James J. Blanchard

James J. “Jimmy” Blanchard was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1957. His mother and Father divorced and his Dad, Pat, moved to Florida in the early 60’s where Pat fell in love with greyhound racing while working across the street from the Sanford-Orlando track. Spending the summers of his youth in Florida, Jimmy soon fell in love with the business as well.

Jimmy spent years working on the farm and in kennels honing his craft and learning all he could about the greyhounds. By the time he was 18 years old, he was offered his first trainers job at Monticello and from there he would go on to train with various kennels at numerous tracks around the country. His first booking experience came as a partner with his Dad at Pensacola in 1981. His first solo booking would not come until 1994 when the Jim Blanchard Kennel made its debut at Naples. Since then Jimmy has run all over the country, with kennels at or near the top wherever he ran, most recently with double bookings at Jacksonville until the demise of Florida. His son James continues the family tradition with current bookings at Tri State and Wheeling.

Along with his accomplishments on the racing side, Jimmy has long been a force in the industry as a board member of the NGA for some 20 plus years. He also served on the Board of the AGC for many years and was the main point man for the Florida Greyhound Association and their seemingly endless battles with the Florida track operators. Jimmy supported and fought for positive greyhound legislation around the country, particularly in Florida and Iowa throughout his time in the industry.

Jimmy spent many, many days, weeks and years fighting for the betterment ofthe sport and of all the people involved in it, mostly at his own time and expense and left an indelible mark on the industry.