Highley E. Alderson

Better dogs make the trainer good, Highley Alderson once said, but good trainers make the dogs better.

E. Highley Alderson did indeed reach for and achieve maximum performance from his greyhounds. It is generally conceded that there was none better at the art of training than Highley Alderson.

From the beginning of the century to the late 1950s, Alderson’s reputation as a handler and trainer of greyhounds was unsurpassed. He coursed greyhounds on the salt plains near his hometown of Nash, Okla., before the electric lure was ever invented. In 1922, he raced his dogs at Tulsa, the first successful meet ever held.

Alderson owned and trained some of the finest greyhounds to ever race in this country, including Chance Your Luck, Imp., Gypsy Band, ·Spoken, Laughter and Never Risk. His chargers captured consecutive Wonderland Derby victories in 1947, 1948 and 1949.

It is said that Alderson knew more of what made a greyhound tick and just what the animal was thinking than any other trainer. He considered it a trainer’s challenge to reach for the top performance in each animal.

Alderson’s philosophy was: Never quit until you have made the catch, for there may never be another chase. Most importantly, he believed the greyhound to be one of the finest and most beautiful animals in the world.

Alderson had one last hurrah in his career in 1956, when he took an entourage of young pups and has-beens to the Black Hills meet. The Alderson kennel proceeded to capture more races and purse money than any kennel had previously. To his close friends, this was Highley’s greatest achievement.