John C. Kimmel Retires From Day-to-Day Training to Focus on Bloodstock Work

John C. Kimmel, 71, said he will step away from day-to-day training to concentrate on bloodstock and advisory work and will run his final starters this weekend at Aqueduct, where Shadyside is entered in the sixth race, a conditioned-claiming dirt sprint at 6 1/2 furlongs, and Protected is entered in the ninth, a first-level allowance at seven furlongs on dirt. Kimmel still has five horses in training, and his decision raises immediate questions about who will condition those horses and how his barn’s exits will affect local entries and wagering pools at the winter meet.

Across a career that began in the mid-1980s, Kimmel accumulated 1,449 wins from 8,732 starts, with a lifetime ledger given as 8,732: 1,449-1,325-1,162 and career purse earnings reported at more than $71.5 million. He won six NYRA training titles outright, tied with Bill Mott as Saratoga’s leading trainer in 1997 with 15 wins, and led NYRA trainers in money in 1999. The numbers tell a clear arc: from a stable that once numbered about 44 horses, Kimmel’s operation shrank to five horses in recent months as annual win totals fell to 11 in 2023, 14 in 2024, 7 in 2025, and he was winless from seven starts so far this year.

Kimmel’s résumé as a trainer includes top-level performers who feed his credibility as a bloodstock agent. Hidden Lake was his champion older female in 1997, Bar of Gold won the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and earned about $1.5 million, Premium Tap earned more than $2.5 million after Kimmel purchased him for $60,000 as a 2-year-old, and Mr. Buff earned roughly $1.4 million. Those purchases and results underpin the argument Kimmel makes for his next act: moving from conditioning to buying and advising.

Explaining the move, Kimmel said, "The long and the short of it is that I think I can bring to the table a wealth of experience that can't be matched by many people that are in the bloodstock industry." He and bloodstock agent Nick Sallusto have signed tickets together in recent years, including the purchase of Chancer McPatrick, a Grade 1 Hopeful and Champagne winner who later stood at stud, and Kimmel is credited with buying multiple minor stakes winner With the Angels for clients. Kimmel has been doing double duty — training while acting as a bloodstock agent — for three or four years, and he will continue those partnerships going forward.

Kimmel’s background frames the pivot: born June 25, 1954, in East Orange, New Jersey, he earned a pre-med undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1980, then practiced with Dr. Michael Teigland until 1983 before moving into training. There is a discrepancy in archival records about his first win; one account lists Chachi Man at Calder on Oct. 29, 1984 as his first winner, while another source notes he took out a trainer’s license in 1987.

With his final Aqueduct runners scheduled for the weekend, Kimmel’s exit from daily conditioning closes a chapter that includes 1,449 victories, multiple Grade 1 scorers, six NYRA training titles, and a reputation for finding value at sales. His immediate future will center on bloodstock purchases and advisory work alongside Sallusto and clients, a shift owners and buyers will watch closely given his track record buying and developing high-earners.