Dan Dufford, Monmouth stakes coordinator, dies

Dan Dufford, the stakes coordinator at Monmouth Park, died in his sleep following a short illness on Tuesday at age 66.

Dufford, a former trainer, won 139 races between 1976 and 1998. He went to work in the Monmouth racing office the following year. Dufford was instrumental in lining up horses to compete in Monmouth stakes, especially the Haskell Invitational.

Dufford, known as Duff to his friends, trained a number of horses for Low Meadows Farm in Cream Ridge, N.J., near Freehold. He trained Rumptious, a winner of 13 of 48 starts and more than $315,000, for Low Meadows. Rumptious raced from 1982 to 1990 and won the 1984 Salvator Mile under jockey Herb McCauley.

Dufford recently married his longtime girlfriend, Charlene. Services will be private.