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#1
11-28-2007, 04:44 PM
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Lou Raffetto Leaving MD J.C.
MARYLAND JOCKEY CLUB ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE OF LOU RAFFETTO
BALTIMORE, 11-28-07---The Maryland Jockey Club ("MJC") announced today that Lou Raffetto, President and Chief Operating Officer of MJC, will be leaving MJC effective immediately to pursue other opportunities. Chris Dragone, a former Senior Vice-President and General Manager at MJC, has been appointed as President and General Manager. MJC is the trade name under which Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park operate. Frank Stronach, Chairman of MJC, stated, “Lou worked very hard during his tenure with MJC to manage the day-to-day operations and improve the future of thoroughbred racing in the state of Maryland. We wish him well in his future endeavors.” Raffetto stated, “I wish my colleagues at MJC well going forward and hope that the company will be successful in implementing its long-term plans.” Dragone joined Magna Entertainment Corp. (“MEC”) in 2002 and served as General Manager of Great Lakes Downs and Portland Meadows prior to his appointment with MJC in February 2006. Dragone left MJC after eight months for personal and family reasons and since that time has acted as executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders' Inc. The son of former New York Racing Association Chairman Allan Dragone, Chris Dragone has held numerous management jobs at race tracks across the country. The Dragone family owns December Hill Farm in New Jersey. Stronach stated, “MEC remains strongly committed to the future success of thoroughbred racing in Maryland. To this end we will put the full support of MEC behind Chris and the MJC management team.” Dragone added, “I look forward to working towards improving the racing and entertainment experience for Maryland horsemen and our customers. Working with the other key stakeholders I hope to build upon the platform established by Lou Raffetto and the De Francis family.”
__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984. 
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#2
11-28-2007, 04:51 PM
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Huge loss for Maryland. Best of luck to Lou...
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#3
11-28-2007, 06:12 PM
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Who fires people on a Wednesday afternoon?
__________________
"Have the clean racing people run any ads explaining that giving a horse a Starbucks and a chocolate poppyseed muffin for breakfast would likely result in a ten year suspension for the trainer?" - Dr. Andrew Roberts
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#5
11-29-2007, 10:07 AM
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Hate to see anyone lose their job but I never cared for Raffetto's "Suffolk South" transformation of the MD condition book. I also never cared for the way he snuggled up to Robert Cole whenever he got a chance.
I thought MJC was fairly happy with Raffetto's performance considering what he now has to work with. Then again, maybe that on-air interview with Steve a few weeks ago did him in.... 
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#6
11-29-2007, 10:52 PM
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I know quite a few horseman had less than nice things to say about Rafetto and his policies/treatment of them. That was enough for me to not like him. Without the horseman there is no show.
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#7
11-29-2007, 11:24 PM
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I know quite a few horseplayers had great things to say about Rafetto and his policies/treatment of them. That was enough for me to like him. Without the horseplayers there is no show.
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#8
11-29-2007, 11:34 PM
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Not to me.
You find me a horseman that believes he's more important than the players and I'll show you a horseman that doesn't get it. And I'll also find you at least one Hall of Fame trainer that will absolutely agree with me.
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#9
11-30-2007, 10:40 AM
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Well, while I know phystech is involved in racing in MD and TBfan may be, it's hard to argue with John Franzone (Chairman, MD Racing Commission), Richard Hoffberger (Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association President) and Alan Foreman (Councel to the MTHA) and their view.
