Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Gurfein & Thomson elected into Hall Of Fame

September 26, 2005

Three-time Hambletonian-winning trainer Ron Gurfein and Little Brown Jug Society President W.D. "Tom" Thomson have been elected into harness racing's Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York, in voting by members of the U.S. Harness Writers Association (USHWA) and Hall of Fame members.

Gurfein, who began training Standardbreds more than 35 years ago, won his first major stake in 1982 with Higher Power in the Adios for three-year-old colt pacers. Over the years, Gurfein developed a reputation for being a master with trotters, winning his three Hambletonians in the span of six years in the 1990s - Victory Dream (1994), Continentalvictory (1996) and Self Possessed (1999).

Self Possessed's 1:51.3 Hambletonian victory time stood until 2004 as the fastest trotting mile for a three-year-old in history, Gurfein also trained Beat The Wheel, whose 1:51.4 record for female trotters, set in 1994, has yet to be surpassed. Peaceful Way equaled the record earlier this year. In addition, Gurfein has won five Breeders Crowns, most recently with 2003 Trotter of the Year Cantab Hall, the first two-year-old to ever be voted to that honor.

Thomson has followed in the footsteps of his late father, Hank, in keeping the Delaware County Fair and Little Brown Jug as a prime stop on the Grand Circuit. Besides being president of the society, Thomson - who first starting working as an "errand boy" at the fair while a teenager - also serves as the director of racing at the Delaware, Ohio County Fairgrounds, a position he has held since 1973. He has served for the past 13 years as Grand Circuit president.

All of the inductees will be introduced at the 2005 Dan Patch Awards dinner at the Harness Racing Congress on February 8, 2006 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. Formal induction ceremonies are at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York, on July 2, 2006. In order to attain election into the Hall of Fame, a nominee must receive at least 75 percent of returned votes.