PHILIP MARCELO
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Local horse owners and trainers trying to keep live thoroughbred races going at Suffolk Downs have enlisted a longtime racing executive to help coordinate their efforts.

Louis Raffetto, who oversaw racing operations at Suffolk Downs before taking a similar post for the owners of Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, is a consultant for the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.

Raffetto and other association members attended a Massachusetts Gaming Commission public hearing in Boston on Tuesday on their proposal.

The association still needs to work out the financing and lease terms for operating the track, which is owned by Sterling Suffolk Racecourse. The company is not seeking to continue races in 2015 after gambling regulators rejected Mohegan Sun’s $1.1 billion casino project on track property.

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