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Trainer Jose D’Angelo ‘Driving The Truck’ On The Road To Success With Jesus’ Team

Trainer Jose D'Angelo put thousands of miles on his truck last year while giving his stable star, Jesus' Team, a tour of East Coast and Midwest racetracks.

“When Jesus' Team left Florida to go to Monmouth, when he went from Monmouth to Saratoga and back to Monmouth, when he went to Pimlico and when he went to Kentucky and back to Florida, I drove him there in the truck,” said D'Angelo, recalling the extensive road trip that produced Grade 1 placings in the Preakness (G1) at Pimlico and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Keeneland, as well as a lifetime of memories for a horsemen who was only in his first full year of training in the U.S. “Everywhere he went, I drove the truck.”

After hitting the road with Grupo 7C Racing Stable's reformed claimer for a full schedule of major stakes engagements last year, the 30-year-old native of Caracas, Venezuela will save a lot on gas for the 4-year-old son of Tapiture's 2021 debut start in Saturday's $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park. Jesus' Team will only have to make the short trip from his home at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, to compete in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus, which will co-headline Saturday's program with the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).

“I'm very excited about the race. I feel blessed,” D'Angelo said. “I feel like Jesus is going to run a big race Saturday, but I'm also very nervous.”

D'Angelo may have a case of big-race jitters leading up to the Pegasus World Cup, but that doesn't mean that he lacks confidence in his horse or his ability to bring him into one of the world's richest races in peak form. He's been there, done that in Venezuela.

He grew up in a Thoroughbred racing family, the son of trainer Francisco D'Angelo, the leading trainer in Venezuela on multiple occasions, and the grandson of a prominent Thoroughbred journalist. After attending university to study business administration for two years, D'Angelo dropped out to pursue a training career with his father's blessing.

“I learned everything I know from my father. He was a great trainer in Venezuela. He won many titles in Venezuela. He is my role model, 100 percent,” he said.

D'Angelo experienced a full range of emotion at La Rinconada after saddling his first starter at the end of 2012.

“My first race I won, but he was disqualified,” D'Angelo said. “The horse's name was Dasha. It was the 23rd of December.”

Merry Christmas, indeed.

D'Angelo's spirits were quickly lifted when he saddled his first official winner with his third starter, Queen Norma, at La Rinconada.

In 2014, D'Angelo saddled Dreaming of Gold for a victory in the Clasico Simon Bolivar, becoming the youngest trainer to saddle the winner of Venezuela's most prestigious race.

“When the horse won his first race for me, I told the owners, 'We have the horse to win the Clasico Simon Bolivar.' They looked at me like I was crazy,” D'Angelo said. “Dreaming of Gold wasn't the best horse in Venezuela, but he beat the best horses. Jesus wasn't the best horse in Florida, but he beat the best in Florida and ran in the Preakness and Breeders' Cup. Both horses are very, very similar.”

D'Angelo had continued success and achieved his goal of becoming the leading trainer in Venezuela in 2018.

“It was my goal. After that, I moved to Florida,” said D'Angelo, who joined his father, who had ventured to South Florida in 2015 to resume his training career. “To come here was always my dream.”

D'Angelo, who had saddled Forze Mau for a second-place finish in the Copa Velocidad on the 2017 Clasico del Caribe undercard at Gulfstream while based in Venezuela, saddled his horse since relocating to the U.S. at Gulfstream Park June 8, 2019, when Cocktail Skirt came up a nose short of victory while finishing second in a $12,500 claiming race. He broke through with his first U.S. victory with his third overall U.S. starter, Beach Dreaming, whom he had claimed out of a $12,500 claiming race and went on to score at the same level June 27, 2019. D'Angelo didn't have to sweat out an inquiry following the 5-year-old mare's dominating 2 ¼-length victory, but she was claimed out of the race.

D'Angelo quickly established himself in South Florida while finishing the 2018 season with 15 victories from 57 starters. His early success certainly was a contributing factor to Jesus' Team being transferred to his stable last spring, a partnership that also achieved early success. The Kentucky-bred colt, who had broken his maiden in his fifth career start for a $32.000 claiming price, won at first asking by 6 ¾ lengths in a $25,000 claiming race at Gulfstream May 8.

