien Award of Horsemanship-winning father and Atlantic record-setting driver Marc Campbell.
“Growing up, I would look at Dad's O'Brien trophies and the pictures on the wall of the two times he won and dream of the day that it could be me who was nominated on a bigger scale than the Maritimes,” said the teenage Campbell. “I think seeing Joe O'Brien's head on our trophy shelves every day and hearing Dad speak of how big of an honour it was to be nominated on a national scale, makes this nomination even more special. I have a deep appreciation for what it means to the people in our industry to be mentioned at such an event. It meant a lot to me to be nominated. Although I'm young, it seems like a lifetime that I've been visualizing this event.
“I've known nothing else,” said Campbell, noting his parents built their family farm from the ground up. “I was literally ‘raised in a barn,’ I've loved the animals as long as I've been alive and figured if I could learn from the best, my dad (in my mind anyhow), why not give it a shot.”
Campbell took over training his father’s stable in 2024 and the stable reached new heights in just his second season at the helm, with earnings topping $400,000 in 2025. Campbell sent out 75 winners in 298 starts last year, including 58 successful starters at Charlottetown Driving Park to rank third among local trainers, just five wins off the leader. His 0.406 UTRS for the year was third-best in the nation.
While 2025 brought many highlights on the racetrack for the young horseman, who campaigned multiple Maritime stakes winners Phil My Beer, Saulsbrook Rolo and Bayonetta along with the nation’s winningest trotter Buckhead Ridge, it was sharing the success with his family that meant the most to him.
“As a stable, we accomplished a lot, a lot of big wins. Personally, I began my journey into the driving colony, but what meant the most was working alongside my family on our family farm. This year, my sister and I were both of an age to take on the responsibilities of the barn. We have a young team and one of my good friends also spends a lot of time in the barn with us. That is what I'm most proud of, making memories and working together at home, building our family harness racing business and doing it as a very young team.”
Harness racing was also born into Future Star finalist Damian MacLellan, who turned heads with a successful season in 2025, driving winners of 83 races and more than $600,000 as he committed to the Ontario circuit.
“I was around the barn from a young age,” said the Inverness, N.S. native, who just turned 23 years old earlier this month. “I was introduced to the sport through my dad and he’s the reason I fell in love with this great sport. Being a driver has always been a dream of mine and I’m very grateful to be living out that dream.”
MacLellan, who launched his driving career with a victory in Prince Edward Island in 2022 and also won his first ever drive in Ontario that November, now boasts 169 career victories and has guided winners of more than $925,000.
“I’m proud of the entire year of 2025,” said MacLellan. “I drove some very nice horses for some well-respected trainers, and I couldn’t be more grateful for all the opportunities I got in 2025. I had a lot of support from many great people who all made 2025 a great success for me.”
In 2025, MacLellan drove winners at nine different racetracks, including 26 at Grand River Raceway to crack the Elora oval’s top five driver standings. He won multiple Prospect Series events for trainers Kyle Fellows and Kyle Bossence, as well as a leg of the Ontario-Sired Spring Series at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
“There have been many great people who have been influential to my career. Everyone who helped me as a kid in Inverness by teaching me the basics of horsemanship had a big impact on my career early on,” noted MacLellan. “Starting my driving career in P.E.I., Jenn Doyle and Wade Sorrie both were very supportive of me by giving me an abundance of opportunities. Making the move to Ontario, Kyle Bossence and Rob & Kyle Fellows both have been tremendous to me by giving me drives and incredible opportunities and still continue to do so. That being said, every drive I get from different trainers and owners are very appreciated and I will always be thankful to get support from so many people.”
With deep roots in harness racing and a passion for horses running through their veins, the future looks bright for the three Future Star Award finalists, who will be celebrated for their early achievements at the 37th edition of the O’Brien Awards, which is 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 Black-Tie Gala, presented by Standardbred Canada on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 at the J-AAR Expo Centre at Western Fair District in London, Ont.
(Standardbred Canada; photos courtesy Facebook, Racehorsephoto, New Image Media)