0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Billy Haughton will always be the Master. Greatest evaluator of horseflesh ever. No one else I would have rather had at my side at the yearling sales than him. With the greatest respect I submit there was in our midst, a second Master and that was Herve Filion. We all know that if it wasn't for his, alas, "cheating" and shorter race cards, his 15000 plus wins easily could have flirted with 20000. That aside, beyond his greatness as a driver, Herve was an excellent horseman, a very decent person inside, possessing of a great sense of humor. Yes, he was an addicted gambler, yes he owed the Jersey casinos a fortune, and sadly he had very little at the end, from what i gather living on a son in law's farm, grooming horses and if my sources are true, cleaning stalls, his solace being, I imagine, near some of his grandchildren.As a driver, Herve was unparalelled. it is said he knew where every horse in the race was at all times. In 100,000 drives or so...he almost never went down, I cant recall had a serious wreck or major injury. Even Campbell can't say that.. His intuition on the track was uncanny. Never saw a guy flush more cover trips, really didn't leave the gate that often and was the best pop the pocket driver I ever saw on a half other than Lachance. Could measure any loss or win he wanted to and definitely not heavy with the whip. They say he sometimes sang or whistled to the horses in the stretch. I do know John Gilmour and Steve Leblanc whistled to horses.Sometimes the greatness of a horseman reveals itself in tiny ways that make you say, Whoa!Early 90s, a contact of mine sent me a nice middle aged trotting mare from New England. Her trainer / owner was a respected NE guy with trotters... She was rigged, racing well, everything perfect. All I needed to do was keep status quo. We felt she would do very well in the NW9000 and dominate NW 6000. This was a 60/40, no bills lease. So to retain as much profit as i could, I rubbed and paddocked her myself.As luck would have it she fit NW 6000 upon arrival. Jogged her up, couple slow trips on Saturday for Tuesday afternoon race. Put Herve down to drive. He took the drive, we drew the 6 hole. Herve went wire to wire and won easy. He comes back and says "She's a sweetheart" She moves up to NW 9000, draws the 3. Herve again, comes first over. Grinds the leader down eventually and wins in 2.01.2. Good time on a half, trotting mare, very early 90s on a half. I'm thinking now we've got something here!Here's the crux. She came to me wearing Victory plates - an aluminum Tbred shoe with a grab on the toe up front, not filed down. these shoes became all the rage at the time.She had some swelling in her ankles that didn't concern me, but "just to be on the safe side" I asked the farrier to file away the first 8th of the grab and smooth it a bit. My theory being I didn't want her to grab too much of the track. i figured she would break over easier and reduce damage or impact to her ankles.She is free riding in NW9000 and herve is driving. We have the rail. of course, I am thinking we will be 1st or 2nd. Herve gets on asks how she is and trots off in the post parade, not much faster than a walk. He literally walks her from the post parade along the outer fence and gets to the paddock and yells to me, :Come Here" . I run over looking bewildered. I'm like, "what's wrong". As he starts talking he gets off holding the lines in his left hand. BEFORE picking up her left leg, he says to me, "WISEGUY. YOU FILED DOWN THE GRAB!. THEN he picked up her leg and showed me that which I already knew, to prove his point. I offered no explanation, but it dawned on me - THIS GUY KNEW SOMETHING WAS DIFFERENT AND HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS FROM WALKING IN THE POST PARADE _ AMAZING, I was and still am in awe of that kinda knowledge.He stays glued to the rail, gets covered up and finishes 4th with no where to go. Comes back and says, "She'da been right there if she got a hold of the track' I wasn't the least bit upset. I was sheepish in fact.Need less to say, that was the last time I filed down those grabs and she did quite well for us for a long while of at least a year.Herve was just the greatest. God rest you, "Buddy"
Many years ago I won with a claiming mare as trainer/driver. The next week the race secretary called me and said they had a celebrity driver (Herve Filion) coming and were looking for live drives. I wasn't keen but I was pressured to give up the drive.Herve won with her in exactly the same time as when I drove her the start before.But there was a difference.When I drove her we were looking for the wire and finished totally spent.When Herve drove her she could have gone around again. He never used the whip. The guy in the two hole said Herve never stopped talking to her. She was never alone. Herve was god.
Terrific stories men. Although things may be different today, I always felt most better drivers had to know horses inside and out. Most grew up doing most farm jobs working their way up until they were allowed to jog horses. I recently saw the Bill O’donnell interview from Goshen and it was clear he and most of his driving competitors had solid foundations before becoming top drivers. Herve Filion was an amazing driver so it doesn’t surprise what a great total horseman he was. Just very sad what became of him in his final years.
i still vividly recall Herve winning the Battle of Brandywine by a nose defeating No Nukes with Icarus LobellHe worked out a 2nd over trip behind Garnsey(who was parked the mile) and measured out a nose victory. No Nukes was a half hour the best, but Herve outsmarted GG and got the $$$
Great description! Ty for the history!
