It was a surreal feeling for Damian MacLellan when the young horseman heard he made the cut for the 2025 Future Star Award as one of three finalists. And it was even more surreal when he heard his name called at the 2025 O'Brien Awards this past Saturday, Jan. 31 at the J-AAR Expo Centre in London, Ont.
But the award winner had a different feeling this past spring, about a horse that showed him the kind of talent that garners national honours. That horse: Canada's Two-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year, A Clean Deal.
"I helped train her down all spring and she was incredible for Kyle Fellows all year," said MacLellan of the O'Brien Award winner that had him back on stage about eight minutes after winning his individual award. "I kind of thought she was a little bit special training her down but I didn't want to get too high on her."
Voters were clearly high on MacLellan, a native of Inverness, N.S. who is currently stationed in Puslinch, Ont., as he took home the hardware in the Future Star category at the 2025 O'Brien Awards. Last season, he drove 83 winners and horses to earnings of more than $603,000 while also showing dedication to his profession with mornings at the Fellows barn and nights at tracks across the province.
With participants the likes of Tyler Borth, Louis-Philippe Roy and Travis Cullen springboarding off the Future Star Award to competing regularly on the nation's top circuit and beyond, MacLellan cherished having his name join some select Future Star company.
"A lot of the people that have won this award have gone on to have huge success in this sport. It's really cool to have my name added that list.
"It's something to shoot for, and something to hope for, and I'm really looking forward to it."
In this interview with Standardbred Canada's Jeff Porchak, MacLellan also discusses some of his highlights from the 2025 season and what the future holds in terms of goals and targets. The interview is the third in a series of interviews sponsored by Horse Racing Alberta.
(Standardbred Canada; photos courtesy New Image Media and Racehorsephoto)