RON GURFEIN PASSES
Columbus, OH — Hall of Fame trainer Ron Gurfein, 80, died May 5, 2021.
Mr. Gurfein was one of the top conditioners of trotters and a 2006 inductee into the Hall of Fame in Goshen, N.Y.
He opened up his stable in 1965, moved to Monticello in 1967 and spent the better part of the next two decades at the Mighty M. He toiled in relative obscurity through that time even though he won the 1982 Adios Stakes with Higher Power and also conditioned the likes of Hardesty ($367,426) and the world champion mare Franconia ($527,151).
Mr. Gurfein moved to The Meadowlands in 1987 and five years later came up with an imposing trio of Imperfection, Baltic Striker, and Lady Starlet. He hit the pinnacle of the sport later that decade with horses such as Victory Dream and Beat The Wheel.
The best horse of his career was the outstanding trotting filly Continentalvictory, who captured the Yonkers Trot and Hambletonian in 1996 on her way to earning Horse of the Year honors.
Other top horses for Mr. Gurfein included 1999 Dan Patch Award divisional champion Self Possessed and 2003 Trotter of the Year Cantab Hall.
Mr. Gurfein won the 1999 Glen Garnsey Trainer of the Year Award from the United States Harness Writers’ Association.
- from the USTA Communications Department
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