Vaccarezza finds support after Gulfstream entries dispute

Track officials and trainers are providing support to young trainer Nick Vaccarezza after he was denied entries at Gulfstream Park.

As initially reported by BloodHorse, the South Florida track will not allow Vaccarezza to enter its races this fall, and his father, trainer Carlo Vaccarezza, believes the decision is in retaliation for his opposition to 1/ST's efforts to decouple its racing and casino licenses.

Carlo Vaccarezza told Horse Racing Nation he left training early this year so he could concentrate on decoupling-opposition efforts and transferred his horses to his son.

Nick Vaccarezza was denied stalls at Gulfstream for this fall, his father said, because track officials said he couldn't race horses owned by his father. So Carlo went to Frankfort and removed his name from the limited liability corporation of his stable, adding the name of his other son, Michael.

When the track still declined to allot stalls, other trainers offered to let Nick Vaccarezza use some of their stalls at Palm Beach Downs. But then he was told that the track would not accept his entries, with no reason given.

Steve Screnci, president of racing and business development of 1/ST Racing and Gaming, provided the following statement Wednesday afternoon:

"The deadline for stall applications for the 2025/2026 Gulfstream Park Winter Meet expired on Sunday, Sept. 28. No application from Nick Vaccarezza was ever received. Last year, well before decoupling legislation was introduced, the application from Carlo Vaccarezza was denied based on the historical lack of starts and too few horses compared to stalls requested since 2021. Additionally, Nick has never been told by anyone from 1/ST RACING that has his entries will be refused. Entries are considered on a case-by-case basis. To link this to the ongoing decoupling conversation is entirely false."

Both Vaccarezzas said officials from Churchill Downs and Keeneland have been very supportive of Nick.

Carlo Vaccarezza said he has had,"without exaggeration, a few hundred phone calls, text messages from a lot of, without mentioning names, big, big, big trainers that show their support. I have a tremendous amount of help and calls from Churchill Downs and Keeneland that they offer Nick any accommodation if they want to stay in Keeneland, if he wants to go to Fair Grounds, if he wants to go to Turfway Park. Whatever location they have, they're going to be open."

"They're just really for the horsemen in Kentucky," Nick Vaccarezza said. "I'll just go to Fair Grounds and support Churchill down there."

Carlo Vaccarezza said that what bothers him the most "is they’re blaming a 25-year-old kid that his passion has been all his life to be a horse trainer. He's doing extremely, extremely well. His passion is horse racing. He's a well-liked kid in the industry, and he got punished for something that I did, right or wrong, you know? And the only thing I did, I'm on the wrong side of the fence. They like chocolate, I like vanilla. They like decoupling, I'm against decoupling."

Nick Vaccarezza worked with Chad Brown when he was in high school and was his foreman for three years. After graduating from the University of Kentucky's equine-science program, he went to his father's stable and worked under assistant Reynaldo Abreu. He went out on his own in January.

"Golden Afternoon was really the deciding factor of it all," he said.

The 3-year-old gelding by Goldencents, who had been trained by Carlon Vaccarezza, finished fourth in the Grade 3 Lecomte in Nick's first start. Golden Afternoon was second last out in the Franklin-Simson (G1) and won a black-type stakes at Presque Isle Downs before that. His next start could come in the Bryan Station (G3) at Keeneland on Oct. 25.

Nick Vaccarezza also had a debut winner, Trouble Time, in a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Nick Vacarezza, 25, has overcome personal difficulties as well. He survived the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018 that left 17 dead, and he was diagnosed with testicular cancer this year.

"It hasn't been easy, but on top of the hard life being a racetracker is, I've got to deal with everything in between. But those are just trials and tribulations."