Racing Official Creel Dies at 64

Tom Creel, who served as a racing official at tracks in New England, the Mid-Atlantic region, and in Florida for four decades, died on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25. He was 64.

Creel underwent surgery for a blood clot in his leg two weeks ago and in the aftermath suffered a heart attack. He had been hospitalized in upstate New York.

"New England racing has lost a wonderful man and a great friend to all horsemen," said Anthony Spadea Jr., president of the New England affiliate of the HBPA. "Tom Creel was a great person who really helped New England horsemen. He will be remembered as a great guy to all of us and he was as good of a racing secretary as could be. We extend our sincere sadness to his family and friends."

Creel, who was named Delaware Park's racing secretary in January 2019 following a three-year stint as the assistant racing secretary at Parx Racing, had deep New England roots. He got his start in the game at age 13 when he bought his first horse for $100 at the old Green Mountain track in Pownal, Vt., and then he trained and raced his small stable at several tracks in the Northeast, including Finger Lakes and Pocono Downs.

In 1984 he took a job as a valet at the now-defunct Rockingham Park in Salem, N.H., and one year later got his first job as a racing official when he became a horse identifier there. He worked his way up in the racing office and then became the racing secretary for the old Massachusetts Fair Circuit throughout the 1990s. 

During that period, he worked for one year as the stall man at Tampa and as a racing official at the now-shuttered Suffolk Downs in East Boston prior to being named Suffolk's racing secretary in 2008. He served admirably in that post until the track ended full live meets in 2014 and then raced abbreviated meets of six to eight days through 2019. In 2020 he was the morning-line oddsmaker at Tampa Bay Downs.

"He was more than a boss. He was my best friend," said Gerry Stanislawzyk, the stakes coordinator at Tampa Bay Downs and Monmouth Park's assistant racing secretary, who worked as Creel's assistant at Suffolk Downs over the many years. "He was an even better friend than he was a boss, and he was a great boss. He was the best. He will be very missed by all the many people whose lives he touched."

Creel is survived by his son, Chris, a former jockey agent and currently the assistant to trainer Tom Foley, who races at Tampa Bay Downs and Finger Lakes; daughter Amanda; and grandson Benjamin.

Funeral arrangements are pending.