“When he won, I thought that race was very impressive. When he came back to the barn it was like he didn't race,” D'Angelo said. “The next time he worked, the way he galloped out, he was a different horse.”

Jesus' Team made a significant jump in class next time out in a June 10 stakes-quality optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream, in which he finished second behind graded-stakes winner Sole Volante, who went on to run in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1), and ahead of Florida Derby (G1) runner-up Shivaree.

“He ran green in that race, but he finished second with a big heart,” his trainer said.

D'Angelo revved up his truck, led Jesus' Team onto a van, and hit the road for an amazing adventure that included a fourth-place finish behind Authentic in the Haskell (G1) and a second-place finish in the ungraded Pegasus at Monmouth, a third-place finish in the Preakness, and a second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile behind likely Pegasus favorite Knicks Go. Jesus' Team tuned up for the Pegasus with a victory in the Dec. 5 Claiming Crown Jewel upon his return to Gulfstream.

“I would like to be a great trainer in this amazing country and have great horses to run in the big races,” D'Angelo said. “The experience I lived last year was the best in my life, for sure.”

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Spun To Run Looks to Build Upon Dirt Mile Success

In just its first 14 years of running, the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile has emerged as a stallion-making race and in recent years, its winners are making top headlines as they kick off their stud careers.

Goldencents (Into Mischief), winner of both the 2013 and 2014 edition, now leads his class of third-crop sires. The following year’s winner, Liam’s Map (Unbridled’s Song), is already a two-time Grade I producer with his first crop of 3-year-olds while 2016 champion Tamarkuz (Speightstown) now has a Grade III winner in his first crop of juveniles. The subsequent winners in the late Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) and City of Light (Quality Road) are still waiting for their first runners, but initial first crops are already turning heads both on the farm and in the sales ring.

Last year’s Dirt Mile Champion Spun to Run (Hard Spun) retired to Gainesway Farm this year and will stand his initial season at stud for $12,500.

“Spun to Run is a horse that we’re very excited about,” said Gainesway’s Director of Stallion Sales and Recruitment Sean Tugel. “Certainly his Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile win was his marquee victory and he did it very easily. He did it by widening lengths. On that day he ran a 109 Beyer and he certainly made everyone realize the type of talent he had.”

Spun to Run broke first at last year’s championship meet at Santa Anita and was never passed, besting a field that included Grade I winners Omaha Beach (War Front) and Improbable (City Zip), as well as Coal Front (Stay Thirsty) and Mr. Money (Goldencents).

Prior to his Breeders’ Cup victory, the Juan Carlos Guerrero-trainee blossomed in the later half of his sophomore season, finishing third in the GI Haskell Invitational S. behind Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) before taking the GIII Smarty Jones S. and later earning a 110 Beyer in the M.P Ballezzi Appreciation Mile S.

“It was a very strong 3-year-old campaign,” Tugel said. “He ran a `zero’ five times on Thorographs, which was very good. He’s a horse that showed brilliance, and brilliance makes sires.”

Following his Breeders’ Cup victory, Spun to Run wrapped up his sophomore season with a runner-up effort behind Maximum Security in the GI Cigar Mile H. While prepping for the 2020 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational, an injury forced the dark bay to scratch and ultimately retire.

“It was bad timing,” Tugel said. “[Owner Bob Donaldson] had a big 4-year-old campaign planned out for him. Unfortunately it didn’t go as the owner had hoped, but that allowed us to go out and get him. It was an injury that took time to come back from, and unfortunately he missed the breeding season and the racing season this year. But certainly he’s a young horse still, he’s turning five, and he’s let down beautifully in his time off from training. I think people are going to be very excited when they see him.”

The son of Hard Spun is out of the stakes-winning Grand Slam mare Yawkey Way and his half-sister Tap It All (Tapizar) is also a stakes winner.

“Certainly the Danzig sire line has been a sire line that has been dominant throughout the world, not only in America but in Australia and Europe,” Tugel said. “The fact that his first three dams are all juvenile winners and his first dam was a juvenile stakes winner at Saratoga makes it very exciting to think that speed and precocity is going to be passed on through his offspring.”

Tugel added that he finds Spun to Run to represent the best blend of Grand Slam and Hard Spun.

