Woodbine Mohawk Park: Undefeated Chantilly makes 2025 debut on stakes-filled card

A new queen was anointed in Canadian harness racing last year, and she's back on Saturday at Woodbine Mohawk Park in one of four SBOA finals for Ontario-bred 3-year-olds. The undefeated Chantilly makes her 2025 debut off a pair of qualifiers and is ready to roll according to driver James MacDonald, who has horses in each of the six-figure events.

"She seems unbelieveable. The first qualifier I was hoping to go [1:]54 or 55 and she went a mile in [1:]53 pretty much as easily as a horse can go a mile in two minutes," said MacDonald. "She just floats around the track."

Chantilly, who was perfect in nine starts and named Horse of the Year in Canada, followed up her 1:53 qualifying victory with a 1:55 score and will start from post six in the C$133,512 second race filly pace on Saturday. Already a good-size horse, MacDonald said Chantilly really filled out over the winter and seems ready to tackle whatever stands in her way, though he isn't ready to crown her just yet.

"She's a powerhouse. I don't think we've gone anywhere near the bottom of her, but there are always horses who pop up. There's other horses who have come back good, and there are a few in the States that look like machines and they'll give her everything she wants. It will be interesting to see how she compares. I think she's the best right now, but things can change in the blink of an eye in harness racing," said MacDonald.

Trained by Nick Gallucci for Millar Farms, Chantilly is the 1-5 morning-line favorite in her 11-filly final.

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While Chantilly is expected to win, MacDonald has a reasonable chance of success in all of the SBOA races on Saturday. He steers 8-5 early choice Monalishi in the C$136,513 final for filly trotters carded as race four.

"Hopefully I can find her a trip in the final because she's a very nice trotter," said MacDonald.

MacDonald will have to settle for the second choice Getthegreen (4-1) in the C$130,913 colt and gelding final for the trotters in race six. That one finished second in the elimination round last week as the 6-5 chalk.

"He's got a good shot. Last week he felt like a winner to me and he knuckled over at the top of the stretch and just got all out of gear right when Louis [Roy, driving Day] was pulling out of the hole," said MacDonald. "It was just bad timing. Mine got rough and he got the jump on me. I really couldn't push mine. If I can work out a trip and he's trotting good, he's as good as any in there."

In the C$126,912 split for male pacers (race eight), MacDonald sits behind Boxer Seelster (5-1) for the first time. While he doesn't have prior experience with the son of Bettor's Delight, he did say that the connections told him the horse schooled with Lasix added "like a million bucks" and he's hoping the horse is ready.

The 10-race Woodbine Mohawk Park kicks off at 6:35 PM (EDT) and offers a $75,000 Guaranteed Pick 5 in the opener.