Hall of Fame

Lester Hollenback was born August 24, 1922 in Macomb, Illinois. As a master horseshoer, he had a great influence over the careers of many star racehorses. Some of his charges included Dudley Hanover, winner of the 1950 Little Brown Jug; 1951 Harness Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame Immortal Pronto Don; 1970 Hambletonian winner Timothy T; Waymaker, winner of the 1974 Kentucky Futurity; 1979 Kentucky Futurity winner and Hall of Fame Immortal Classical Way; and 1986 Kentucky Futurity and 1988 March of Dimes Trot winner Sugarcane Hanover.

Serving in Burma during World War II as a part of the famous infantry troop Merrill’s Marauders, Hollenback would walk many miles a day, fight the enemy and then shoe mules at night. After his cavalry days were over in 1945, Hollenback returned to the United States to begin a domestic shoeing career.

In 1965 Hollenback established the Midwest Horseshoeing School in Macomb, Illinois. The school is still in existence and is now associated with the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. In 1971 he moved on to shoe horses at the Ben White Raceway in Orlando. There, he shod for some of the best Standardbred trainers in the world, including John Simpson (Sr. and Jr.), Frank Ervin, Ralph Baldwin and Ned Bower. In 2002 Hollenback was inducted into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.

Lester Hollenback passed away in Florida on July 16, 2020 at the age of 97.