Leste happell 
     
    
   
   
    
     George Biggar once won a horse named 
     
     Kilroy in a card game in Charlottetown. 
     
     George sold Kilroy to Vince MacInnis of 
     
     Kensington who sold him to Lester. 
     
     Kilroy won a matinee dash one afternoon 
     
     in Millvale with Lester driving. His prize 
     
     was an alarm clock with a $1.75 price tag 
     
     still on the back of the clock. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Lester Chappell moved to Summerside on 
     
     October 31, 1951. He recalled that date 
     
     clearly because Blair Andrew accompa- 
     
     nied him to pick up a horse for Allie 
     
     Cutcliffe. This would be the first horse in 
     
     the Lester Chappell Stable at the SRW. 
     
     Incidentally, Blair Andrew was the father 
     
     of Erwin and grandfather of Brian, Bill 
     
     and Rollin who were active in the stan— 
     
     dardbred industry in 2008. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The great Hall of Famer, Joe O’Brien from 
     
     Alberton, raced Tip Abbe in the top class 
     
     on the Maritime circuit. A few years later, 
     
     Lester became Tip Abbe’s owner in a 
     
     trade for a calf. By the next spring, Lester 
     
     had him trained down and ready to race 
     
     but decided to sell him to Rollie Wood 
     
     and Billy Smallwood for $100. That was 
     
     a huge amount of money in those days! 
     
    
   
   
    
     Money Royal was a dandy and talented 
     
     horse once owned by Dr. Preston 
     
     MacIntyre of Montague. The horse later 
     
     raced out of the Frank Daniels Stable of 
     
     Truro. Lester purchased him from Frank 
     
     Daniels and raced him for three years 
     
     when he was near the retirement age of 
     
     14. He wasn’t a spectacular horse but a 
     
     nice horse that exemplified the type asso— 
     
    
   
   
    
     64 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Behind the Gate 
     
    
   
   
    
     ciated with Lester throughout his career. 
     
     Lester thought a lot of this horse. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Looking back over the years, Lester 
     
     asserted fondly, “My favorite horse would 
     
     have to be Lindsay N owned by Boyd 
     
     MacDonald and Erwin Howatt, D.V.M. 
     
     He was trained by Reg McClure and 
     
     Everett Lowther. He was the nicest horse 
     
     that I ever pulled a rein on. He was just 
     
     like an airplane. I drOVe him in the top 
     
     class that winter at the SRW. He was just 
     
     a nice horse to drive." Lester was really 
     
     appreciative of the owners for selecting 
     
     him to drive such a classy invitational 
     
     horse that winter. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In the past, Lester operated what could 
     
     be considered a modest public stable. 
     
     He had many owners and they included 
     
     jack Brown, Collins Wood, Gerald Dunn, 
     
     Ralph Somers and Earl Cannon. This 
     
     trainer reminisced, “In 2008, there were a 
     
     lot of expenses involved in training a 
     
     horse. One time it was :heap. A trainer 
     
     could take a horse to ")oard for $15 a 
     
     week. In 2004, it cost $15 per day. I 
     
     don’t take boarders any more. I am trying 
     
     to get three of my own ready for the sea— 
     
     son. When you are 75, it is a little more 
     
     difficult then it used to be.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     He '5 just A Boy by Hora)! Hanover out of 
     
     Loose ofAs/oes was a two-year-old home— 
     
     bred that Lester was taking along slowly. 
     
     This was his own colt ard he didn’t plan 
     
     any serious training with him until he 
     
     developed and matured as a three—year- 
     
     old. He informed, "I llld many horses