John Parisella, trainer to the stars, dies at 85

John Parisella, the Brooklyn-bred trainer who became one of New York racing’s most recognizable figures, died at 85 after a career that produced 1,241 victories, more than $23 million in earnings and a reputation that reached well beyond the backstretch. Equibase lists his final totals at 6,770 starts, 1,241 wins, 949 seconds and 840 thirds, numbers that only partly explain why horsemen and fans around the NYRA circuit knew his name so well.

Parisella’s place in the New York scene came from both the horses he sent out and the people he trained for. He worked for James Caan, Jack Klugman and Telly Savalas, and Klugman was the one who gave him the nickname trainer to the stars, a label Parisella later made the title of his book, From the Streets of Brooklyn to Trainer to the Stars, written with Denny Dressman. His Hollywood connections began through his uncle Joe Scanadore, who managed comedian Don Rickles, and they helped carry a horse trainer from the Aqueduct and Belmont backstretch into a wider circle of celebrity.

He was never only a name built on famous clients. Among the graded stakes winners on his ledger were Simply Majestic, Chieftain’s Command, Am Capable, Danzig’s Dance, Raja’s Shark, Kamikaze Rick, Fray Star, Don Rickes, Fight Over and Jones Time Machine. Fight Over ran third in the 1984 Preakness Stakes, while Simply Majestic finished third in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Mile, reminders that Parisella’s résumé had substance at the top level as well as style.

Parisella’s own path into racing began in Brooklyn, where he was the son of a bookmaker and shylock and started playing the horses at Aqueduct and Belmont while still in high school. He later became a protégé of Hall of Fame trainer John Campo, a connection that helped shape a career that ran through 38 tracks and, by his own record, saw about half his starters finish in the money.

His ties to popular culture went beyond the stable. He appeared twice on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show in the weeks before Secretariat’s Triple Crown sweep, a rare stage for a trainer whose daily life was usually measured in works, entries and mornings at the barn. Even after he retired in the summer of 2013 and then returned to training, planning to have 15 horses based at Belmont, Parisella kept a New York footprint that lasted until he saddled his last runner on April 22, 2016 at Aqueduct.

Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero Jr. called Parisella like a father and one of his best friends. That loyalty, along with the wins and the star power, made him one of the enduring figures of the New York racing era.