Abe Stoltzfus, 81, longtime horseman, passes

Columbus, OH — Abram (Abe) Stoltzfus, 81, died suddenly on Oct. 4, 2023, in Lexington, Ky., at the harness racing horse sale doing what he loved to do.

Mr. Stoltzfus was oldest of nine siblings, born of an Amish family in Lancaster, Pa.

His father, Amos, bought him his first car at the age of 16 so he could drive him around the different racetracks to buy road horses. This started Mr. Stoltzfus’ love for the sport as he went on to drive and train numerous Grand Circuit horses throughout the east coast and California.

He was admired for his excellent horsemanship and yearling selection. He went to the horse sales for 50-plus years. He was most proud of his immaculate stable of the red, white and black with never even a piece of straw out of place.

As a driver he won 1,358 races with $7,791,267 in purses according to the USTA.

Stoltzfus had been associated with several top horses, including the ill-fated Toplady Almahurst, who won her first 10 starts as a 2-year-old in 1975 before dying suddenly. He also developed the top pacing filly Lexie, who went undefeated as a two-year-old in 1990, winning ten straight races.

Other stable stars include Till We Meet Again, the national 2-year-old champion of 1989 with earnings of $820,791, and Storm Prince, a 7-year-old pacer with 40 victories in 130 starts and earnings of $468,913 and Three Times One, p,5,1:55.4m ($440,016).

In his later years, living in Florida, he was a key part in his son Mike and daughter-in-law Amy’s produce business, helping a few mornings a week and loving being a part of it all.

He continued to maintain his strong relationship with Roz, Ralph and Doug Paul of M & L of Delaware and looked forward to going to the various horse sales every fall picking out yearlings for them.

And he was an icon at Spring Garden Ranch, his favorite training facility, dropping in often to watch all the horses train or to just sit and socialize with all his horsemen friends.

Mr. Stoltzfus is survived by his son, Mike (Amy Sylvester); daughter, Taelor (Ethan) Messer; grandchildren, Jillian, Kacey, and Kylee; and great-grandchildren, Morgan and Grace. His was preceded in death by his daughter, Maleyna.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Harness Horse Youth Foundation.

From the USTA