As anticipation builds ahead of the 2025 O’Brien Awards, Trot Insider turns its focus to the finalists whose seasons have defined excellence in Canadian harness racing as the nation's Trainer of the Year
The Trainer of the Year category stands as a reflection of excellence in horsemanship and season-long performance with Jodie Cullen, David Menary and Dr. Ian Moore emerging as the finalists.
Seeking her first O’Brien Award as a trainer, Jodie Cullen delivered the strongest season of her career in 2025. Leading all trainers for wins in Canada, the Dundas, Ont. resident trained 222 winners. Along with 198 place finishes and 176 show finishes in 1,285 starts, Cullen reeled in over $3 million in purses, topping her previous best season in 2024 by over a half million earned.
“It was an honour when I got the call from Standardbred Canada saying I was one of the finalists for Trainer for the O’Brien Awards,” Cullen said.
Conditioned by Cullen, Nasey seeks an O’Brien Award as a finalist in the division for Older Trotting Horse, a recognition that Cullen deems her personal highlight of the 2025 racing season.
In addition to stable stars like Nasey, Cullen sent out several six-figure earners in 2025 including Tells On A Roll, Glenboro, Blue Hunt, and Pacino Hanover. After a career year, she is thrilled to attend the O’Brien Awards gala later this week.
“I’m really looking forward to attending the O’Brien Awards and sharing the experience with so many dedicated people in the industry,” Cullen said. “It means a great deal to be included.”
Joining Cullen as a finalist in the Trainer category, David Menary also looks to win his first O’Brien Award as a trainer.
Menary’s 2025 season was not only a career best but included several highlights with his pupils yielding more than $3.5 million in seasonal earnings and two of his trainees — Brue Hanover and Ervin Hanover — landing as O’Brien Award finalists in the Older Pacing Horse division.
“It’s a 52-week process,” Menary said on being a finalist. “I’m lucky to have a lot of good horses. It’s family and staff. It’s a support team and we’re all a team. We’ve got good horses to work with and Tom Pollack’s really put a big push on and put a lot of horses in the barn. Right now, just because of stalls and staff, it’s sort of survival of the fittest. So, we’re doing really well because of supply and demand.
“I think I demand a lot, but, I’m there from start to finish. I try to lead by example. You can’t do it all yourself, so you’ve just got to put really good people around you.”
Though Menary had only 430 starts, his record of 118-65-43 produced a 0.391 average and earned the Cambridge, Ont. resident his first training title at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The aforementioned older pacers Ervin Hanover and Brue Hanover rose to the top among his students through that career year. And while the success with Ervin Hanover — especially in his record-breaking Breeders Crown performance — was a seasonal highlight for Menary, he believes his personal highlight was winning five races on the same card.
“There was one night this summer where we had five wins on the same card at Mohawk. And it just happened that my whole family – my mom and dad, my wife, and daughters – were all there. To win five in a night, we got a pretty good picture,” Menary recalled. “The most I ever had at Mohawk in a night was three. I’d done that a fair bit, but then my wife wanted to buy a picture after win number four. I said, ‘I kind of think we’re going to win the last race, too, just hang on a sec.”
With all of the time spent in the barn and hard at work this year, Menary looks forward to enjoying his night in the spotlight at the O’Brien Awards.
“That’s the kind of thing I always looked up to growing up. To get there personally or have horses get there, it’s an honour. You work hard all year to end up with a result like that.”
Finally, no stranger to the O’Brien Awards’ stage, Dr. Ian Moore looks for another O’Brien Award as Canada's Trainer of the Year.
Every year is another layer of success on an already stacked career for Dr. Ian Moore. The Canadian Harness Racing Hall of Fame trainer is a finalist for not only the Trainer category in 2025 — an honour he won in 2023 — but also the Horsemanship category in addition to conditioning two O’Brien Award finalists – Beau Jangles and Prince Hal Hanover.
“It was an incredible honour and humbling night for me two years ago, being named as a finalist for and winning Trainer of the Year in Canada. These two nominations this year are even extra special and they both mean a lot,” Dr. Moore said.
In a feat that seems impossible with a resume as lengthy as his, the Cambridge, Ont. Resident posted his own career best season in 2025 with a record of 47-41-22 and just $5,184 shy of $3.8 million earned in 223 starts. Across the board, his students showed up in big ways with achievements from a perfect season with Beau Jangles to winning the Adios with Prince Hal Hanover.
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)