Chantilly, Canada’s reigning Horse of the Year, set a career best 1:49.4 mark while easily besting a field of 10 in the lone $140,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Series event for three-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday, May 24 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. It was the first OSS Gold event of 2025.
Millar Farms’ homebred daughter of Big Jim out of Shiraz Seelster, who was sent off at 1-9, is now undefeated through all 11 career starts. It was her second pari-mutuel win of 2025 and pushed her career earnings to $897,756.
Starting from the rail, driver James MacDonald positioned Chantilly fourth in the early going. The pair took the lead with a strong brush before reaching the half in :55. They opened up on the field from there through the three-quarters in 1:21.4 and came home in :28 to win by 4-1/2 lengths over Wickedpace (Jody Jamieson) on a cold, windy night. Perfectly Chic (Bob McClure) was third.
“[Chantilly’s] high gear is just something else,” MacDonald told Woodbine Mohawk Park’s Chad Rozema. “I was able to clear the lead pretty, pretty easily. And then she's just one of those horses – and I've only driven a few of them in my life – where you feel like you're absolutely crawling… You’ve got to be careful with her, because she's just got unbelievable speed.
“She’s just a special horse. She's passed every test with flying colours. I would have liked to go :52 with the brakes on, but she's got other plans. Sometimes when you put her in top gear she's just relentless with her speed. Hopefully, she keeps carrying on to bigger and better things.”
Whether that means Chantilly will be entered against the boys in the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup or the Fan Hanover for sophomore fillies — both have their finals on June 14 at Woodbine Mohawk Park — will be up to her owner George Millar, said Chantilly’s trainer Nick Gallucci.
“It's going to be George Millar's call,” said Gallucci, indicating she'll get next week off. “We'll just see what happens, and I'm good with whatever decision he makes.”
Sterling Choice ($7.60) and Control Rocks ($36.80) won the two $90,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series events for three-year-old pacing colts. Both winners posted career-best miles and had first-time drivers.
In the first division, carded as the sixth race, roan pacer Sterling Choice led most of the way, scoring a 1:50.4 victory for owner/trainer Blake MacIntosh and his ownership partners Ozzie and Tammy Lynn MacKay, who purchased Sterling Choice for $15,000 at the 2023 Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling auction in Harrisburg.
Billy Davis, Jr. drove the son of Betterthancheddar out of Platinum Choice for the first time, leading the field through fractions of :27.1, :56.3 and 1:24.1. Sterling Choice scored a 2-1/2 length win over Set Shot (Louis-Philippe Roy). Favourite Aquinas Hanover (Bob McClure) was third.
“He's just so handy off the gate,” Davis told Rozema after the win. “He can get away so quickly and then he's got great manners and you just can relax and get a nice breather in the middle of the mile.”
After his first win of 2025, Sterling Choice now sports a lifetime record of 3-4-4 in 14 starts and earnings of $362,380.
MacIntosh said the Winbak Farm-bred Sterling Choice would likely contest the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes at Mohawk next Saturday (May 31) before deciding whether to enter the pacer in the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup.
“He’s matured a lot, filled out a lot and he looks great,” MacIntosh said. “He's a horse sort of like Rodney Dangerfield. He doesn't get any respect. Every driver picks off him every week, so hopefully Billy sticks with him.”
In the second division, Control Rocks and first-time driver Tyler Borth scored a 17-1 upset in a division featuring 1-9 favourite Crack Shot, who finished fourth.
Control Rocks, a gelded son of Control The Moment out of Katie Rocks that was bred by Ben Mudry of Toronto and is owned and trained by Jack Darling, posted a 1:50.1 lifetime best in just his fifth lifetime start.
The pacer battled early with Stonebridge Wizard (Travis Cullen), with Control Rocks taking control up the backstretch and holding off the field from there to record a 1-3/4 length victory. Tip Of Time (Roy) was second, Fifth And Five (Jody Jamieson) was third.
“I didn't really know much about [Control Rocks] at all,” said Borth after the win. “I thought he raced pretty good last week… I didn't think there was a ton of inside speed, and he felt like a big, strong horse in the post parade, so I elected to get him out of there.
“I didn’t know he was that kind of horse, but he was amazing.”
Control Rocks scored his second win in four 2025 starts. He is now 2-1-1 lifetime, making just one start in 2024.
“It was kind of a mystery,” Darling said of Control Rocks’ two-year-old season. “He qualified decently, and then his next start, he was terrible. Something went wrong. He got a little bit sick, and I just quit with him.”
Darling, who purchased Control Rocks for $33,000 at the 2023 London Classic Yearling Sale, said the gelding will mostly race in the Ontario Sires Stakes program this year.
Soaring Now lived up to his name and his even-money favouritism in the $36,000 Preferred Pace, holding off Blue Hunt (Davis) by a nose to win in a lifetime best 1:47.4 -- the fastest mile on Canadian soil this year.
Louis-Philippe Roy sat the pocket with Soaring Now behind an amped-up Timeisonmyside (James MacDonald) through fractions of :26.2, :53.4 and 1:20.1. Soaring Now had Blue Hunt on his driver's helmet, and those two speedsters were angled off the pylons for the stretch drive. It came down to these two, with Soaring Now holding on for the narrow victory. Timeisonmyside stayed for the show dough.
A six-year-old son of JK Endofanera - Sunflower, Soaring Now ($4.10) made his first start for trainer Victor Puddy and owners Howmac Farms Ltd., Gordon McDonald, Christopher Boland and Limco Inc. He's now a 23-time winner with $640,536 in purse earnings and enters his next start on a three-race win streak.
For the full results from Saturday's card of harness racing outside of Campbellville, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Ontario Racing & Standardbred Canada)
1:50.1!!!
The average winning time on the race program, which the article described as a "cold windy night" was 1:50.1. Soaring Now's 1:47.4 win in The Preferred tied Southwind Gendry for the fastest race mile in North America in 2025.