DRF Chartcaller Jack Smallwood Dead

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Jack Smallwood, longtime Daily Racing Form chartcaller and columnist, and father of Gulfstream Park's Jayne Tollefsen, died Tuesday, three days before his 77th birthday, at his home in Pembroke Pines, Fla.

A native of Grand View, Ind., Smallwood began his racetrack career as a youth, walking hots for Kenny Noe Sr. at Ellis Park. Eventually he and Noe's son, Kenny Jr., took on assistant trainer duties there.

Smallwood joined the Form in 1956, and worked on the Ohio circuit and at Fairmount Park, Finger Lakes, Philadelphia Park, and Garden State before covering South Florida tracks. He retired in 1992.

Longtime friend Jack Wilson worked with Smallwood for several years.

"We first met in the early '60s at Garden State and were together at the Form's old offices in Miami," he said. "Jack had a real good feel for horses, which came from his prior experience. That's what helped him become a top-notch man with the Form."

In addition to Jayne, Smallwood's survivors include a son, Jon.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America.

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