For most 25-year-olds, Friday nights are a time to let loose, have fun, and party into the night. While 2 a.m. Saturday morning may represent the time many of them are returning home from their adventures, it will be the time at which Nick Vaccarezza hears his alarm going off Sept. 6 telling him it's time to start the work day.
And while many of those 25-year-olds may groan about the days that require such an early wake-up, you'll hear no such thing from Vaccarezza as the task at hand will be driving into Ellis Park to load 3-year-old gelding Golden Afternoon on a van to Kentucky Downs. Later that afternoon, he will try to earn his trainer the first top-level victory of his career in the $2 million Franklin-Simpson Stakes (G1T).
"I'm very blessed to be doing what I've wanted to do my whole life," Vaccarezza said. "A lot of people have aspirations to do things in life. I've always wanted to be a trainer. It's been hard for me to wait and wait and wait."
This Saturday morning's routine will match the exact same one he performed a year ago with Golden Afternoon when an assistant to his father, Carlo. That day was successful, with the Goldencents gelding impressing on debut at Kentucky Downs with a 2 3/4-length maiden win.
However, things have changed a lot since then, both professionally and personally, for Vaccarezza. In January, he took over the reins of the operation as his father retired to devote more time to improving the sport of Thoroughbred racing overall.
READ: Lecomte Marks Transition in Vaccarezza Racing Operation
Carlo Vaccarezza still plays a large role in supporting his son's operation and continues to own horses. He owns Golden Afternoon in partnership with Eddie and Pat Greco, Scott Jaffe, and Michael Cloonan.
After his maiden victory, Golden Afternoon finished second in the Bourbon Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland and won in allowance company at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots to end his 2-year-old season. Knowing they had a solid, stakes-quality runner on their hands, Golden Afternoon helped make the decision for the Vaccarezzas to elevate Nick to the lead role.
"This might be the horse that puts me on the map," Vaccarezza said.
The Vaccarezza team had a career-best year in 2024, winning at a 25% rate while hitting the board with 51% of their starters under Carlo's name. However, many of their top horses were either claimed or sold throughout the season, leaving the new trainer with just about a dozen horses—most of which are 2-year-olds who were unable to race the first half of the season.
That scenario could be frustrating for a young trainer eager to start making a splash in the industry right away, but Vaccarezza acquired patience while he waited to start living his dream. It also has given him the benefit of being able to put all his heart and care into each horse, especially the stable star, Golden Afternoon.
The horse and trainer have grown a strong bond since he entered the stable, and he will always be an important piece of the trainer's career as his first to do many things. In the Jan. 18 Lecomte Stakes (G3), he gave the trainer his first starter and graded stakes appearance; on March 1 he gave Vaccarezza his first stakes placing; on May 3 he became the trainer's first grade 1 starter in the American Turf Stakes (G1T); and finally on June 30, he became the trainer's first winner and stakes winner while winning the $96,500 Tom Ridge Stakes at Presque Isle Downs by 2 1/2 lengths.
"It takes a lot of searching and digging to get a horse like Golden Afternoon." Vaccarezza said. "There's four things in racehorses: soundness, stamina, heart, and a good mind. He's got the heart and the will to win. He's got a good mind, and he knows what he's doing. And he's got the stamina and the soundness. He's the complete package."
That complete package will now try to become the trainer's first grade 1 winner in just the 17th time he's sent a horse to post under his name.
Golden Afternoon has also been a golden presence in Vaccarezza's life amidst a tough personal year. In late February, just a month into beginning his lifelong dream of training, he began noticing the signs of what would eventually be diagnosed by the University of Kentucky in April as testicular cancer.
Despite that diagnosis, Vaccarezza refused to miss a day of work as he was preparing Golden Afternoon for the American Turf on Kentucky Derby day while knowing two days after the race he'd be in surgery. The surgery was successful and his follow-up testing has determined he is cancer-free.
"This year makes me a whole lot more grateful and willing to take things in as I go, enjoy the moments," Vaccarezza said. "Enjoy the people that are there for me, enjoy my horses more."
One of the worst parts for Vaccarezza as he underwent the surgery was being away from Golden Afternoon.
"There was a time there where I didn't even get to see Golden Afternoon," Vaccarezza said. "My brother was like, 'That's the longest time the horse has went without seeing you.' It makes you grateful for getting up every day and going through my routine every day to try and become the best trainer that I can."
Vaccarezza's resilience has been tested throughout his life. In 2018, he survived the tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida that claimed the lives of 17 students and staff, including Vaccarezza's friend, Joaquin Oliver. However, these events have helped him put things in perspective as he attempts to grab every opportunity to accomplish his dreams.
"This whole testicular cancer thing made me realize that time is of the essence," Vaccarezza said. "I might not be able to win another grade 1. This might be my last chance to win a grade 1."
Now, Vaccarezza is back where it all began for Golden Afternoon with his 6 1/2-furlong maiden victory, the same distance of the Franklin-Simpson. His triumph over six furlongs on the Presque Isle synthetic was his first start below a mile since.
"I realized I was running him a bit long," Vaccarezza said about the colt's 1 1/16-mile races. "He was always there, and then in the last furlong or two, he's dropping off. I don't regret taking the chances with him. ... I really like the cutback."
Success over the course, which is famed as being the most unique in America due to its pear shape and changes in uphill or downhill elevation, also adds confidence. Breaking from the rail under Jose Ortiz as a longshot, the horse's knowledge and liking of the course could be an equalizer with his rivals.
"The good thing is, this is a race where you're going to find horses that don't like (the course)," Vaccarezza said. "You're going to find horses that can't go past 5 1/2 (furlongs). We know he likes it there. He's a racehorse, he goes to run."
Should Golden Afternoon pull off the victory in the Franklin-Simpson, it will be a historic moment. The win would make 25-year-old Vaccarezza one of, if not the youngest United States-based grade 1-winning trainer since the American Graded Stakes Committee was formed in 1973. The record is believed to be held by Craig Dollase, who was 27 when Reraise won the 1998 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1).
Making his name part of the record books is what drives the young Vaccarezza.
"That's what I'm thinking about, doing big things like that," Vaccarezza said. "I want to be that guy. I want to set records, I want to break records. I'm not aspiring to be a middle-of-the-run trainer, I want to be something special. By Golden Afternoon winning on Saturday, it would be the first real-deal special thing in my career. I hope the right owners will give me more opportunities to train their horses and I'll be able to replicate those special moments for them as well."
Once the summer concludes, Vaccarezza will likely be on his way to Gulfstream Park with his string of horses for an opportunity to be competitive on the grass in the Sunshine Meet ahead of the Championship Meet's start at the end of November.
"Hopefully, I'll be able to get some more wins before the year ends," Vaccarezza said. "If it were 10 horses or 100, I'm just so thankful for the opportunities. I hope that more will believe in me. I will show them why they were right to believe in me."
