Nick Vaccarezza

Kentucky-based Thoroughbred trainer. Winters in South Florida.

Churchill Downs paddock, Clark Handicap day.

“Before I could read or write I loved horses and the sport of horse racing. In 2012 my family campaigned Breeders' Cup Turf Champion and 4x Grade 1 winner Little Mike. The journey God put us on with Little Mike proved to me my purpose, and what I want to do forever.”

Nick grew up in a racing family. In 2012 the Vaccarezzas campaigned Little Mike to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf — a four-time Grade 1 winner, trained by Dale Romans — and that settled what Nick was going to do with his life. He was a boy at the time.

His father Carlo was training, and Nick worked in the barn whenever school let him. Out of high school in 2018 he went north to Chad Brown, came home as his father’s assistant, and took the operation over in his own name when his father passed him the torch.

The long way round

2012
Little Mike
The family campaigns a four-time Grade 1 winner to victory in the Breeders' Cup Turf. Nick is a boy, and it settles the question of what he is going to do with his life.
Growing up
The backside, around school
His father Carlo is training, and Nick is at the barn whenever school allows — hotwalking, mucking, learning the job from the bottom.
2018–2020
Chad Brown
Straight out of high school he goes to work for multiple Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown as a foreman and barn manager at Saratoga, where the team breaks the all-time record for wins at a Saratoga summer meet. He is given a small Saratoga string of his own in 2019.
University years
University of Kentucky
Works through the University of Kentucky Equine Program for a degree in equine science and management, including pre-veterinary coursework.
2020–2024
Assistant to Carlo Vaccarezza
Comes home and spends five years as his father’s assistant — in the barn every morning, and learning the part that cannot be taught quickly: how to place a horse.
January 2025
The torch passes
Carlo hands the operation to Nick, who takes the licence in his own name. His first starter under it is Golden Afternoon in the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds.