Headlines: Maine Legend Leigh Fitch Passes Away

 

USTA:

At a time when the perfect drive was the gentlemanly second-over trip described by Billy Haughton in the harness racing manual Care and Training of the Trotter and Pacer, Mr. Fitch’s insurgent style disrupted that model, gaining him the nickname “The Fox.” Rarely flushed off the rail, Mr. Fitch instead was often a rail skimmer who mastered the art of anticipating the opening of a seam late in the mile, using athletic reflexes and exquisite timing to feed his horse open racetrack. Mr. Fitch once said that “winning was life or death for me,” and his driving style, safe but daring, meant brushes with the latter. It was the era of the wooden hub rail, and any driver working the inside late in the mile needed steely nerves.