Thin Hope
Former Massachusetts governor Paul Cellucci recently resigned as ambassador to Canada after nearly four years of service to join Magna as the vice president of corporate development (Thoroughbred Times). The Boston Herald reports that this development has some Suffolk Downs owners and trainers hoping that Cellucci will rescue the endangered track by convincing Magna to buy it:
“I am looking at Mr. Cellucci as being someone who could be the right person, at the right place, at the right time to bring a fresh breath of air to thoroughbred racing,” said Anthony Spadea Jr., who owns a stable of horses that race at Suffolk….
Bill Lagorio, a Suffolk horseman, wants Cellucci to sell his new boss at Magna, Austrian-immigrant-turned-business-tycoon Frank Stronach, on adding Suffolk to his empire.
“It’s a great track for Stronach,” Lagorio said, citing the money the gambling chief could make “resurrecting this track and making it a showplace.”
I don’t remember Cellucci as much of a friend to horse racing during his brief governership. That he’s being put forward as a possible savior can be taken as a sign of how desperate Suffolk’s situation has become.
