“I just watched the Breeders' Cup as a fan. Now we're here!” Jose Francisco D'Angelo was overcome with emotion as he spoke with Nick Luck on the NBC broadcast from the winner's circle at Del Mar.Some 3,500 miles away in Caracas, Venezuela, his friends and family were gathered to celebrate as Shisospicy (Mitole) claimed the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, handing D'Angelo his first victory at the World Championships.It turned out the party was just getting started. Roughly 30 minutes later, D'Angelo was back in the winner's circle after Bentornato (Valiant Minister) powered home in the Sprint to secure a rare Breeders' Cup double for his trainer.Now five months since that career-defining day, D'Angelo sat outside his barn at Palm Meadows one morning after training and recalled the enthusiastic support he received from his hometown with a fond smile.“Venezuelans love horse racing,” he explained. “It's probably the [most popular] sport there or it's second to baseball. My city stopped everything that day because everybody loves the Breeders' Cup. It's a big day there. With me winning the two races, everybody was sending videos of people celebrating, partying like crazy.”As for D'Angelo, the 35-year-old horseman said he was asleep by eight o'clock that evening, the exhilaration of a high-stakes week giving way to exhaustion as soon as the adrenaline wore off. By the next morning, he was re-energized and already plotting the future for his two stable stars.That relentless drive is what D'Angelo said he believes has propelled him to the top of the sport only six years after launching his stable in the U.S. For him, the long road from the humble backside of Venezuela's La Rinconada Hippodrome to the Breeders' Cup was paved by determination and an intuitive gift for horses that is etched into his DNA.D'Angelo's father, Francisco, was a champion trainer in Venezuela and his grandfather was a respected racing journalist.“I was at the barn since probably my first day of life,” D'Angelo recalled. “I learned everything from my father there and I have loved racing since I can first remember.”When Francisco retired, the elder D'Angelo told his son he could pursue a training career of his own only if he also went to college.Starting out with just three horses owned by friends, D'Angelo's immediate success saw his roster quickly swell to 150 head. With a massive operation demanding his full attention, the pull of the track won out just one semester shy of graduation. The decision was vindicated soon after when D'Angelo made history as the youngest trainer to capture Venezuela's prestigious Clásico Simón Bolívar at age 24.Five years later in 2019, D'Angelo moved his operation to South Florida. Accustomed to the stable's easy win margins in Venezuela, D'Angelo's initial supporters from his home country grew restless during a dry spell and pulled their horses, forcing the trainer to rebuild his stable from the ground up.“Claiming horses is not usual in Venezuela,” D'Angelo explained. “I had to figure out everything anew. Nobody knew me here.”D'Angelo had his first taste of success with Jesus' Team (Tapiture), whom he credits with putting his stable on the map. In his breakout 3-year-old campaign in 2020, Jesus' Team performed in the GI Haskell Stakes and placed third in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes and GI Preakness Stakes.With limited funds and few connections to coordinate logistics, D'Angelo was the one driving the trailer, shipping Jesus' Team to Monmouth Park, Saratoga and Pimlico.D'Angelo with his team, including father Francisco, during morning training at Palm Meadows | Katie Petrunyak“It was me, the rider, and the groom that is now my assistant. We have good memories and I think I was a good driver,” D'Angelo said with a laugh. “Here there are so many racetracks and everything is different–licenses, rules, everything. I had the opportunity to learn everything with one horse.”That fall, D'Angelo ran into financial issues with Jesus' Team's owner. Friends advised him to put the horse in an allowance race that he could win easily, take the winnings and move on. But D'Angelo was set on going to his first Breeders' Cup.“The Breeders' Cup, to me, is always the goal because it's where you define the champion,” he said. “That's why you work hard all year to make it there. You see people from all over the world competing against you, the top of the top, and it's amazing.”Sent off at 62-1 in the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Jesus' Team proved D'Angelo's faith was well-placed. Though he couldn't catch the speedy Knicks Go (Paynter), who set a Keeneland track record that day, Jesus' Team launched a late rally to secure a second-place finish.While D'Angelo with thrilled with the effort, it marked the start of a run of second-place finishes in marquee races that proved as frustrating as they were fulfilling.The following year, Jesus' Team ran second to Knicks Go again in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes. In 2024, the trainer made his first trip to Royal Ascot and finished second with Gabaldon (Gone Astray) in the Windsor Castle Stakes. Later that year, Bentornato just missed in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, finishing behind Straight No Chaser (Speightster).D'Angelo said the sting of that last runner-up performance was worse than all the others.