John Parisella, a colorful horseman who trained winners over 47 consecutive years during a career with 1,241 victories, died July 3 at a Long Island, N.Y., hospital, his ex-wife, Melissa, told Daily Racing Form. He was 85.
Parisella built a reputation as both an accomplished conditioner and one of racing's most memorable personalities. He trained graded stakes winners on both coasts, worked for prominent owners from the worlds of entertainment and sports, and developed friendships that extended well beyond the racing community.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Parisella attended St. John's University before working as an assistant to trainer Tom Gullo, father of former trainer Gary Gullo. Parisella saddled his first runners in 1969 and continued training until his retirement in 2016. His horses won 18% of their 6,770 starts and earned more than $23 million.
Gary Gullo said he had known Parisella since he was age 7 or 8, when his father arranged for Parisella to tutor him. They spent more time becoming friends than hitting the schoolbooks.
Besides assisting Tom Gullo, Parisella worked under John Campo before launching his own career.
Gullo recalled Parisella getting a late-model Cadillac while he was his father's assistant, a move he knew Tom Gullo would find too much for a young man working on a modest assistant trainer's salary.
So Parisella parked the Cadillac "four blocks away so my dad wouldn't see it," Gary Gullo said.
"That's the way John was. He lived way above his means all the time," he added.
Gullo praised Parisella's kindness and horsemanship. Parisella adapted his training to each animal's traits, much like the late Hall of Famer Allen Jerkens, "because these guys are like part horse," Gullo quipped.
Parisella captured 22 graded stakes races with Am Capable, Chapel of Dreams, Chieftan's Command, Danzig's Dance, Don Rickles, Fight Over, Fray Star, Gen'l Practitioner, Jacque's Tip, Jones Time Machine, Kamikaze Rick, Raja's Shark, Ruby Rubles, and Simply Majestic.
Fight Over ran third in the 1984 Preakness Stakes (G1), and Simply Majestic showed in the 1988 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T).
Though Parisella trained mostly in New York, he also trained in California in the 1970s. He trained horses for actors and entertainers including James Caan, Jack Klugman, and Telly Savalas, leading Klugman to christen him the "Trainer to the Stars." The nickname stayed with him and later became a portion of the title of his biography, "From the Streets of Brooklyn to Trainer to the Stars," written by Denny Dressman.
His celebrity connections led to appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," and friendships that extended well beyond the racetrack, but fellow trainers were some who knew him best.
"He thought differently. The way he worked was different. Everything he did in life was different," retired trainer Gary Sciacca said. "I mean, I can't describe it—he was a unique kind of person."
Sciacca recalled Parisella was close friends with basketball coach Rick Pitino, and when Pitino coached the New York Knicks, Sciacca saw Parisella on the basketball floor during pregame warmups, passing the ball to the team's famous players.
"John lived life larger than life. He wanted the very best, and that's what he did," Sciacca said.
Pitino is the godfather of Melissa and John Parisella's daughter, Gabby. Parisella was the stepfather of reality star Bethenny Frankel after he married Bernadette Birk, the ex-wife of the late trainer Bobby Frankel.
Melissa Parisella told Daily Racing Form that a funeral service will be held in September in New York after the Saratoga meet ends.
