Saturday, June 24, 2017
I met Herve Filion at Freehold Raceway in 1990. My good friend Jack E. Lee had just been rehired at Freehold and I was in the announcer's booth and Herve had just won the race that Jack had called. He said he had not had a chance to talk to Herve since he was rehired. I offered to go downstairs to the winner's circle to give Herve the message. He was very kind and considerate and a joy to be around.
As far as I am concerned he was the most outstanding driver in harness racing history. He was an artist on the track. He would paint a picture of how he wanted the race to go and waited for other drivers to make mistakes. It was thrilling to watch him drive.
Condolences to his wife, children, grandchildren and siblings. Condolences to harness racing fans too. The death of Herve Filion is to harness racing what the death of Babe Ruth was to baseball, the death of Arnold Palmer was to golf, the death of Marlon Brando and Lawrence Olivier was to acting, and so on. I hope his family knows that while it is a tremendous loss for them it is also for the people who love harness racing and respect the game. Knowing this, I hope that it brings comfort to his family.
Joe Fierro
