Lou Raffetto’s firing hits hard within Maryland racing

ob security is an oxymoron when it comes to Magna Entertainment Corp.’s race track executives. The old “revolving door” cliche frequently applies to the Frank Stronach-led racing empire that has had about a dozen employees exit leadership positions at its various tracks within the past several years.

Still, Lou Raffetto’s firing hit particularly hard for many people within Maryland racing.
Raffetto joined the Maryland Jockey Club as chief operating officer on January 1, 2001, when the company, which is the corporate owner of Maryland’s two major mile tracks, Laurel Park and Pimlico, was still controlled by Joe De Francis. The De Francis family and partners sold a controlling interest in the MJC to Magna in November 2002. This past September, Magna exercised its right to buy the remaining equity, and it is now the sole owner of the MJC.
It was no coincidence that Raffetto’s dismissal, on November 28, closely followed Magna’s acquisition. Internal politics were apparently his undoing.

Raffetto, who was named president in addition to his COO title a few years back, was not beloved by everyone who came in contact with him. But his approval rating was about as good as it gets for someone in his line of work.

Opinions differ on what makes someone well-qualified to run a race track—and on ways to define a job well-done.

If prerequisites include a passion for racing, Lou, a frustrated trainer, has an obviously ample supply of that.

He was willing to work toward reasonable solutions on those inevitable occasions when tensions ran high between the race tracks and other segments of the industry, including horsemen, breeders and the Maryland Million.
As a result, Maryland racing held together fairly well over the past several years, during what has been arguably the most challenging phase in its long history.
Raffetto’s replacement, Chris Dragone, has a big job ahead of him. And he deserves the industry’s support.

As much as we empathize with Raffetto over the loss of his job, we tend not to dwell on his trouble. Raffetto no doubt will have his choice of desirable career moves, while the Maryland Jockey Club may be at a loss without him.