Chuck Sylvester’s still great and we’re not blowing smoke
by Murray Brown
As I posted on Facebook last Sunday, rarely, if ever, have I enjoyed an interview as much as I did seeing Heather Wilder’s video with Chuck Sylvester on Twos in Training. I loved it, not only because of its educational content, but nearly as much, or more, for how good my friend Sylvester, now only two months away from his 86th birthday, looked.
Looking at him, one would have never thought that this is a man who has been valiantly fighting and is on his way to defeating two forms of cancer. My first thought on seeing him holding and twirling the thick, lit cigar was how much he reminded me of one of my great heroes, Winston Spencer Churchill.
As Sylvester might be the first to tell you, he is no Winston Churchill, but his physical presence and the optimism that his status demonstrated reminded me of the great man. The fat cigar of course was icing on the cake. I feared that the cigar might catch either or both he and Heather on fire. Thankfully, shortly after the interview began, its flame expired.
I thought to myself, I haven’t spoken with Sylvester for quite some time. It’s time to remedy that situation.
It’s been awhile since we have spoken. You look great. Far better than most near 86-year-olds or those who have been fighting cancer should look.
“I feel pretty good as well. I weigh in at about 190, the lowest of my adult life. I feel good. My energy level is strong. I ride behind my horses most days. If the weather isn’t good, I leave it to the younger guys. I’ve always been adverse to the cold and bad weather in general. So, if the weather isn’t to my liking, I sit in my chair and watch them go or hear about how they were from the guys who are doing the heavy lifting.”
The last time we spoke in person, you were still living in Boca Raton and training at Sunshine Meadows. Quite a bit has changed since then.
“Yes. As you know, my wife Sharon was suffering from dementia. It was getting worse, to the point where she could not be left alone. It became necessary to move to Northern Florida where my two daughters live, so that they could help in looking after Sharon when I had to be at work.
“We moved and I returned to training at Spring Garden Ranch [SGR] where I had previously had my stable. There were both pluses and minuses involved with the move. The track at SGR is better than that at Sunshine Meadows, so that was a plus for the horses. The lifestyle, restaurants and such, were better, and more varied in Boca Raton than in sedate Deland. I did love living in Boca Raton. The bottom line was that it became necessary to move, so that is what we did. It’s hard to stand in the way of life’s ongoing events.”
How is life for you these days?
“Considering my age, and the health challenges I’ve gone through, I suppose it’s been pretty darn good. I still get up early and I’m at the stable every day. If the weather is to my liking, I will still sit behind them. If not, I turn the job over to younger and perhaps more able bodies.”
What can you tell us about those health challenges?
“I’ve had two forms of cancer. The first one was in my throat. I believe I’ve beaten it. Although with that deadly, insidious disease you never know for sure. As for the second one, colon cancer, we are still fighting it, but I believe we have it on the run. We, because I believe I have a great team of doctors on my side. I still go for regular infusion treatments to treat the colon cancer.
“As for how I feel. I generally feel great. Certainly, as good as, or better than any near 86-year-old should feel.
“Things are certainly different though. The size of my stable is smaller, much smaller than it was in the glory years. Back then, I had a stable numbering 50 or even more. Now, this winter, I trained just five. That number pleases me. I feel that I can handle that many adequately and do justice to the horses and their owners.
“In the past, of course, when the horses went north for the summer, I’d go with them. Now I stay here in Florida and ship them to trainers in the various jurisdictions in which they are eligible to race.”
Would you please tell us about your present-day stable?
“I trained five head this winter, one 3-year-old and four 2-year-olds. Of course, they all are trotters. They are all still going. I suppose that’s a good sign. One New York eligible, one New Jersey, and two in Pennsylvania among the 2-year-olds.
“If I were asked which of the 2-year-olds I liked best, I would point to two fillies I bought from Steve Jones’ Cameo Hills consignment at Lexington last fall.
“The Captain Corey is named Stir The Pot. She brought $100,000. That price is a little out of my comfort zone. But that is what the market thought she was worth.
“The Chapter Seven, The Money Chapter brought $60,000, less than the going price for First Day Lexington Chapter Seven fillies. I like to think that I got myself a bargain.
“If any, or all of the four I bought become good enough, I’m still dreaming, they will be bargains at any price.”
Let’s talk about a different topic. You are one of those quoted as not being a fan of embryo transfer yearlings. Do you still feel negatively disposed towards them?
“I suppose I still do, but probably not near as much as I previously was. I think that the human tendency is to like what you’ve been successful with and to not like the opposite. When ET [embryo transfer] yearlings first hit the pipeline, I had a couple which were not any good. So, I decided I didn’t like them. I guess if I had a champion, I likely would love them. My friend Steve Jones says it’s nonsense. It’s all in my head. It may be. But I only buy a very small number each year, so I try to stay away from areas with which I haven’t been successful.”
On another topic. We are seeing a whole lot of success nowadays with pacing blood being infused into trotting pedigrees, mostly being manifested by the very successful stallion Googoo Gaagaa and his great young son Captain Corey and more recently, with last year’s Hambletonian winner Nordic Catcher S. How do you account for that great success?
“I look upon it as being two pronged.
“The first is our breed seems to come up with solutions when faced with problems. The trotting breed was facing a problem with fertility problems because it was thought of having too much inbreeding. The need for some hybrid vigor was there and the infusion of pacing blood was nature’s solution. If you asked me why this happened? I’d answer that is for wiser minds than mine to answer.
“The second is that pacers have always been faster than trotters. It’s my thought that the modern-day trotter is a far better species on many counts than its predecessors. They are more natural, faster, and a whole lot smarter than they used to be. I believe that the breed was in effect ready for the infusion of speed that pacing blood has added.”
When we last spoke here in HRU you mentioned that your last Hambletonian winner, Chip Chip Hooray, was pensioned at a small farm near Spring Garden Ranch in Florida. Is he still with us?
“Indeed, he is. He is now 27 and still living the good life as befits a horse of his accomplishments.”
