Samuel Fillion added another driving title to his growing trophy cabinet, while Gerard Demers finished as the leading trainer at Georgian Downs on Sunday, Aug. 31 as the meet came to a close.
Fillion, who brought an insurmountable lead into the evening, did not drive on the card after a 10-race slate in the Charity Driver's Challenge at Clinton Raceway earlier in the day. He won 47 races at Georgian on the season in 189 starts for a win rate of 24.9 per cent and was also the track’s highest-earning pilot. The 27-year-old has now won titles at three Ontario tracks after leading the standings at Hanover Raceway last season and Kawartha Downs for the past two years. The 2022 Future Star O’Brien Award recipient reached 1,000 career victories at Georgian on Aug. 5 and is aiming for back-to-back 300-win campaigns. He is third in the national dash-winning standings this season with 248 victories.
Austin Sorrie, last year’s Georgian champion, finished second with 35 wins. Third was Daryl Thiessen with 25.
Demers won the opener on closing day to punctuate his title-winning season, adding a 26th victory to his haul. He is closing in on his third consecutive triple-digit-win year, with 94 across all tracks in 2025. That total has him sitting third in the national leaderboard.
With a pair of wins on Sunday, Jodie Cullen created a tie for second with Ashleigh Hensley, who harnessed one winner on the nine-race card. They both finished with 15 tallies.
Ididitmyshui ($16.50) capped off the meet with a pocket-popping victory in 1:55.2 with Ed Hensley driving for Raphael Bourassa.
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Georgian Downs.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Samuel Fillion winning on June 26, 2022)