BY SARAH WELK BAYNUM

Since coming to the United States from his native Venezuela in 2019 trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo has produced remarkable success, having already trained a Grade 1 winner in Howard Wolowitz and millionaires Jesus’ Team and Bentornato.

Although the success of his stable is the result of hard work and smart business decisions, D’Angelo attributes his passion and knowledge to being born into a racing legacy family. He is the son of one of Venezuela’s top trainers and the grandson of a respected Thoroughbred journalist. 

“For me, it came naturally because my father, Francisco D’Angelo, is a horse trainer too—and now we’re working together here in the U.S. Since I was a baby, I was always at the barn with him. My love for horses and racing started from day one. While my friends were off going to the movies or watching baseball and soccer games, I just wanted to be around horses.”

Though horse racing ran deep in his blood, D’Angelo’s father urged him to pursue a formal education first to insure training horses was a calling he truly wanted to pursue.

“I’ve been working with my father for a long time, but he always told me that if I wanted to become a trainer, I had to finish university first,” D’Angelo said. “I was doing well in school and almost finished when I decided to pursue training seriously. In Venezuela, you don’t just take a test to become a trainer—you have to attend a racing school, which lasts about two years. While I was at the school, I got an offer to train three horses. I spoke with my father about it and he fully supported me. That was back in 2012, and that’s when my journey as a trainer really began.”

After beginning his training career in Venezuela, D’Angelo achieved a remarkable milestone just two years later. In 2014, D’Angelo became the youngest trainer to win the country’s most prestigious race when the aptly-named Dreaming of Gold won the Clásico Simón Bolívar.

In 2019, D’Angelo came to South Florida to continue his racehorse training business in the United States.  D’Angelo quickly earned a spot in some of the most prestigious Thoroughbred races in his first full year training in the United States. His first winner in the U.S. came with his third starter, Beach Dreaming, on June 27, 2019 in a $12,500 in a claiming race at Gulfstream Park.

“It’s all about the hard work you put into the horses and every little thing you do,” D’Angelo said. “In this sport, no matter how much effort you give, the reality is that only one horse can win—whether it’s a field of six, 12, or 14. It’s a tough game. But seeing things go well here now, it makes all that work feel worth it to me.”

D’Angelo continued to showcase his remarkable training talent with Grupo 7C Racing Stable’s Jesus’ Team, who began his journey under D’Angelo with a $25,000 claiming win at Gulfstream Park in May 2020. Despite humble beginnings, the colt rose to national prominence, finishing third in Swiss Skydiver’s Preakness (G1) and second to Knicks Go in both the $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Keeneland and the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

“They’re such beautiful animals, and we’re truly blessed to wake up every morning and work with them, to watch them grow, to see how sensitive and responsive they are. Sometimes, even a small change, such as adjusting their shoes, can make a significant difference. When it comes to my horses, I have to mention Jesus’ Team. He’s the one who really put me on the map here in 2019, and that journey with him was nothing short of amazing,” D’Angelo said.

In 2024, D’Angelo captured his first career Grade 1 victory with Howard Wolowitz in the Aristocrat Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs. That same year, he made a strong impression on some of the sport’s biggest stages with two Florida-breds. He trained Gabaldon to a runner-up finish in the prestigious Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot then saddled Bentornato to a second-place finish in the $2 million Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar. In just a few short years since launching his racing operation in the U.S., D’Angelo has solidified his reputation as a rising star in American Thoroughbred racing.

Despite his ongoing success, the most special part of working with racehorses for him remains watching the young horses grow and progress in their training every day. 

 

“My favorite part of the job is when you have a talented horse and you get to make a plan specifically for them. For me, it starts every single day—watching them train, guiding their progress, and seeing them respond to the work. When it all comes together and the horse runs well or wins, there’s no better feeling. It’s incredibly rewarding to see that everything you envisioned and worked toward paid off. Watching a horse grow and develop, whether you’ve had them since they were a yearling or picked them up later—it’s that journey, that transformation, that makes it all so special to me,” D’Angelo concluded.

Return to the June 11 issue of Wire to Wire