Jose D’Angelo Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

[Wandering Eyes]

In racing circles, trainer Jose D'Angelo might not yet be a “household name,” but that's not going to last much longer. In this country for about five years, the native of Venezuela is coming off a stellar 2024 in which he won 140 races, including his first Grade I with Howard Wolowitz (Munnings) in the Aristocrat Franklin-Simpson Stakes.

And it looks like 2025 might be even better. He has a stable full of potential stars that includes 'TDN Rising Star' Guns Loaded (Gun Runner), the winner of last Saturday's Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park which kicked off the Florida series at the track.

How has D'Angelo come so far and so fast and what does he expect from Guns Loaded once the competition becomes stiffer? Those were among the questions we asked when he appeared on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week.

“I am literally living the dream here,” D'Angelo said. “I came from Venezuela with so many goals and so many dreams. Like most horsemen, my main goal is to win the [Kentucky] Derby. But in order to do that you have to go step by step, win races and let people know you know how to win big races. Very few people will win the Derby, but you have to make your name, build up your reputation and make sure people trust you. I feel like we are doing that.”

His assistant is his father, Francisco D'Angelo, who was also a leading trainer in Venezuela. Jose D'Angelo says they make a great team.

“I learned everything from my father,” he said. “He was champion in Venezuela. He won lot of Grade 1's over there and was leading trainer there many times. I feel like the team that we have is strong team because he let me go out on my own with my horses. He stays here in Florida, so that I can go to Saratoga, to Keeneland. I know my horses back home in Florida are getting great care with him.”

As far as Guns Loaded goes, he didn't exactly beat a strong field in the Mucho Macho Man, but the colt is exceptionally well bred and should do better as the races get longer. How excited does he have D'Angelo?

“He is a special horse,” D'Angelo said. “When I decided which 2-year-olds to take to Saratoga I brought just him and one other horse.  So that tells you how different he was compared to my other 2-year-olds. When I worked him for the first time, I knew he had talent, but not the speed that he showed. So that's why I ran him at seven furlongs the first time out because he's by Gun Runner out of a Bernardini mare. So everything says that he should go long. When we worked him, he never showed this speed that he has. It turns out he's very fast.”

He continued: “So now talking about the Mucho Macho Man, I know the fractions were not fast and I know the horse won by only a neck, but after the race finished, [jockey] Luis [Saez] came to me and he said, 'Hey Jose, those other horses were never going to pass us. I had so much horses.'”

In our weekly breeding spotlight section the hosts looked at the WinStar stallion and Randy Moss favorite Two Phil's.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, and XBTV.com, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss talked about the sizzling win by the Bob Baffert-trained Barnes (Into Mischief) in the GII San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita, as well as the impressive performance earlier on the same card by his stablemate Rodriguez (Authentic), who earned 'TDN Rising Star' badge. Also, the program covered the first 2025 edition of the TDN Derby Top 12, which is authored by T.D. Thornton.

Last but not least, the sad story was related of War Envoy (War Front), a winner at Royal Ascot, being in poor physical condition and having to be rescued by the authorities from a Franklin County, Kentucky farm led to the panelists imploring the industry for what seemed like the 500th time that it must do better by its horses.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.

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