Gulfstream Park: Little Mike's owner-breeder now a trainer, too

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Owner-breeder Carlo Vaccarezza will board a flight Saturday evening for Hong Kong where his star Little Mike will compete next weekend in the rich Hong Kong Cup. But several hours prior to his departure, Carlo Vaccarezza the trainer will saddle Little Daniella in the sixth race at Gulfstream Park, his first starter since taking out his trainer’s license earlier this week.

Vaccarezza has nearly a dozen horses stabled at Gulfstream, the majority of which are owned by the Little Dreams Stable, a partnership he started earlier this season with trainer Dale Romans and friend John Williams. Little Daniella has made one previous start, which came for Romans, finishing far back in a maiden special weight race here Sept. 7 after racing greenly and bearing out badly into the stretch. Vaccarezza also runs Priscilla Marie in Sunday’s third race at Gulfstream. Priscilla Marie is owned by his wife, Priscilla, and the J and J Stable.

Vaccarezza said he has plenty of experience working hands-on with horses.

“I’ve spent 35 years in the business, many of them working around horses, first as a hotwalker at Aqueduct as well as on my training center in Ocala, where we broke horses to compete at the track,” Vaccarezza said. “I got out of that end of the business for a while to pursue other business interests, but earlier this year I sold three of my four restaurants and found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands. I’ve been coming out early every morning for the last six months, helping with the training of the Little Dreams horses I’ve had here at Gulfstream with Dale, and finally decided I might as well take out my own license.”

Vaccarezza said he has learned a lot about training horses from Romans. He also recently moved into a new barn alongside one of the legends of the game, Hall of Famer Allen Jerkens.

“Allen is just wonderful to be around,” Vaccarezza said. “And he’s always willing to give me advice if I ask for it. Dale was also kind enough to give me one of his top assistants, Faustino Orantes, to help run my barn.”

Although he’s got his own trainer’s license now, Vaccarezza has no intention of making any changes when it comes to Little Mike, who earlier this month finished seventh in defense of his title in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

“I’m leaving Mike with the big guy,” Vaccarezza said, referring to Romans. “Hopefully he’ll bounce back out of the Breeders’ Cup and run a big race in Hong Kong. After that, we’ll bring him down to Florida and probably give him a month or so off in Ocala just to be a horse. After that, if all goes well, we might point him for the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap here in early February.”