The 2020 Preakness Stakes will mark the 145th edition of this landmark horse race, it is one leg of the American Triple Crown. It is usually held two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, but due to the global pandemic, it was moved to October 3rd. For one trainer it is the pinnacle moment of a long road.
Jose D’Angelo (30), born in Caracas, Venezuela, is a former champion in his native country, and he has only been training in the United States for under a year. His horse is a 30-1 long shot named Jesus’ Team, but for D’Angelo it’s about the journey, not the result.
Only two years ago Jose D’Angelo was watching Inspector races and observed trainers in action, now on Saturday, he will be next to his idol Bob Baffert in the same race as rival trainers. Jose D’Angelo did not hold back his excitement, “for me, it’s a big experience, maybe a dream, now it’s not a dream, it’s real life. I put in all my hard work to be a contender.”
Jose D’Angelo will be thinking about his grandfather
Jose D’Angelo will have his grandfather in mind when Jesus’ Team prepares to race, his grandfather, a journalist, who suffered and died from Alzheimer’s. Jose D’Angelo always recalls how his grandfather supported him throughout the years and will be thinking of him in this amazing moment in his life. “If I win the Preakness Stakes, I win it for him (his grandfather).”
In his native Venezuela, D’Angelo learned from his father Francisco D’Angelo, who won numerous training titles. In 2012, he began training on his own, and quickly asserted himself in local competitions, winning the Clasico Simon Bolivar, the most important stake in Venezuela.
He moved to the United States in search of a dream, moving to South Florida, he has saddled 29 winners from 139 starters. One thing is for certain, Jose D’Angelo and Jesus’ Team worked very hard to get to where they are at and this Saturday it will be another exciting chapter in a long journey that started in Venezuela and is now in Baltimore.