Word: filion
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...large part of Filion's success can be attributed to his encyclopedic knowledge of almost every standardbred he faces and his knack for recognizing and exploiting the strengths of the most unlikely looking horse. "He has the eyes of a hawk," says Owner Benjamin Schaffer, "and he never forgets anything about one of his or someone else's horse." Beyond that, Filion is a crafty reinsman who among other things, excels at a tactic that might be called the Hervé Hop. Rather than throw his horse off balance by using the reins to turn his head, Filion...
Despite his hard-earned riches. Filion's only outward signs of wealth are his Capital Hill Farms in Lachute, Quebec, a blue and white Fleetwood Eldorado, a flashy mod wardrobe and a $400 toupee that he wore when Canadian Governor General Roland Michener presented him with the nation's highest civilian honor, the Medal of Service Award...
Such self-denial was the way of life at the farm in Angers, Quebec, where Filion was raised as one of ten children. His childhood, recalls a friend, was "three boys in a bed, two horses in a stall, that sort of thing." His father kept a few trotters on the farm, and Hervé practically grew up in a sulky seat. "When I was a kid," he recalls, "I used to run all the way home at lunchtime to work with the horses and then run back to school. I didn't play hockey like the other kids...
...fact, he was suspended nine times in the U.S. and Canada for various rule infractions committed in his zeal to win. The biggest blow came in 1965 when the U.S. Trotting Association lifted his license for "repeated violations"-cutting off other drivers, for example, and betting on races. Stunned, Filion reformed and was eventually reinstated by the U.S.T.A. Ever since he has performed like a man possessed. Last summer he was upended in a nasty three-sulky accident that left him with torn shoulder ligaments and facial cuts that required seven stitches. Undaunted. Filion not only was back...
...Filion figures that he still has plenty of time to better a lifetime record that now exceeds 4,000 victories. "I'm a winner," he says. "I'm like a hockey player who knows he's going to score a goal I know I'm going to win, and sometimes even the horse feels that...