Suffolk Superintendent Steven Pini Dies at 63
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By Lynne Snierson
Steven J. Pini, the longtime track superintendent at Suffolk Downs and a third generation employee of the racetrack, suffered a fatal heart attack Sept. 1. He was 63.
Pini was the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Sam McCracken Memorial Award for lifetime contributions to New England racing, which is bestowed annually by the New England Turf Writers Association. His grandfather went to work at Suffolk Downs when the track opened in 1935 and his father joined the staff in 1938 and remained an employee for 40 years.
One of Pini's fondest memories of his tenure as track superintendent was not only having the racing strip in prime condition for eventual Hall of Famer Cigar's back-to-back wins in the 1995-96 Massachusetts Handicap, but for being the one who set up the orange cones and waved the flags so that the helicopter carrying the horse's owners, Allen and Madeleine Paulson, could land in the infield.
At the time of his death, he was in charge of making sure that the Suffolk Downs main track and turf course were at optimal condition when the track opens for training on the morning of Sept. 4, one day before live racing returns Sept. 5 for the first of three racing festivals this fall.
Pini is survived by his wife, Joyce, daughters Jaclyn Peppucci and Christine Pini, and grandchildren Sam, Madeline, and Lilah.
The wake will be at the McDonald Funeral Home in Wakefield, Mass. on Sept. 3 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET and a funeral mass will be at St. Joseph's Church in Wakefield the morning of Sept. 4.
The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.