Approaching the 2025 O’Brien Awards Gala on Saturday, Jan. 31, Trot Insider continues to spotlight this year’s finalists.
The finalists in the three-year-old trotting colt division are Emoticon Legacy, Galen Erso and P L Spencer.
Emoticon Legacy was a Grand Circuit standout with five graded stakes wins, including three on home soil. The homebred for Determination of Montreal, Que. became the first three-year-old to trot a mile in under 1:50 in Canada when he won the Canadian Trotting Classic in 1:49.4 at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Sept. 20. The colt then shaved another two fifths off his lifetime mark in the Kentucky Futurity at The Red Mile on Oct. 5 when he made an extended early march to the lead from post 10 and held off the likes of Maryland and Super Chapter in 1:49.2.
“We were going in there with the 10-hole, not as much pressure and expectations as if he drew well, and he delivered a crazy effort that day,” said Louis-Philippe Roy, who drove him throughout the season. “It was a fun year with him. Usually you have excuses, and he had every excuse not to win that day. But the great horses like him, they overcome those excuses and they don't need all the perfect things to happen in a race to win. He proved there if he's not the best, he's one of the best.”
Emoticon Legacy debuted as a three-year-old for trainer Luc Blais in the Goodtimes Stakes at Mohawk in June and won his elimination and the final handily, the latter in a track-record 1:50.2. He followed that with a 1:51.4 victory in the Zweig Memorial at Vernon Downs over 2024 divisional Dan Patch and O’Brien Award recipient Maryland. In the Hambletonian, he won his elimination by a nose and finished fifth in the final behind Nordic Catcher S, who set a stakes record of 1:50. After a nose defeat to Hambo runner-up Super Chapter in the Beal Memorial at Pocono Downs, he romped in 1:50.3 in the Simcoe, set his national record in the Canadian Trotting Classic, and won the Kentucky Futurity. The son of Walner out of double Breeders Crown champion Emoticon Hanover finished seventh by four lengths after a taxing front-end trip in the Breeders Crown to end his year. His final record was seven wins in 10 starts with $1,313,575 in earnings.
“He was in a group of three-year-old trotters that was pretty deep, with Super Chapter and Maryland and Nordic Catcher S, who got injured,” Roy said. “There were a lot of good three-year-old trotters this year and he was one of the best — if not the best — in there, so it was a dream season for me with him.”
Galen Erso bounced between Ontario and Kentucky, competing at the top levels of both sire stakes programs while also making appearances on the Grand Circuit. The colt’s season was marked by peaks and valleys, exemplified by his lifetime-best 1:53 victory in an elimination of the Goodtimes, followed by a break in the final.
“Winning an Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold comes to mind [as a highlight], but when he handily won his elimination of the Goodtimes I really thought he was on the right track,” said owner Brad Grant of Milton, Ont., who acquired him from Marcus Melander after his seasonal debut. “But as we know in this business, next week can be another story, and his was as he tossed in a clunker, but that seemed to be his year in a nutshell.”
The colt started his season with a high point as he captured the SBOA Stakes Final in 1:55 on May 17. He then scored his Goodtimes elimination victory on June 7 before going off stride in the final, which was followed by a break in the second OSS Gold leg. The son of Green Manalishi S-Wygant Princess quickly rebounded, winning a Gold on Jul. 16 at Grand River Raceway. He added a show finish in the fourth Gold leg on Aug. 22 and finished a solid second in the Super Final behind fellow finalist P L Spencer. Trained by Gregg McNair in all but his first start of the year, Galen Erso went three-for-15 and earned $268,099.
“Pleasantly surprised,” said Grant about the O’Brien nomination. “He’s been a nice addition to the stable, and although I think he underachieved at times, he did have a good year. We’re looking forward to 2026.”
P L Spencer was the one to beat throughout the OSS season. The son of Resolve-P L Indyanaca won three of five preliminary rounds, finishing second in his two defeats, and broke a program record when he won the second leg in 1:51.3. He cruised to victory in the Super Final in his last start of the year to stamp himself as an Ontario champion.
“The highlight might have been the race when he went in 1:51.3, because when I looked over at the teletimer I went ‘holy cow,’” said trainer and co-owner Steve Bossence. “I was pretty sure he was going to give a pretty good account of himself in the Super Final anyways, but to go that speed, you kind of just went ‘wow.’ That might’ve been a little more moving than the Super Final, because I expected it — not that it was a guarantee, but about as close to it as you can get.”
After making just four starts as a rookie with one win and three breaks, he started his sophomore campaign in the Ontario-sired Spring Series. He won the first leg and was second in the final and, after being scratched out of the SBOA Stakes eliminations, came back and closed from seventh over a sloppy track at Mohawk to take a conditioned event in 1:55.4. He captured the first two Gold legs, one of which was his 1:51.3 effort, and lost by a neck to Galen Erso in the third.
The gelding made the trip to Hanover Raceway and worked through early interference to capture the Dream Of Glory on Aug. 2. Starting with his elimination for that event, he won six of his last eight starts, including a victory in an overnight race over Monalishi, who went on to win her division’s Super Final. The gelding hit the exactor in 14 of 16 appearances and made 10 trips to the winner’s circle while earning $528,081 for owners Bossence of London, Ont., Richard Thompson of London, Derek Reid of Etobicoke, Ont. and ECS Racing LLC of Rockford, Mich.
“To have a horse as a finalist, this is what we do it for,” said Bossence, deflecting credit for the colt's success. “Everyone’s in it to get the good horse, and I just lucked out and brought the right halter home that day, that’s all.”
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. 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.
(Standardbred Canada; photos courtesy of New Image Media)