Thoroughbred trainer Jeff Williams, 49, kept horses at the Thoroughbred Training Center on Paris Pike. "He was particularly good with young horses," said Dayton, Ohio, lawyer Larry Denny who grew up with Williams in Centerville, Ohio, south of Dayton, where they both showed saddlebreds as youngsters.

"He was a complete horseman. He was a very good polo player and trainer of polo ponies," Denny said. "And he trained thoroughbred stakes winners."

Williams' horses raced at Keeneland, but also at many Ohio tracks. He played polo all over Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana on the Dayton Polo Club. "Back in the 1980s, we played the Mid-States League in Louisville and Jeff scored the winning goal in overtime. He was a hell of a good polo player," Denny said. "He was a fun person, very well liked by everybody in all the horse business."