Vaccarezza Says Gulfstream Will Deny Son's Entries

A roller coaster year for Nick Vaccarezza took another drop recently as the 25-year-old trainer said he was informed by Gulfstream Park that his entries to the track will not be accepted. This decision came ahead of a new session for Florida lawmakers, where the ongoing decoupling issue—in which track operator 1/ST seeks to decouple its Thoroughbred racing and casino licenses—is set to be renewed. Vaccarezza's father, Carlo, has been an outspoken opponent of decoupling and he believes Gulfstream is denying his son stalls to punish him. "This is more a vendetta against me, and they're trying to hurt me by hurting my son," Carlo Vaccarezza said. "If you take all the stalls from people that are against decoupling, then there will be nobody running at Gulfstream Park." BloodHorse has attempted to confirm or receive additional information regarding the decision by 1/ST Racing and Gaming from president of racing and business development Steve Screnci, but calls were not returned. Carlo Vaccarezza's opposition to decoupling came following a summer 2024 meeting of the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen in which he said board members were "bullied" by 1/ST to support the decoupling bill. In February, the group would take an opposing stance. That horsemen's group had not been affiliated with a national horsemen's organization. Then, in March, the horsemen's organization representing Thoroughbred owners and trainers at Gulfstream rejoined the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association as an affiliate. READ: South Florida Horsemen Change Course, Oppose Decoupling Carlo stepped aside from his training operation in January, passing the stable to Nick, so that the elder Vaccarezza could focus on fighting decoupling. He hired the Tallahassee, Fla.-based firm GrayRobinson to begin lobbying against decoupling with lawmakers. It worked in the background as the newly formed Thoroughbred Racing Initiative took up the public fight. Through a unified effort of top industry leaders, breeders, owners, and trainers, the decoupling bill failed to pass by the end of the spring session. READ: Florida Horsemen Say "Decoupling" Effectively Dead In August, Gulfstream Park filed a lawsuit to renew the decoupling fight. As a new session of Florida's congress approached, Vaccarezza again filed to oppose. Meanwhile, Nick Vaccarezza was completing his first summer of training on his own at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., after undergoing testicular cancer surgery. With the cancer removed, the summer ended with a bang as he earned his first grade 1-placing with Golden Afternoon in the Sept. 6 Franklin-Simpson Stakes (G1T) at Kentucky Downs. Nick planned to move his string of about a dozen horses to Gulfstream in mid-October, hoping to earn a few victories before top trainers from around the country descended upon the Championship Meet in late November. However, Vaccarezza said he was contacted by Gulfstream and told that would not be the case. According to Carlo, Nick was first told that he would be able to enter horses that were not owned by his father's Vaccarezza Racing. To comply with this decision, Carlo went to Frankfort, Ky., and resigned from the limited liability company, which was then placed under the name of his other son, Michael. "They asked me to send the papers," Carlo said. After sending them the change in ownership, "They said to Nick they're not going to give you stalls." With stalls denied, Nick asked if he would be able to train elsewhere at a training center, such as Palm Beach Downs or Payson Park, instead. "They thought about it, and they responded they wouldn't take entries from him regardless of where they were stabled," Carlo said. Carlo said he recognizes that, as private property, Gulfstream Park holds the right to deny entry to anyone it wants. However, he is concerned about the precedent it sets. "It can set a precedent; it can happen to anybody else," he said. "Now that it has happened to me, how many people are going to go to Tallahassee and take the stand against decoupling? People will think twice." Nick Vaccarezza grew up in South Florida attending Calder Race Course and Gulfstream Park. He has strong ties to the community, having survived the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 students and staff, including his friend Joaquin Oliver. He said he felt betrayed by Gulfstream's decision. "That's where I'm from and always thought I'd call home for the winter. All my life is and has been in South Florida," Nick Vaccarezza said. "Racetracks should be pushing and begging for new people in the sport, not pushing away the good ones. … There was no better feeling than to win at Gulfstream. I was looking forward to doing so in my own name." Nick Vaccarezza has experienced plenty of success at Gulfstream as a foreman for trainer Chad Brown and an assistant to his father's training operation before the transition. His training stable has been smaller this year than his father's had been, as many of their horses were claimed, sold, or retired at the end of last year. Several of his trainees are 2-year-olds who were unable to start the first half of the year. He has hit the board in seven of his 17 starts and has earned a stakes victory and grade 1 placing with Golden Afternoon. He just earned his second lifetime win on Sept. 27 at Churchill Downs with Trouble Time, a first-time starter. "There are a lot of bad people who are allowed to race horses at their tracks," Nick Vaccarezza said. "When I asked them why they do not rule those people off, I was told that they could not get rid of them because they provide a majority of the track's entries. Maybe someday, when I apply for 100 stalls, they will be forced the same way to let me go there." Nick has received support from tracks in Kentucky and will likely stay put for the fall. In the winter, he is considering stabling at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and Tampa Bay Downs. Meanwhile, Carlo does not plan to let this situation intimidate him from continuing the fight. "We need to fight decoupling again and win," he said. "We can't allow all those thousands and thousands of jobs to disappear."