by Matthew Lomon

When a teenage Samuel Fillion first sat in the sulky to jog one of his father’s horses, he had no idea that a career in harness racing would one day come calling.

“I was 14 or 15 and it didn’t really hit me at that point,” Fillion said. “Then one day I jogged another one and thought, ‘This is fun.’”

And so began the young reinsman’s journey to becoming one of Canadian harness racing’s brightest young stars.

Fillion’s meticulous rise up the ranks first started to take shape when another renowned Mont-Joli, QC, racing family took an up-and-coming Fillion under their wing.

“I met Louis [-Philippe] Roy and his brother [Pierre Luc], and then his family and they showed me the way of racing even more,” Fillion said.

Studying the game under the Roy brothers, particularly Louis-Philippe, who’s earned north of $48.6 million across 2,647 wins (14,984 starts and counting), set the foundation for Fillion to steadily progress both at home and around Ontario’s B-track circuit.

“It was a step-by-step journey for me,” Fillion said. “I started out slow and from there I wanted to drive more. Then, I got some momentum in Quebec and wanted to do even more again. That’s when I went to Rideau Carleton.

“I didn’t know where it was going to take me but here I am.”

Fillion has certainly made quite the name for himself after moving to Ontario four years ago.

The 26-year-old was named a finalist for the O’Brien Award as Canadian harness racing’s Future Star in 2021 before earning said honors in 2022, his second year as a full-time driver.

While Fillion’s strides from 2021 to 2022 (added 65 more wins and more than $616,000 in purse earnings year-over-year), are nothing to scoff at, he’s ascended to an entirely different level in 2024.

Through 1,280 starts and counting, Kawartha Downs’ runaway leading driver has already surpassed the 200-win benchmark and $1.3 million earnings mark (over $140,000 higher than his previous career high in 2021).

Even in the face of great success, Fillion remains a pillar of modesty.

“We all try to do well but I think when you do find success it’s because you get good horses to drive and the people in the barn are doing a great job,” he said. “At the same time, you have to get a bit lucky because you need to do well enough to continue getting good horses.

“Obviously, you want to give yourself credit too, but you can’t get too much in your own head. If you think you’re too good, then you won’t do as well. It really is a team sport.”

Buoyed by an all-star cast of supporters and an honest approach to the game, Fillion has learned his fair share of lessons over the years.

None, however, have had as profound an impact on his career as a fresh mindset driven by a change of scenery.

“The biggest lesson for me this far has been more about life than anything,” Fillion said. “When I moved here from Quebec, and this applies to driving too, we’d hang out after the races, and I learned to enjoy these moments and not focus too much on what people might be thinking or saying about me.

“I learned that here, because in Quebec, I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t doing it. And now, coming here, I just stopped worrying and started having more fun with people who have now become friends.”

An often-overlooked element of Fillion’s storied rise to prominence is the culture shock of moving from a Francophone province to a predominantly English-speaking region.

Not only did he have to familiarize himself with Ontario’s horses, tracks, and drivers, but also a new language entirely.

“When I first arrived in Ontario, I couldn’t speak English at all either,” Fillion said. “So, everything was harder. But now, you meet some friends — and we all know on the track it’s business — but if I can talk to more drivers and horse people it’s going to be easier for me.

“It’s been all about learning since I got here.”

There is one practice, however, that Fillion needed no introduction to.

Like most horse people, the in-demand reinsman is well-versed in the value of downtime — even if only for a moment — during an arduous racing season.

“On the B-tracks, we race every night, but if you want to be happy in this business you have to find time to do something different when you get time off,” he said. “Right now, like so many other horsepeople, I always go for a nap after my lunch. Even if it’s only for 15-20 minutes, I feel so much better after.”

But like his life on the track, Fillion’s nap schedule doesn’t always go according to plan.

“It’s funny because, in the winter, they cancel the races sometimes if there’s a snowstorm or something; on those nights, I don’t take a nap because we usually go do something,” said Fillion, adding with a laugh, “but then after lunchtime, my body just wants to take a nap. It’s like, my body is saying ‘I need it, you have to give it to me.’”

On top of some much-needed shut-eye, Fillion, although rare, also enjoys playing hockey outdoors after putting in his time at the barn.

As the rising star put it, before horses it was hockey.

Now, with the roles of each sport firmly reversed, Fillion is fully invested in taking his skills in the sulky to new heights – no matter where it may take him.

“We all want to be better drivers, right?” Fillion said. “And like I said, it’s all step by step. If next year, I have the same kind of year, I’ll be happy about it. Maybe in two years, I’ll be at Mohawk, and I’ll also be happy about it.

“Year after year, you want to be better because if you don’t want to challenge yourself and move up, there’s no point in doing it.”