Sylvain Filion wins 6,000th career race

Driver Sylvain Filion, 40, won his 6,000th career race Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack, reaching the magic number with Mr. Saratoga, a 5-year-old son of Million Dollar Cam, after threading his way between horses to win a $40,000(C) Preferred event for mature pacers over Proven Lover (Jason Brewer) and Anderlecht (Chris Christoforou) in a smart 1:50.4.

Filion, whose career includes over 31,000 starts, hails from Lachute, Que., and is a member of one of the sport's most prominent families. His father, Yves Filion, captured the North America Cup in 1998 at Greenwood Raceway with Runnymede Lobell, and his uncle Herve is harness racing's winningest driver.

Sylvain made the move to the Toronto area 11 years ago after concentrating his efforts for many years at harness racing's Montreal and Ottawa-area tracks. He is on track for his sixth consecutive season with purse earnings in excess of $3 million(C).

"It was a long couple of weeks, but I finally delivered it," said Filion after posing for winner's circle photographs. "I wasn't really expecting it to be Mr. Saratoga who'd do it; he hasn't raced for a couple weeks. I thought maybe in the second race (with Compass Connection, who finished second to Elm Grove Operativ) I had a good shot. We came close, but it wasn't quite enough.

"It's nice; at least I've reached (the 6,000 mark). I hope there are some more wins for me in the future." (WEG)

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