The Maryland racing community lost one of its most colorful characters
earlier this week when former Maryland Jockey Club handicapper Clem Florio
passed away Sunday night due to cancer. He was 78.
Florio spent nearly 40 years in Maryland Thoroughbred racing press boxes,
including eight producing morning-line odds at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel
Park (1993 through 2001). He had two lengthy stints as a turf writer for the
Baltimore News-American (1965-78) and Washington Post (1978-87).
“Clem had the heart of Secretariat, the moxie of Affirmed, the pep of War
Admiral, the magnetism of Citation,” longtime friend and colleague Vinnie
Perrone said. “And he could sing better than any of them.”
According to boxrec.com, Florio compiled an 8-6 record as a middleweight
fighter from 1950 to 1964.