Hall of Fame

With such notable champions as Britelite Lobell, Waikiki Beach, Armbro Devona, Laughs and Park Avenue Joe, Chuck Sylvester has reigned as one of the most successful trainers in the sport for the past two decades. His name will be forever linked with Mack Lobell, possibly the greatest trotter of all time. Mack Lobell was Horse of the Year in 1987 and 1988; he set world records on all three track sizes, won the Hambletonian, Yonkers Trot, and Breeders Crown, pushing his earnings in 1987 to $2,648,176. Mack Lobell proved himself a world champion when he raced to victory in Sweden, while competing in the prestigious Elitlopp, in 1:54.4 - the fastest recorded mile ever trotted outside North America.

The trainer of three Hambletonian winners, Toledo, Ohio native Sylvester began in the sport in the mid 1960s, campaigning at Raceway Park and Detroit area tracks. During the past three decades, he has trained a succession of champions at both gaits including the three-year-old trotting colt Running Sea (1996) whose triumphs include a Breeders Crown final and the Kentucky Futurity. In 1993 and 1994 Sylvester trained another two-time Trotter of the Year, Pine Chip T1.51, whose victories include the Kentucky Futurity, Breeders Crown, World Trotting Derby and the American-National. Other well-known Standardbreds Sylvester has trained include Diamond Exchange, Armbro Fern, Time Well Spent and Muscles Yankee.

Revised version from original published in the Harness Racing Museum's 1998 Souvenir Journal