Sad to pass on that Connie Merjos has died. Connie was Ragozin's first trackman, and later mine. He invented the job-- he was doing live ground before Ragozin was using it, and showed Ragozin how to use run-ups to clock from the gate. We still use Connie's run-up chart. He trained Spillane.

Connie was a great guy, ran several miles a day and drank a full bottle of hard liquor a day well into at least his 70s. Going way back he played bassoon for NY Philharmonic, and had a lot of stories about going on the road with the orchestra, many of which can't be told here. Back when I was at Ragozin's I used to catch a ride with him to and from the track, and the stories about Julie Fink, The Brain etc. were wild. Great guy.