Wheeling Year in Review

By Stan Pawloski

            Another thrilling and fun-filled season of Wheeling Island greyhound racing is in the books, and more excitement is anticipated in 2026 as the track celebrates 50 years of greyhound racing.

            In August of 1976, greyhounds chased “Spunky” around the track at Wheeling Island for the very first time as greyhound racing was launched in the Friendly City.

            This past year brought plenty of highlights on the track. A pair of sprint greyhounds had lengthy winning streaks, two West Virginia-bred stake events were contested, the initial Future Stars Preview was launched, several greyhounds battled throughout the year for top win honors, a track record was broken and a number of youngsters broke their Maiden and climbed the ladder to the top grades.

            Top greyhound honors in 2025 went to Code Red Kennel sprinter FF Vespa, who posted 28 victories. Next in line were Calmbefordastorm (Lester Raines) with 27 wins WW Let’s Getiton (Wayne Ward) with 26 victories.

            The Blanchard Kennel, trained by Chris Maynard, captured the 2025 kennel championship with 623 wins – their third straight after wearing the crown in 2023 with 640 victories and 2024 with 575 wins. The Blanchard Kennel also took top honors in 2019 with 575 wins.

            The longest winning streak in 2025 was posted by Imark Kennel’s Imark Kinslee. The veteran sprinter won nine straight races in July and August with all but one in Grade AA.

            Lester Raines Kennel newcomer LNS Raisetheroof captured eight straight races in September and October. The pup’s streak started in Maiden and included three victories in Grade AA.

            Lengthy winning streaks are rare – there’s only been 22 Wheeling win streaks of at least 10 in a row. Right behind Casual Casey’s mark of 16 straight victories are Steph’s Good (15) and Win Again (14).

            While Imark Kinslee and LNS Raisetheroof had the longest winning streaks during the 2025 racing season, WW Let’s Getiton had both a seven-race and five-race win streak. Track win champ FF Vespa, JS Prettyboyswag and Walkintheshadows had six-race win streaks.

            Several other greyhounds captured four straight victories – FF Vespa, Calmbefordastorm, Moreofthesame, Tenacity, DD’s Change N Up, Wanderlusts Call, Easi Quick, Choices, JS Hellonwheels and XT’s Virnig.

            JS Cowboy Joe etched his name in the Wheeling record book on Aug 2.

            The Lester Raines Kennel 330-yard super sprinter broke the 3/16th track record when he stopped the clock in 16.65 seconds. Breaking from the two box, JS Cowboy Joe rocketed to an early lead and never looked back in posting a 3-length victory in a Grade TAA race.

            The old mark of 16.74 was shared by Atascocita Santo (Lester Raines Kennel), set on Dec. 31, 2015, and matched by UBX Crackereater (Xtrem Hess Racing Kennel) on Nov. 11, 2021.

            JS Cowboy Joe, a July 2023 greyhound out of CTW Pipe Down-JS Just A Flirt, had seven 5/16th starts (two in Maiden and five in Grade D) before the early speedster was moved to the 330-yard course.

            In the $35,000 West Virginia Greyhound Owners and Breeders Association Juvenile Championship in late September, Lester Raines Kennel’s RS’s Kilimanjaro caught the frontrunning GLS Rice Baby on the far turn before pulling away for a 1 ½-length victory in 29.86. Arroyo Falcon (Xtrem Hess Racing Kennel) closed in the stretch to take runner up honors while GLS Major Mike (Jacobs Racing Kennel) got up for third.

            Completing the final order of finish were GLS Yes I Did (Jacobs Racing Kennel), fourth; GLS Rice Baby (Jacobs Racing Kennel), fifth; Arroyo Ashton (Code Red Kennel), sixth; TS Pepperoni (Steve Sarras Kennel), seventh; and RS’s Krakatau (Lester Raines Kennel), eighth.

            In the $65,000 WVGOBA Panhandle Sprint Championship in November, Code Red Kennel’s Arroyo Amanda broke to an early lead and never looked back in capturing the stakes crown by 3 ½ lengths in a swift 29.64. Arroyo Braxton (Code Red Kennel) took runner up honors while rounding out the trifecta ticket was GLS Lucky Lass (Jacobs Racing Kennel).

            Completing the final order of finish were Snoqualmie Falls (Steve Sarras Kennel), fourth; CET Vera (Imark Kennel), fifth; Neptune (Steve Sarras Kennel), sixth; Arroyo Falcon (Xtrem Hess Racing Kennel), seventh; and Wild Money Honey (Xtrem Hess Racing Kennel), eighth.

            In the $5,000 Future Stars Preview in late November, Charter Kennel’s Dont Mind If Ido exploded out of the box, rushed to an early lead and romped to a 5 ½-length victory in 30.48. Taking runner up honors was Lee Helga (Steve Sarras Kennel) while Whole Truth (Patriot/Taplin Kennel) rounded out the trifecta ticket.

            Completing the Future Stars Preview order of finish were Newsheriffntown (Steve Sarras Kennel), fourth; WW Expressway (Wayne Ward Kennel), fifth; Chef’s Kiss (Lester Raines Kennel), sixth; WW Late Night (Wayne Ward Kennel), seventh; and WW Head Together (Wayne Ward Kennel), eighth.

            Happy New Year to all racing fans at Wheeling Island and online patrons. Hope 2026 brings plenty of winning tickets.