Raymond J. Destefano
, New York
Raymond was born in Brooklyn on July 13 1950 andmoved to Floral Park in the fall of 1954. His house was less than twoblocks from Belmont Racetrack and he developed a fascination from a very young age with horses. At 16 years old with no experience he went to the barn of Frank "Pancho" Martin and asked for a summer job. Raymond started byworking as a hot walker cooling the horses down after a workout.He worked for Frank Martin eachsummer until he graduated from Cornell University in 1973 with a degree in Quantitative Genetics. Raymondstarted working that summer for Murty Brothers Horse Transportation flying thoroughbred horses all over the world. Raymond alsoworked at the starting gate for many years. Raymond worked as a blood stock agent for thoroughbred racehorses and was involved in breeding thoroughbred racehorses. Most of all Raymond loved his family. He is survived by his beloved stepchildren…