Frank Passero Jr., the man who still holds the record for most wins at one Woodbine meet by a trainer, passed away Tuesday morning in Toronto. Passero, born in Fort Erie, succumbed after a long battle with cancer. He was 77.
Based at Woodbine for most of his excellent career, Passero collected two other Woodbine training titles in 1981 (Autumn meet) and 1992, in addition to his still-standing record mark of 89 wins in 1995. He also recorded five Ontario training championships, including titles at Greenwood and Fort Erie, in 1981, 1982, 1988, 1992 and 1995.
Characterized as the “King of the Claimers” for much of his career, he also won dozens of stakes races, including multiple added-money wins by I Can’t Believe, Fleet Wahine and Wild Zone. He earned his training license in 1965 and finished with 2,061 lifetime scores.
He is probably best known for his remarkable accomplishment of winning a world-record 14 consecutive races at Gulfstream Park in Florida in 1996.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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