Filion Steps Away From Driving

If he's out, Sylvain Filion went out on top.

Whether he's saying so long or so long for now remains to be seen.

This past Saturday (Oct. 12) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Filion captured two of the eight 2024 Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals driving two-year-old trotting colt You Got It Kemp and three-year-old pacing filly Odds On Platinum to victory. The win with Odds On Platinum was the 19th Super Final win for the Hall of Fame driver, breaking a tie with fellow Hall of Famer Paul MacDonell for the most provincial championship titles.

During the post-race interview after the win with You Got It Kemp, Filion indicated to interviewer John Rallis that he was taking a break after Saturday's card.

In fact, that break started on Sunday, Oct. 13. Effective immediately, the 55-year-old is stepping away from his catch-driving career and focusing on his family. Filion confirmed the news with Trot Insider on Wednesday morning.

"I didn't want to make a big scene out of it, that's why we kept it quiet," said Filion from his current residence outside Lachute, Que. "But we had planned [for this] like a year ago. We had to fill out paperwork to put our daughter in school in Quebec, and we started this process about a year ago.

"We have a house in Quebec, we always had a house in Quebec. And it was my sister-in-law living there the whole time. We had always planned to come back and live here someday. Our daughter's going into sixth grade and we thought it was the perfect time before she goes to high school. So that's why we decided to move now."

Inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2024, Sylvain Filion has won 10,230 races in his career. He is the only driver in harness racing history to achieve that number of victories on Canadian soil. A four-time O'Brien Award winner as Canada's Driver of the Year, Filion also sports a World Driving Championship title from the 1999 competition while driving horses to more than $144 million in purses. 

Thus, the $144 million question remains: is this retirement? Filion couldn't say for sure.

"For now, I'm just going to take the winter off and see how it goes. I might go back in the springtime. I'm leaving that door open.

"If I go back, I'll have to go back just by myself. I'll miss my family, and so it's a big decision to make. I'll take the winter to think it over and see if I get the itch in the springtime."

Filion's current residence is on the same property owned by his father, Yves. He bought a piece of land there and had a house built on the property in 2003. His sister-in-law has lived there longer than he has, and the time is right for Sylvain and his family to finally make that house their home.

"I've worked hard for many years now. I thought maybe I needed a little break. We'll see from there.

"I always said to my family that if I stop driving, I'll stop on my own terms...I'm very grateful that I can decide whether I quit or go back. I want to enjoy the rest of my life while I can."

On his own terms and, judging by the numbers this season, still one of the best doing it and one of the best to do it. With that, Filion acknowledged that his absence from the driving colony at Woodbine Mohawk Park will likely open the door for some of the up-and-coming drivers to gain more experience. 

"That will give a chance to some of the younger guys, too," Filion agreed with a smile, recognizing that he too needed that break once upon a time. "And I don't mind that. That's the way it goes."

(Standardbred Canada)