LESTER RAINES ELECTED TO HALL OF FAME

Longtime kennel owner and operator, Lester Raines was the lone nominee to receive enough votes for induction into the 2023 class of the Greyhound Hall of Fame.

Lester Raines was born in Charleston, West Virginia in 1955. He holds a degree in Chemistry and is a licensed Dentist. He owns and operates three car dealerships in the Charleston area and has been an assistant basketball coach for over 25 years at West Virginia State University. His real passion, however, is greyhound racing and he has had an outstanding impact on the greyhound industry for more than 35 years. He has been a major contributor, as an owner, kennel operator and leader toward the betterment of the industry.

His inaugural booking was at Tri State Greyhound Park, where he would eventually capture twenty straight kennel championships and thirty in all through 2022. Over the years he would acquire race bookings at numerous tracks including Gulf, Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona, Wheeling, Tampa, Southland, Palm Beach and Derby Lane. All in all, his racing operations captured fifty eight kennel championships and twenty one runner-up finishes through the time of his induction.

His kennels became synonymous with producing champions with the likes of All Americans Flying Titanium, Afleet Alex, Fortress Of Gold, Barts Outofmyway, JS Keephopealive and Craigie Delegate. He also owned and raced two-time All American and 2020 Rural Rube award winner, JS Flamin Ace. Two of those champions, Barts Outofmyway and JS Flamin Ace are now beginning promising stud careers. Other dominant stars included names like Casual Casey, Atascocita Sig, Ribard, Soul Cipher and many, many more.

Lester has been a mainstay at the semi-annual NGA auctions beginning with his first purchase in 1995 and continuing through today. His winning bid of $110,000 for KB's Rocky Balboa in the spring of 2020 is the record for an NGA auction sale that will, most likely, never be equaled.

Dedicated to the overall betterment of the sport, Lester served on the National Greyhound Association’s Board of Directors as well as the Board of the Greyhound Hall of Fame including a term as its President. He was a founding member and first President of the West Virginia Owners and Breeders Association as well as the West Virginia Kennel Association.

He will be honored in ceremonies at the Hall of Fame during the 2023 fall meet.