Longtime NYRA racing official Michael Prunetti dies at age 77

Michael Prunetti, who served as the assistant racing secretary at the New York Racing Association and spent upwards of 40 years in a variety of roles as a racing official at New York Thoroughbred tracks, died Friday. He was 77.

Prunetti, a resident of Boca Raton, Fla., was remembered as much for his kindness as his knowledge of horse racing and love for the game.

“What a kind gentleman he was,” said NYRA stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes, who credited Prunetti with teaching him the foundations of racing. “Mike took the time to teach me how to do things the right way. I learned a tremendous amount under him. He was one of the best. He was a jewel.”

Longtime NYRA announcer John Imbriale agreed, calling Prunetti “as conscientious as any employee I’ve ever worked with, a man always willing to help with a calm and easygoing way.”

Prunetti was a native of Trenton, N.J., who joined NYRA as an entry clerk in 1971. He later worked as a claims clerk, placing judge, timer and backup assistant racing secretary prior to his appointment as assistant racing secretary in 1987.

At the track, trainers gave Prunetti the affectionate nickname Little Mikey for maintaining his youthful looks well into middle age, retired National Steeplechase Association general manager Peter McGivney said.

“When he was 50, Mike looked 30,” said McGivney, a fellow NYRA racing official with Prunetti in the late 1970s and ’80s. “Mike was also a genuinely nice guy, loved the game and loved people. Everybody thought the world of him.”

Before joining NYRA, Prunetti served four years in the U.S. Air Force and worked at Claiborne Farm and The Jockey Club. After stepping down from NYRA, he worked in the post-race testing barn for the New York State Gaming Commission.

Retired to Florida, Prunetti volunteered at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center and Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

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