S. Lester Raines

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 than35years. He has been a major contributor, as an owner, kennel operator and leader toward the betterment of the industry.

He began his foray into greyhound racing in 1986 with the purchase of two greyhounds from Henry and Joann Dixon and within a few years had blossomed into a leading kennel operator at tracks throughout the country.

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 AllAmericans Flying Titanium, Afleet Alex, Fortress Of Gold, Barts Out of my way, 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 Out of my way and JS Flamin Ace are now beginning promising stud careers. Other dominant stars included names like Casual Casey, Atascocita Sig, Ribard and Soul Cipherand 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 RockyBalboa 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 GreyhoundAssociation’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 VirginiaOwners and Breeders Association as well as the West Virginia Kennel Association. Lester has supported and fought for positive greyhound legislation around the country, particularly in WestVirginia throughout his time in the industry.