Clyde Lemon

Clyde Lemon, of Portis, Kansas, first became interested in greyhounds while working as a soda jerk during his early high school days in Selden, Kansas, when he became acquainted with Albert Horne, an Englishman who raced greyhounds at coursing meets for a hobby. Horne’s brother, Charles, was responsible for starting the stud records of the National Coursing Association and introduced Lemon to the elite of greyhound men.

In 1933, during the Great Depression, Horne started Lemon in the registered greyhound business when Lemon purchased Fairest Fashion, one of Horne’s well-bred females, with whom he produced his first high-priced sellers, $100.00 at the time, Wild Honey and Dictation. He has since built a nationwide reputation for the quality of dogs he has raised and trained. One of his dogs was Rural Rube, the first greyhound to be inducted into the Greyhound Hall of Fame.

Lemon ran his first greyhound in the National Coursing Meet in 1934 and was a regular at every meet for many years. He has acquired over sixty-five trophies from the coursing parks, a record that has never been topped. Lemon sold dogs to well-knowns such as Bud Carroll, Jack Roche, Merrill Blair, R.K. Malcomb, Sonny Alderson, Fred Whitehair, and Keith Dillon. After his retirement, he would get calls from strangers seeking his advice on raising greyhounds. He is a former Vice-President of the National Coursing Association and served as chairman of the executive boards for years. He continued in the greyhound business into his late seventies. As he always stated, “Dogs have been good to me, and they’re always going to get the best I have.” Records and tales from the men of Lemon’s era verify this as his formula for success in raising greyhounds.