Roger Chiles of Wapakoneta owned a plumbing and heating business for a number of years, he didn't care for it that much, so he decided to buy a horse instead, the rest is history.
Roger Chiles won over 100 harness races in his lifetime, and he raced until he was 72. He was said to have the fastest horse in the state of Ohio.
"Dad was a down to earth kind of guy, he loved the harness racing business and we loved our dad. We wanted to keep dads name alive so people would always remember, for as long we're around. so we put this race together, we put a trophy together that we present to the fastest heat, we have blankets in his color, maroon and blue, that was his driving colors and we bring this back every year and give the trophy away."
"My brothers make a special trip coming home once a year so that we all get together and its the only time we see each other all year so it's an extra special time and we started doing this after dad died in 2004 and its just kind of grown and we look forward to it every year."
"We have a board in the back that my brother put together to kind of help promote and explain the story, so these horseman come in and they never see this at another county fair, such excellence my brother did. The people come in and they see this board and it shows previous winners of this race and the story of our dad and the story of why we want to keep this thing alive to all."
"I think he would be so proud, that we were here tonight and mainly that the three of us are here."
"Dads legacy was that family was first, he loved his family. That's about all I can say about him. that was his legacy, he wanted to make sure his kids had a better life than he had, and he accomplished that."
It is the 13th year for the Roger Chiles Memorial Race, and the family said there will be more years to come.
