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O’Connor (left) ridden by jockey Tyler Gaffalione wins the 2023 Hagyard Fayette at Keeneland.
GRADED STAKES WINNING OWNERS 66 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 71
MICHAEL & JULES IAVARONE MASTER PIECE & O’CONNOR
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s success more enjoyable the second time around? Michael Iavarone is finding out, on the racetrack, where he has reunited with trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr., and off. Dutrow is making his own return following a 10-year suspension for drug violations. Off the track, Iavarone has rebuilt his own business after being nearly wiped out. “It took me a couple of years,” he said. “I built a bigger business than what I had.” Iavarone’s love of horseracing traces back to growing up in Bethpage, Long Island, when he and his father fell in love with racing at Roosevelt, then the best harness track in the country with weekend crowds in the 20,000’s. “I loved it so much,” Iavarone said. “I remember it vividly. We’d eat in the Cloud Casino.” In 1985, Iavarone and his father attended the second Breeders’ Cup at Aqueduct Racetrack, where he saw flawless victories by two incredible turf starts, Pebbles in the Turf and Cozzene in the Mile. “I was 15, and that just hooked me. Pebbles and Cozzene. It was something that always resonated with me. It never left.” While he built a career as an accomplished investment banker, he began to dabble with Thoroughbreds. On September 28th, 2002, at Belmont Park, Iavarone claimed the New York-bred gelding Toddler for $75,000. He finished fifth in that race.