“He has a beautiful shoulder and a beautiful amount of bone,” he said. “You see a lot of that Grand Slam and Gone West in through his neckline and jaw. The strength of his hind leg is a great benefit that he gets from his bottom side. He’s a beautiful mover and he has a lot of leg to him. I think he’s a true miler, and milers make stallions.”

Tugel said that breeders have been impressed by the million-dollar-earning miler as he nears the start of his stud career.

“The breeders that have seen him so far have really liked him,” he said. “He’s a horse that kind of grabs your imagination as soon as you see him. He has a personality and an intelligence. He’s a horse that captivates the breeders when he walks out and that’s what drew us to him.”

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Pegasus World Cup: Between Hard Races, Round Pen Plays Important Role For Jesus’ Team

On the morning after his hard-fought victory in Saturday's $150,000 Claiming Crown Jewel, Grupo 7C Racing Stable's Jesus' Team was very much on course for a planned start in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 23.

“Jesus came out of the race good and happy,” trainer Jose D'Angelo said.

Jesus' Team spent Sunday morning winding down in a round pen at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach, after grinding out a victory by three-quarters of a length in the 1 1/8-mile headliner of Saturday's 22nd Claiming Crown, a nine-race event that pays tribute to the claiming horses that provide the backbone of the daily racing programs at racetracks throughout the country.

“I'll give him a week in the round pen before preparing for the Pegasus World Cup,” said D'Angelo. “In between the hard races the last five months, I think the round pen has been very good for him. It's good for him mentally and physically,”

Jesus' Team, a 3-year-old son of Tapiture, became Claiming Crown-eligible when he started his career in the claiming ranks but has developed into a multiple Grade 1 stakes-placed performer, having finished third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in his two starts prior to the Jewel to earn the 2-5 favorite's role Saturday. The stretch-running colt worked hard to earn the victory over loose-on-the-lead pacesetting Storm Runner, who did his best to fight off the favorite. Jockey Luis Saez, who rode six winners Saturday, opted to keep Jesus' Team closer to the early pace than usual to closely monitor the dangerous Storm Runner.

“It was a hard race. He had only one work before the race. I chose only one work to keep him happy and healthy. I had confidence in him,” D'Angelo said. “In his last two races, he ran back to front – only one move. [Saturday] he made two runs, like he did in the Jim Dandy. He ran close to the front early. That's not good for him.”

D'Angelo said he expects the Jewel to set up Jesus' Team perfectly for the Pegasus.

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‘Better With Every Race’: Jesus’ Team To Use Claiming Crown Jewel As Pegasus Prep

Grade 1 stakes-placed in his two most recent starts, Jesus' Team will return to his roots Saturday with a start in the $150,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Gulfstream Park.

Grupo 7C Racing Stable's 3-year-old gelding, who became eligible for the Jewel while winning a claiming race for maidens at Gulfstream last March, is scheduled to use the Claiming Crown headliner as a prep for a planned start in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Jan. 23.

The Jewel, a 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up that started for a claiming price of $35,000 or lower, will be featured among nine stakes restricted to horses that have started for a claiming price at least once.

Jesus' Team enters the Jewel off a third-place finish in the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico and a second-place finish Nov. 7 in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Keeneland – unlikely results from a horse that broke his maiden for a $32,000 claiming price in his fifth career start March 18.

“He went to Ocala for 10 days after the Breeders' Cup. He is training very good for the Claiming Crown,” sand trainer Jose D'Angelo, whose stable is based at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream Park's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. “I think this is a good race for him before the Pegasus. He needs a race before the Pegasus.”

After his breakthrough 3 ¾-length maiden win, Jesus' Team was transferred to D'Angelo, for whom the son of Tapiture came right back to score a dominating 6 ¾-length victory in a $25,000 claiming race May 8. A most promising second-place finish behind graded-stakes winner Sole Volante in a stakes-quality June 10 optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream raised the expectations of his connections.

