Chantilly Stays Undefeated with Win in Shes A Great Lady
MILTON, September 21, 2024— Millar Farms homebred Chantilly stayed unbeaten from seven starts with a 1:50.2 crowning in the $532,000 Shes A Great Lady final on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Chantilly raced unhurried in fifth to a :27 first quarter carved by a headstrong The Last Martini, who stayed to the metal approaching a :55.2 half. Driver James MacDonald activated Chantilly midway up the backstretch and found cover to the far turn from Cant See Me, who circled a tiring Nice Buns to race in third. Chantilly perched onto the helmet moving to three-quarters in 1:23.3 and erupted down the homestretch. MacDonald stayed poised in the bike as Chantilly carried him over the line by an expanding two lengths from The Last Martini, holding onto second from a game Cant See Me. Millie May Hanover finished fourth
“Ever since this one's come around, she gives you chills, just knowing you get to sit behind her every week,” James MacDonald said after the race. “And the trip worked out great. And then when I moved her, she just exploded.
“Nick [Gallucci] had asked me before, like, I could tell he was nervous, but he just said, ‘What are you thinking?’ And I said, ‘I think we got a lot of options. We can do whatever we want. We're in a good spot, and I think we just take what the race gives us and see what happens.’ And it worked out great.”
Nick Gallucci trains Chantilly, a daughter of Big Jim who now has $541,000 on her card from seven starts, all wins.
“Yeah, I'm always pessimistic, usually training down, but she always showed enough, especially when we started training the bikes. I was starting to get excited about her at around the start of June, I figured that we had a pretty nice filly on our hands.
“I had quiet confidence,” Gallucci also said. “I figured the only way she'd get beat is if she beat herself. And luckily, that didn't happen and James gave her a great trip. She did what she had to do, and just keeps winning and just enjoying it.”
Sent the 1-5 favourite, Chantilly paid $2.50 to win.
By Ray Cotolo, for Woodbine Communications
