Harness racing legend Filion dead at age 77
Harness racing has lost a legend. Herve Filion, arguably the best driver ever to sit in a sulky, died Thursday after battling an illness. He was 77.
A native of Angers, Quebec, who started driving at the age of 13, Filion hit his stride during the heyday of harness racing, winning his first of 16 national dashwin titles in 1968. In 1971, he passed Hall of Famer Billy Haughton to become the winningest driver in the history of the sport, a title he held for 41 years. In 1976, at 36, he became the youngest inductee into both the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Filion, who lived in Albertson on Long Island, was perhaps the best ambassador the sport will ever know. During his career, he received numerous requests from racetracks throughout North America to make appearances. He said he felt he owed it to the industry which had given so much to him and his family.
As harness racing’s ultimate showman, Filion never missed an opportunity to entertain the fans as he did after winning the 1979 Little Brown Jug with Hot Hitter, when he stood up in the sulky as he paraded in front of the crowd of 41,027 on his way back to the winner’s circle at the Delaware County (Ohio) Fairgrounds.
In 2012, Filion told The Post many things contributed to his long reign at the top, but perhaps the most important was luck.
“You have to be lucky in anything you do in life,” Filion said. “The right place at the right time and in the right situation. I was very lucky all my life.”
“Don’t hold it against me. I was born that way,” he added with a laugh.
Filion won 15,183 races in his career. By comparison, the all-time leading thoroughbred jockey, the retired Russell Baze, had 12,842 victories.
Haughton once said: “There are a lot of good harness drivers, a few great ones … and then there is Filion.” Funeral arrangements were pending. There will be a race in Filion’s honor at New York’s Goshen Historic Track on Hall of Fame Day, Sunday, July 2.