After the 2025 O'Brien Awards ceremony, trainer Nick Gallucci shared that he would like to see back-to-back divisional champion Chantilly back at 100 per cent for her four-year-old campaign.
That path to 100 per cent for Chantilly, according to Gallucci, hit some unexpected twists and turns in 2026. As the calendar nears September, Chantilly's name hasn't appeared on the overnight sheets and even the qualifying entries. But the plan is still for the three-time O'Brien Award winner to race this year.
Chantilly posted a perfect two-year-old season for Gallucci and breeder-owner Millar Farms of Stouffville, Ont. Nine starts and nine wins in 2024, capped off with an Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final score on the track and Horse of the Year honours in Canada. She returned in 2025 for her sophomore season and posted a solid 6-1-0 summary from 11 starts. Her efforts garnered divisional honours once again, but Gallucci and Team Chantilly weren't satisfied.
"Bad luck came at us from every which way but she overcame," said Gallucci this past February. "I really would like to see her at 100 per cent before we retire her, and hopefully we can get her to that point."
Gallucci recently shared an update on Chantilly, noting that her return to the track is likely five to six weeks away.
"We had a setback with her coming back," Gallucci told Trot Insider. "It wasn’t major but we just needed a bit more time."
A daughter of Big Jim-Shiraz Seelster, Chantilly sports a career summary of 15-1-0 from 20 appearances with a mark of 1:49.4 and $1.3 million in earnings.
(Standardbred Canada)