John Patterson, 83, top horse trainer

ATLANTA -- John Frank Patterson Sr., a Hall of Fame harness racing trainer and driver, died Sunday of leukemia. He was 83.

Mr. Patterson was inducted into the sport's Hall of Fame in 1993 for his accomplishments.

"Aside from his outstanding horsemanship, he was very much beloved in our sport for his courtly and gentlemanly manner," said Ellen Harvey, spokeswoman for the US Trotting Association.

Mr. Patterson trained and raced multiple world-record holder Overtrick, who won the Little Brown Jug -- one of the sport's major races -- in 1963 in Delaware, Ohio.

He also raced Merrie Annabelle, who set four world records and broke a milestone in the sport in 1958 by becoming the first filly to log a two-minute time on a mile-long course in Lexington, Ky.