“I was so proud of him, but I was pissed off because I like to win,” D'Angelo admitted. “I'm very competitive. I don't know if that's good or bad. Nobody likes to lose. I know it's a sport, but it's my job too. If you want to compare jobs, like an engineer or whatever, if you are good, your results are good. But with this, no matter how good you are, you have to win. Not run second or third, win.”The breakthrough finally happened for D'Angelo at the 2025 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar.Originally campaigned by Morplay Racing with Qatar Racing later joining the ownership, Shisospicy was a filly that D'Angelo took a liking to from the start. As a juvenile, the grey won by over 16 lengths and was a 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard' in her debut going six furlongs on dirt, but then she lost her next two starts against stakes company.“I said to myself, 'There's something I'm not doing right with her,'” D'Angelo explained. “I moved her to the grass and as soon as I saw how she moved, I made a plan to get to the Breeders' Cup. I printed it out and everything worked.”Irad Ortiz Jr. and D'Angelo after Shisospicy wins the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint | Breeders' Cup Eclipse SportswireAside from a lone defeat at Royal Ascot, Shisospicy had built a perfect 3-year-old campaign and was one of the favorites going into the GI Turf Sprint.D'Angelo watched the race alongside his father Francisco, who had moved to Florida several years earlier to assist his son, as well as Rich Mendez of Morplay Racing.Shisospicy broke first and never looked back. When she hit the wire, jubilation erupted among the Morplay Racing team, but D'Angelo shared a quiet moment with his father amidst the surrounding roar.“I remember it perfectly,” he said. “I told him, 'We did it,' because it had been a long year. People don't know all the effort you make to bring the horses there. Everything is planned; being there is not luck. It worked perfect and that's why I was so happy, especially after last year when we ran second. It was very special.”There was no time for champagne or reflection after the winner's circle photos were snapped. D'Angelo immediately refocused his attention to the next race. Bentornato was notorious for getting worked up easily, and D'Angelo knew that keeping him relaxed was key to their race strategy.“I like to always turn the page quickly, win or lose, because you can't bring that emotion with you,” D'Angelo explained. “You have to be calm and quiet. I was so excited and happy, but then I ran to Bentornato like nothing happened to saddle him.”The 8-5 favorite for the Sprint, Bentornato was coming off a dominant performance at Churchill Downs where he stalked the pace and made his move turning for home. D'Angelo planned to stick to the same script at Del Mar.An exuberant winner's circle after the 2025 Breeders' Cup Sprint | Breeders' Cup Eclipse Sportswire“We had a good post position but as soon as he broke, the other two horses broke fast too,” D'Angelo remembered. “They didn't give us a chance to just break and run because it's a sprint race. You cannot relax the horse a little bit. So we had to send the horse from the start.”Despite being pressed by his old rival Straight No Chaser, Bentornato kicked home to win by over 2 lengths. D'Angelo finally had the chance to enjoy his shining moment in the winner's circle with Leon King Stable Corp. and Michael and Julia Iavarone.D'Angelo said his stable's breakout year in 2025 stemmed from a philosophy that rejects a one-size-fits-all training program.“If you see my workouts, they are very different,” he said. “Shisospicy worked just three furlongs before the Breeders' Cup. I'm never going to forget, we were walking from the barn at Keeneland. Irad was on her and I told him we were working three furlongs. He said, 'Three furlongs?' Some people got nervous, but I was sure that I was doing the right thing for her.”Shisospicy is now preparing to make her 4-year-old debut in the GII Unbridled Sidney Stakes at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks day. In her most recent work, she breezed a bullet four furlongs in :46.70 on April 4.Meanwhile Bentornato is back on U.S. soil following a runner-up finish to Dark Saffron (Flameaway) in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen last month. Now training in Kentucky, the 5-year-old's schedule remains open, but the ultimate objective is a return to the Breeders' Cup stage.For D'Angelo, the motivation to reach the next level lies in the puzzle of figuring out how each horse can reach their full potential. It is that process of coaxing out Breeders' Cup-level talent that drives the trainer as he looks toward his stable's future.“Every morning I wake up excited,” he said. “Every horse is different and whatever you are doing with one horse isn't going to work with another horse. They are not humans, but they are like people. They talk. You have to be there to read what they say.”The post Breeders’ Cup Breakthrough: Jose D’Angelo Still Riding High After Championship Double appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.