Vaccarezza holding on to Sweet Dani Girl

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – You can stop phoning Carlo Vaccarezza now – not about his Italian cuisine, but about buying his horse.

“The phone is ringing off the hook, but I’m not selling this filly,” owner-trainer Vaccarezza said early this week in regard to inquiries about Sweet Dani Girl, his homebred 2-year-old who stayed unbeaten in two starts by winning the Myrtlewood Stakes last Friday at Keeneland.

Vaccarezza, a longtime restaurateur who became heavily vested in the Thoroughbred business some two decades ago, harbors a certain degree of seller’s regret with one of the heavier favorites in the upcoming Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar. Vaccarezza, in the name of his J&J Stables, bred Jackie’s Warrior, the BC Sprint favorite, and sold him at auction as a 2019 yearling for $95,000 to owners Kirk and Judy Robison.

“I thought it was a great sale at the time, but now it’s not,” he said. “It is what it is. Now I’m just here to have fun. No more selling good horses.”

Sweet Dani Girl, a Florida-bred, was sired by Jess’s Dream, a son of Rachel Alexandra, and was produced by the Scat Daddy mare My Sweet Dani Girl. In her Sept. 26 debut at Churchill Downs, she earned an 84 Beyer Speed Figure in winning at 45-1 by a length over Famed, a half-sister to Essential Quality, one of the Breeders’ Cup Classic favorites. She then not only validated that effort by winning the six-furlong Myrtlewood with an 86 Beyer, but Famed returned the following day to win a Keeneland maiden race by 7 3/4 lengths with an 84 Beyer.

Vaccarezza said the $200,000 Fern Creek, a new six-furlong race set for Nov. 27 at Churchill, will be the last start of the year for Sweet Dani Girl. He’s already contemplating the trail he’ll map out for her toward the 2022 Kentucky Oaks, and although a prep is possible at Gulfstream Park, his longtime stomping grounds, he also could ship her to Fair Grounds or elsewhere while basically staying put all winter at the Thoroughbred training center just north of downtown Lexington.

“I’ve sold my house in Parkland [Florida] and I’m getting ready to close on the sale of my restaurant in Boca Raton,” he said, referring to Frank & Dino’s, the popular Italian eatery he operated for years. In recent months, Vaccarezza has opened a new Frank & Dino’s in Lexington to rave reviews. “I’m Kentucky all the way now.”