There was a common theme in the winner's circle for the two $150,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Mid-Season finals on Thursday, Aug. 15 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
That theme was driver James MacDonald, trainer Nick Gallucci and owner Millar Farms.
Thursday's card at Mohawk featured two Gold Mid-Season finals for two-year-old pacers, and the aforementioned trio emerged victorious in both of those lucrative events.
Pacing filly Chantilly was sent postward as the 1-9 choice in her Gold Mid-Season final after impressive wins in her first two appearances. Her third appearance offered more of the same.
MacDonald settled Chantilly away in fourth in her Gold Mid-Season test as Darlenes Angel (Trevor Henry) and Wicked N Single (Jonathan Drury) took turns on top through a :26.4 opener. Wickedpace was asked to live up to her name by Jody Jamieson, who roused thr filly from third to confront the leader take over the tempo. That lead, however, was short-lived as MacDonald had Chantilly pinned to that white, green and gold helmet. Once Wickedpace cleared through a :55.4 half, Chantilly cleared mere moments later.
After a sharp 1:23.1 third station, Chantilly cranked it up another notch and opened up on her competition. Closing in :28.1, she tripped the timer in 1:51.2 nearly four lengths to the good. Wickedpace maintained her position in second, with Macapelo Seelster a best-of-the-rest third for Tyler Borth.
"She's special," noted MacDonald. "She gives me a lot of Prohibition Legal vibes, the way she felt at two. She's just a powerhouse. I was saying to Jody pulling up, she got away on me a little bit in the third quarter, because she feels like she's just floating, just cruising along, and then I just just kind of wrapped her up down the lane. She's just waiting for you to call on her at all times."
A homebred of Stouffville, Ont.'s Millar Farms, Chantilly (Big Jim - Shiraz Seelster) is now three-for-three with $132,000 in earnings. Bet down to 1-9, she returned $2.10 to win.
Flip those odds around, and that's what the betting public thought of Allstar Maniac's chances in the OSS Gold Mid-Season final for two-year-old male pacers. Dismissed at 9-1, he threw his hat into the ring as a serious player in this division with a major league performance in victory.
With Century Lucifer misbehaving behind the gate for driver Tyler Borth to take him out of contention early, one of race's top contenders was out of the picture. Jody Jamieson pointed Fifth And Five from the front, cleared Sterling Choice (Bob McClure) before the :27.3 opening quarter, and then yielded to favoured Stonebridge Wizard (Doug McNair) at around the three-eighths mark.
Jamieson wanted no part of the pocket, and looped Fifth And Five back to the lead before the :56.4 half. Company came calling in the outer flow as Set Shot (Sylvain Filion) advanced up on the rim, with Allstar Maniac and James MacDonald poised second over through the relatively tepid 1:26 third quarter and turning for home.
With the fractions on the side of the pacesetter, Fifth And Five tried to kick clear and opened up on his rivals at the head of the stretch. But Allstar Maniac devoured ground when show racetrack by MacDonald and mowed down Fifth And Five in the final strides of a lifetime best 1:53.1 mile. Fifth And Five finished second, a half length back, while Sterling Choice settled for bronze on the proverbial podium.
"This horse, he's so fast. It just is coming down to where he's got to be ratable. And he looked very ratable today," noted Gallucci. "I know I've trained some nice horses, and I put him in that category, but for an eighth of a mile I've never sat behind a horse that can move like this horse. So, moving forward, hopefully, we can start driving him more like a normal horse and see how things shake out here in the Grand Circuit."
Trained by Gallucci for Millar Farms, Allstar Maniac (All Bets Off - Shes A Maniac) was a $70,000 London Classic yearling bred by Allstar Farms of Milverton, Ont. With the winner's share of the purse, Allstar Maniac now boasts $96,348 in earnings. Now a two-time winner in his career, Allstar Maniac returned $20.80 to his $2 win supporters.
That win for MacDonald lifted the three-time O'Brien Award winner and Canadian representative for the 2025 World Driving Championship over the $70 million mark in career purse earnings.
Thursday's card at Mohawk also featured the second leg of a Pop-Up Series for fillies and mares with a minimum of 10 starts in 2024 that were non-winners of $18,000 in 2024 or not averaging $1,500 per start on the season. There were two $12,000 divisions this week, with Yoda Queen (1:53.1; $4.50) repeating and Zebs Breaking Dawn (1:52.3; $11.10) breaking through for a victory.
For the full results for Thursday's card of harness racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada)