Carlo Vaccarezza

Funeral services for trainer Chuck Simon will be held Monday, Sept. 16 at the Catricala Funeral home, 1597 Route 9, Clifton Park, NY. Viewing hours are from noon to 2 p.m. ET, with a service to follow from 2 to 2:30 p.m. ET. A round-trip private plane from Lexington has been arranged. Individuals wishing further information on that flight should contact Carlo Vaccarezza at 561-714-6019. Simon, who trained for 20 years before retiring in 2019, died Sunday in Saratoga Springs, New York after a bout with cancer. He was 57...

Chuck Simon, who retired from training in 2019 after a 20-year run in which he won 359 races, passed away Sunday at Saratoga Hospital after a bout with cancer. He was 57-years-old. Before going out on his own, Simon worked for Wayne Lukas, Pete Ferriola, Nick Zito and Tom Skiffington. His mentors included Allen Jerkens. He spent six years with Jerkens working as one of his assistants. He went out on his own in 1999 and five years later gave a job to a young newcomer to the track, Cherie...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Niigata Racecourse, two debuting both Saturday and Sunday: Saturday, July 27, 2024 2nd-NII, ¥13,720,000 ($89k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT JASPER DIVINE (c, 2, Frosted--Rocket Reload, by Reload), whose dam was stakes-placed on the turf at two in the five-furlong Woodbine Cares...

When Carlo Vaccarezza suddenly lost his assistant trainer in June, he knew he not only needed to fill the position quickly, but with a top person; someone experienced enough to take the reins while Vaccarrezza deals with the myriad other businesses with which he is involved. As luck would have it, Michael Dilger was thinking about making a move back to the States after some time spent at home in Ireland, and the pair quickly agreed to work together. Now, Dilger is at Ellis Park where he supervises the training...

A judge in the LA County Superior Court of California has reversed a February jury verdict that awarded Carlo and Priscilla Vaccarezza more than $1.5 million in veterinary malpractice and negligence damages against the Equine Medical Center and veterinarian Vince Baker, according to a ruling dated Thursday. The case surrounds the treatment that Baker gave to the Vaccarezza owned and trained Little Alexis, before she finished ninth in the 2014 GI Filly & Mare Sprint at Santa Anita. "I think it's a great result. Dr. Baker is a fabulous veterinarian,"...

Carlo and Priscilla Vaccarezza won a $1.06-million jury award in a California court Feb. 25 over a veterinary malpractice and negligence lawsuit against the Equine Medical Center and Dr. Vince Baker, who is the longtime attending veterinarian for trainer Bob Baffert. The case dates to the 2014 Breeders' Cup and a filly the Vaccarezzas owned and trained, Little Alexis. The couple alleged that she was mistreated by Baker for a lump on her jugular vein and cleared to race. Not only did Little Alexis finish ninth in the GI Filly...

Carlo Vaccarezza helped raise $40,000 to support Tornado relief efforts in Kentucky when he hosted a fundraiser at his Frank & Dino's restaurant in Lexington Sunday. Vaccarezza offered complimentary food and drinks from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the popular Italian eatery on W. Short Street, while patrons were encouraged to make donations to help families effected by tornadoes which ripped through Western Kentucky Dec. 11 and destroyed over 1,000 homes and buildings. Following Sunday's event, Vaccarezza issued a $40,000 check to the Kentucky State Treasurer Monday morning.

A fundraising event to help benefit the families affected by last weekend's devastating Western Kentucky tornado will take place at Frank & Dino's restaurant in Lexington on Sunday, Jan. 2. Complimentary food and drinks will be served between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the popular Italian eatery. WLKY reported Thursday that 16 people, down from a high of 122, are still missing and that the death toll has risen to 76 Kentuckians. More than 1,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed and there are approximately still 3,000 power outages....

Both the dam of and weanling half-brother to unbeaten leading juvenile colt Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) have been supplemented to the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, it was announced Sunday--one day after the Steve Asmussen pupil further solidified himself as the favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a 5 1/2-length romp in Saturday's GI Champagne S. at Belmont. Dam Unicorn Girl (A. P. Five Hundred) will be offered in foal to leading sire Into Mischief; her weanling colt is by American Pharoah. Both will be consigned by Beau...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. With plenty of US-bred activity ahead, here are the horses of interest for this Saturday running at Kyoto and Tokyo Racecourses, featuring the return to the races of the very exciting 3-year-old filly Lecce Baroque. Sunday's entrants will appear in Saturday's TDN: Saturday, October 10, 2020 4th-TOK, ¥13,400,000 ($126k), Newcomers, 2yo,...

What a name, for a mare salvaging her sire from extinction: Unicorn Girl. Certainly the faint footprint of A. P. Five Hundred on the North American breed would otherwise, by now, have been thoroughly effaced. His eligibility to compete with other sons of A.P. Indy at stud was marginal in the first place, third place in the GII Super Derby being as good as it got in a light career. And, really, he never got off the grid. After a single spring trying his luck in Florida, in 2004, he...

While the coronavirus pandemic's most notable interruption to the world of horse racing has been the lack of, well, horses racing, many of the gears normally turning behind the scenes of the sport have been slowed or halted altogether as well. That includes the sales circuit, which has gone dark for several months as stay-at-home orders and bans on mass gatherings have, in some cases belatedly, trickled in to nearly all of the 50 states. As timing would have it, that shutdown basically covers all of 2-year-old sale season aside...