PROFILE: Ollie Ostendorf was born in 1879 in Illinois and moved with his family by covered wagon to Nebraska three years later. He became active in the greyhound industry at a young age and was known for his honesty and good sportsmanship.

HISTORY: In Nebraska, his family acquired a number of unregistered greyhounds which were pitted against neighborhood dogs in coursing matches. Later the family moved to Marysville, Kansas where a parish priest gave Ollie a pair of imported Irish greyhounds. At 16 he won his first purse money from greyhound racing when he entered them in a Waterville, Kansas coursing meet and they finished second and third. When he received word of a greyhound race with a large purse ($30-$40), he loaded six of his speediest greyhounds and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. He saw his first greyhound race in the fall of 1920 when O.P Smith, inventor of the electric lure, and J.M McNulty, local oil baron, opened a race meeting at Mid-Continent Kennel Club in Tulsa. He followed Smith to the Miami Kennel Club in Hialeah.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Ostendorf won many honors and considerable purse money in national coursing and racing meets. Some of his famous greyhounds were WILDEST DILLON, KILLARNEY LAD, WILL CATCHUM, LUCKY NEWS, NO NEW INKERMAN, BANA VIEW, GLIDER, LEG GAMBLE, FENCE GUARD, and VICTORY DRIVE. Only a few greyhound tracks in the United States have not had the Ostendorf string on their booking lists.