Following a creditable fourth behind future Kentucky Derby (G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Authentic in the Haskell (G1) and a runner-up finish in the ungraded Pegasus at Monmouth, Jesus' Team finished third in the Jim Dandy (G2) at Saratoga while equipped with blinkers for the first time. The Kentucky-bred gelding, who was purchased for $30,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September sale, overcame traffic on the far turn to finish a distant third behind Gulfstream Park Oaks winner Swiss Skydiver and Authentic at 40-1 in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Sent to post at 62-1 for the Dirt Mile, Jesus' Team closed to finish second behind runaway winner Knicks Go.

“I am very proud of my horse. He's getting better and better with every race,” D'Angelo said. “I think he will run a very good race Saturday.”

D'Angelo was the leading trainer in Venezuela before joining his father Francisco, also a former titlist in Venezuela, in South Florida in 2019.

“I'm happy for the races Jesus's Team has run. He has made me very proud,” said D'Angelo, who saddled his first horse in the U.S. in June 2019 and saddled his first winner with his second starter three weeks later. “I'm happy to be training in this amazing country.”

Luis Saez, who was aboard for the Dirt Mile, has the return mount Saturday.

Calumet Farm's Dack Janiel's, also a horse who performed extremely well on Breeders' Cup Weekend at Keeneland, is scheduled to seek his first stakes victory in the Claiming Crown Jewel.

The Jack Sisterson-trained 3-year-old gelding is coming off a third-place finish in the $200,000 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G2). Dack Janiel's set or pressed the pace to hold a narrow lead in mid-stretch before weakening late in the 1 5/8-mile route.

“Dack Janiel's is a horse that has always overachieved for us, but he really thrives on racing. He just won 10 days before the Thoroughbred [Aftercare] Alliance, but we wheeled him back in a week at Oaklawn [in April] and he won bringing him back quick,” Sisterson said. “He seems to thrive on his training and running, so we ran him [at Keeneland] and he ran a competitive race against some tough horses. Fortunately, he's eligible for Claiming Crown Jewel.”

Dack Janiel's became eligible for the Jewel in January when he ran third in a $30,000 maiden claiming race on turf at Fair Grounds. The son of Tonalist came right back to win an off-the-turf maiden special weight race at Fair Grounds a month later. After finishing off the board in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) at Turfway, Dack Janiel's followed up a fourth-place allowance finish at Oaklawn with a starter allowance victory eight days later. Winless in his next three starts, he returned to winning form in a $50,000 claiming race at Keeneland that set him up for his strong showing in the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

“He's very straightforward. He trains himself. There's no hiding his running style. He goes right to the front,” said Sisterson, who will train in South Florida for the first time this winter. “He seems to run his best races forwardly placed, so we're obviously not hiding any tactics heading into next Saturday.”

Julien Leparoux has the mount on the Calumet Farm homebred.

Team Valor International and David Burnett's Storm Runner, who finished seventh in the 2018 Florida Derby (G1), has returned to Gulfstream to run in the Jewel. The Dale Romans-trained son of Get Stormy became eligible for the Jewel by coming off a seven-month layoff to win a $20,000 claiming race at Churchill Downs June 28. Following a four-month layoff, Storm Runner captured a Nov. 4 starter allowance on turf at Churchill Downs.

Corey Lanerie has the call aboard Storm Runner.

Trainer Michael Maker, who has saddled a record 17 Claiming Crown winners, will send out Paradise Farms Corp.'s Treasure Trove for a start in the Jewel. The 4-year-old son of Tapizar was claimed for $40,000 out of his most recent start, a second-place finish in an optional claiming allowance at Indiana Downs.

Tyler Gaffalione, who captured titles at all six meeting in Kentucky this year, has the call.

Leitone, the defending Jewel champion, will defend his title for owner/trainer Victor Carrasco Jr., who claimed the Chilean-bred 6-year-old for $40,000 out of a victory at Belmont Park June 20. The son of Dunkirk has been off-the-board in his two starts since being claimed.

Hector Berrios has the call aboard Leitone.

Stakes-placed on turf last time out, D P Racing LLC's Prince of Arabia will move to dirt for the Jewel. The 7-year-old gelding, who finished a troubled third in the Ricard Henry Lee last out, achieved his most recent victory in an off-the-turf Feb. 20 optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream. Robby Albarado is scheduled to ride Prince of Arabia for the first time.

My Purple Haze Stable's Rebelde and Flying Pheasant Farm LLC's Toughest 'Ombre round out the field.

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