Franzone: Franzone said that when he heard Raffetto was going to be fired, he called Frank Stronach, chairman of Maryland Jockey Club, which runs operates Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park, and pleaded with him to change his mind. "I called him and I said, 'Frank, this is without a doubt the dumbest decision you will ever make, and you guys have made a lot of dumb moves,' " Franzone said. "Everybody likes Lou. Lou is liked down in Annapolis. I'm not saying he can run a slots parlor, but we've got an excellent racing program and the horsemen love him. "I said, 'Not only that, Frank, you guys have such a bad reputation with turnover, you will be sealing your fate with this slots license.' And he doesn't listen. I said, 'Frank, Magna is losing about $25-million a quarter, and Laurel and Pimlico break even. Why don't you send your henchmen after the guys losing money?’ " Foreman: "I think it's the biggest mistake involving Maryland racing since I've been in the industry here," said Alan Foreman, general counsel to the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. "Lou Raffetto gave credibility to Magna that it lacked otherwise in this state. It is a tremendous blow not only to Magna but Maryland racing. "I have no clue as to why this was timed the way it was, handled the way it was, and why it happened. I am astonished and disappointed by this whole thing." Hoffberger: Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association President Richard Hoffberger ripped Magna for firing Raffetto, sarcastically comparing the company's plans for the Maryland tracks to the struggles at Gulfstream Park. “It appears they're developing a plan that is as successful as what they have at Gulfstream, where they took a wonderful winter meet and developed it into one of the worst race books on the East Coast," Hoffberger said. "Their reputation is bad because they haven't been successful. Everything they're doing runs contrary to what the industry believes is the right thing to do." Andy Beyer weighed in this morning as well in the Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...112902073.html And if you didn't hear Matt Hegarty of DRF on 'ATR' last night, I'd invite a listen. He explains, as Beyer does, that Magna stupidly interprets Raffetto as a Joe DeFrancis holdover. http://www.thoroughbredracingradione...,29/Itemid,35/ In fact, as DeFrancis himself said Wednesday, bringing in Raffetto may have been the best thing he had ever done in his tenure at the head of Maryland racing. Stronach, in his bumbling, hapless way, defended the move yesterday explaining he wasn't happy with the financial progress of Pimlico and Laurel. But as Raffetto points out, the reality is that the MJC was doing better than anticipated by MEC. http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/nat...nach-says.aspx If you were 'unhappy' with how Lou Raffetto treated horsemen, a somewhat indefensible position to start with in my opinion, just wait... At least he knew where the backstretch was. It is at least appropriate that a company that operates in its' own Fantasyland tabbed Chris Dragone as Raffetto's replacement... When he worked at Monmouth years ago, his widely used nickname was 'Dumbo'.
__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984.
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#11
11-30-2007, 11:50 AM
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I have no doubt that Dragone has been brought in to be nothing more than a hatchet-man. I have no doubt that Pimlico will be closed soon as a training track. I have no doubt that Bowie Training Center will be sold as soon as Magna can get it done. It's purely a guess but I think Magna might feel it will be easier to force all of this down the throats of MD horsemen without Raffetto in the driver's seat.
As in every business, some of Raffetto's decisions had negative impacts on my racing businesses, and I didn't like some of the things I had to deal with as an owner. But he was/is a decent guy and I had the pleasure of speaking to him a few times about general things. Kind of nice to be sitting at Tycoon's bar in the clubhouse after winning a race and have him come in and buy a round for us. Not a lot of track pres would do that for a way, way, little fish like me.....
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#12
12-01-2007, 12:03 AM
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__________________
You can buy my horse racing/gambling novel Southbound at Amazon, BN, or Powells or various bookstores. On twitter @BeemieAwards
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#13
12-01-2007, 07:22 AM
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I'm sure Lou would be welcome back at Suffolk in some capacity as they attempt their umpteenth resurrection. He was at the helm during their most recent run of success in the mid and late 90's. Any word on his plans, Steve?
__________________
"Boston fans hate the Yankees, we hate the Canadiens and we hate the Lakers. It's in our DNA. It just is." - Bill Simmons
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#14
12-01-2007, 09:17 AM
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Quote:
__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984.
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#15
12-01-2007, 10:00 AM
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Since he's seen both sides of the issues here in MD, I wouldn't mind seeing Lou become the Executive Sec of the MD Horseman's Association. Current office holder, Wayne Wright, does a poor job in my opinion. Come to think of it, I'm not a big fan of Richard Hoffberger, President of MD Horseman's Association, either. I don't think any of these guys have done a decent enough job in representing the horsemen. Lots of money making ideas that they never seem to pursue. They only have one focus - slots.
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#16
12-01-2007, 04:16 PM
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#17
12-01-2007, 04:37 PM
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It's frustrating to see some of the things that go on here in MD when you know that with a little more insight and effort, it could be somewhat different. Lots of blown smoke up the old backside by too many racing officials here for way too many years. I'm sure it's the same way everywhere.......
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#18
12-01-2007, 05:06 PM
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From the Bloodhorse website: (http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=42272)
"Despite the challenges, Dragone believes Maryland racing still has a lot to offer. “Obviously, every day you have the Preakness in the back of your mind because it’s such a big event,” he said of the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. “And we are still running races here year-round. We are going to get the message out that there are still some great opportunities here.” " Ahhhhemmm - Mr. Dragone - you might want to check the racing calendar in Maryland before you make stupid comments. MD hasn't raced year-round since Colonial Downs opened years ago. MD racing stops from mid- June until mid-Aug. Nice start.....
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#19
12-01-2007, 07:58 PM
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Quote:
__________________
You can buy my horse racing/gambling novel Southbound at Amazon, BN, or Powells or various bookstores. On twitter @BeemieAwards
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#20
12-01-2007, 08:08 PM
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