The momentum from a career year in 2024 for O'Brien Award finalist David Menary is carrying over into the start of 2025. His returning stable stars give signs that it's not likely to stop anytime soon.
Menary, who sports a 0.534 UTRS heading into the end of the month, is a finalist for Canada's 2024 Trainer of the Year. The richest horse from his sensational season is Its A Love Thing, a finalist for Three-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year.
After a stellar sophomore campaign when she found the winner’s circle seven times, with earnings of $843,884, Menary pupil Its A Love Thing finds herself as an O'Brien Award finalist for the second consecutive year. Finishing as a runner-up to stablemate Pass Line a year ago, the daughter of Bettors Delight-Love For Sail looks poised to capture divisional hardware in February for trainer Menary and owners Eric Good, Thomas Biederman, Josh Green and Rich Lombardo Racing LLC.
“If her two-year-old season was any indication, you figure she was in-store for a huge three-year-old season,” stated Menary. “She’s just a special horse with a desire to win… those are the ones you dream of having in your barn.”
Of her seven wins, Its A Love Thing captured multiple Ontario Sires Stakes Gold divisions at Woodbine Mohawk Park, was victorious in the $136,896 Jerry Silverman Memorial at The Meadowlands and was a winner in the $425,000 Fan Hanover at Mohawk in 1:48.2, marking a career best and her richest win of 2024.
“Every win is a good win, but the Fan Hanover was the biggest of the year,” admitted Menary. “It was a star-studded night of racing, and she was able to do it on Canadian soil, while setting a Canadian track record. For me, it’s hard for that not to stand out.”
In just a short period of time, Its A Love Thing has shown enough over the course of her two years of racing where she could venture off into her next phase of her career as a broodmare; but lucky enough for racing fans, that’s not in the plans just yet.
“Right now, she’s enjoying her winter in Kentucky, but she’ll be back to race at four,” shared Menary. “She’ll be back in about three weeks and we’ll get her back into it.
“She’s what I call a franchise player, and I’m looking forward to see what she can do as a four-year-old… She’s staked into everything.”
Not to be outdone by his stable star, Menary himself will be up for some hardware for the first time in his career, as he is an O’Brien Award finalist for Trainer of Year. The 45-year-old Ontario native concluded his 2024 campaign with a .322 UTRS, 74 trips to the winner's circle and a career high in earnings with more than $2.7 million.
“It’s a 52-week process,” he confessed. “You have to be lucky on the right days, and you have to take the bad days in stride.
“Trust me, there are a lot of tough days, especially throughout the winter months, but the big nights in the summer make it all worth it. Honestly, I know it’s an individual award, but none of this would be possible without the continuous trust and support of all my owners and my team… guys like Glen [Lalonde] and Mark [MacKinnon], they’ve been instrumental to the success as well."
Menary knows that this is a tough award to win and is honoured just to be in the conversation.
“I’ve had some great years in my career and this is the first time I’m up for being a finalist, which is a testament to the trainers that we have here in Canada,” stated Menary.
“Nick [Gallucci] had himself a remarkable year and he’s very deserving, but I also feel like there were some people who were deserving that won’t be up for nominations this year as well, but we shouldn’t discredit the work anyone puts in. It’s a very tough job, and a tough award to win.”
While the nomination as a finalist was a bit of a surprise for Menary, that was far from his biggest surprise in a 2024 campaign that highlighted a couple of other pleasant surprises.
“We kind of knew what we were going to get from horses like Its A Love Thing and Dabarndawgswatchin, who always bring their A-game when they step foot on the races,” shared Menary. “For me, I had a couple of pleasant surprises, with one of them being Lil Sweet.”
Pulling off a minor upset in the $300,000 OSS Super Final for two-year-old trotting fillies, Lil Sweet upped her career earnings to $249,371 in that season-ending score. The win was a pleasant surprise for Menary and owner Eric Good, who didn’t know what to expect from the trotter heading into the rookie year.
“The way she ended her freshman campaign was amazing,” recalled Menary. “She was a filly who we almost gave away in February, but we stuck with it and she capped it off with a big win.”
Another surprise for the O’Brien Award finalist was older pacer Ervin Hanover, who re-entered Menary’s barn in mid-October and has since captured the attention of many. So much so, that the five-year-old will have some big expectations going into 2025.
“There might not be a horse I’m looking forward to racing next year more than Ervin [Hanover], especially with the way he ended his four-year-old campaign,” stated Menary. “I was fortunate enough to develop a relationship with Pollack Racing and we’ve had some success racing some of their horses here in Canada, and we’re hoping for some memorable moments next year, that's for sure!
“We had him for a few starts in mid-May, early June, and he was nothing then compared to what he’s like now. He ended 2024 winning four races in a row, with a couple of those wins coming in sub-[1]:48, which is just unheard of in December. We shut him down and he’s staked into everything. He definitely put himself on the map heading into next year.”
After attending the O’Brien Awards in P.E.I. a year ago, Menary is excited to share this year’s experience with the people who mean the most to him: his family.
“Given we have Its A Love Thing up for an O’Brien, as well as myself being up for Trainer of the Year, it’ll be really fun to attend this year’s awards in Ontario, with my entire family. It’s just a huge honour and something I’ve dreamed about my entire life [being up for Trainer of the Year]. Hopefully it’s not the last time, either!” shared Menary with a laugh. “The girls are getting older, so it’s another big event that we can enjoy together as a family and that’s what makes it even more special.”
The 2024 O’Brien Award winners will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at the O’Brien Awards Gala, which will take place at the Delta Meadowvale / Mississauga in Mississauga, Ont.
(Standardbred Canada; photos courtesy New Image Media, Lisa Photo)