Legend – Driver/Trainer

A native of River Philip, N. S., Charley Sweet campaigned more than 100 horses during his career, and set 28 track records on the pace and trot at such Nova Scotia tracks as Inverness, Sydney, North Sydney, Antigonish, Glace Bay and New Aberdeen.

He was born in 1883 and began his racing career in Springhill, N. S., in 1902 where he campaigned horses for J. R. Cowans and Senator Amos B. Etter of Amherst, N.S., who both had leading Maritime stables.

His ability as a trainer was recognized by the Nova Scotia government when Sweet was assigned the chore of journeying to the United States to select and purchase a trotting stallion to stand at the Nova Scotia Agriculture College in Truro. The sire was Achille, 2:15 1/4, who stood for several years.

Sweet moved to Cape Breton Island in 1908 where he became a fixture, operating a stable with Canadian Hall of Fame Legend driver W. R. (Billy) Hood. Among the horses he raced was Paleface, 2:03 1/2, a Glace Bay community owned horse. He got his nickname “Silent Charley” because he seldom complained about officiating or the outcome of a race.

Sweet trained and raced horses successfully until 1953 when he was injured in a race spill at Sydney, N.S.