Few people want a Dubai World Cup night winner more than Jose D’Angelo, and few arrive with a stronger sense of momentum.
The Venezuelan, now firmly established in the United States, returns to Meydan for a third attempt at cracking one of horse racing’s biggest stages. This time, however, the journey feels different. There is less of the hopeful outsider about him and more of a man who feels success is within reach.
Bentornato, his stable star, will line up in Saturday’s Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen carrying not just expectation, but form. A Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner with a growing reputation for durability, the colt represents D’Angelo’s best chance to break his Dubai duck.
Previous visits to the emirate offered encouragement without reward. Jesus’ Team, a popular and consistent performer, ran with credit to finish sixth in the Dubai World Cup in 2021. Last year, Caramel Chip and Run Classic failed to land a blow in their respective races.
“2025 was an amazing year,” D’Angelo says, an understatement if ever there was one. It was a season that reshaped his operation. Bentornato and Shisospicy delivered a rare Breeders’ Cup sprint double at Del Mar, victories achieved within an hour that elevated the trainer into a different conversation.
“I feel like you have to keep winning and improving,” he said. “I’m very competitive with myself. I’m just looking for more and trying to be at the best races around the world.”
That competitiveness is evident in his decision to target Dubai again. For many American trainers, success at the Breeders’ Cup might be enough to anchor a campaign at home. D’Angelo, instead, has looked outward.
Bentornato arrives as a horse who has already evolved. As a two-year-old, he was unbeaten in four starts, a precocious talent with natural speed. However, his limitations were exposed when he stepped up in distance for the Saudi Derby, where he finished third behind Forever Young.
It was not a defeat that diminished him, according to his trainer.
“We realised a mile isn’t what he needs,” D’Angelo said. “He ran huge, but that’s not his race.”
Since then, he’s transformed, winning the Group 2 Gallant Bob at Parx as a three-year-old and finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, before going one better in that race last year.
“He’s strong, but when he goes to the track he’s all business,” D’Angelo said. “Very focused on his job.”
That temperament has made travel less of a concern. The logistics of international racing can unsettle horses; Bentornato appears to thrive on it.
“At the Breeders’ Cup and Churchill Downs he was training better and better each day and I’m seeing the same here, so I’m very confident he’s going to be tough next Saturday," said D'Angelo.
“He’s a very good traveller, and I think he likes it here.”
D’Angelo, too, has embraced the rhythm of Dubai. This year, he arrived early enough to oversee preparations in person, watching Bentornato breeze a week out from the race.
Bentornato, along with Forever Young and Ethical Diamond, are beneficiaries of a new reciprocal deal between Dubai Racing Club and Breeders’ Cup.
“Dubai always was the plan because it is 'win and you’re in' for the Breeders’ Cup, which he will go for again this year,” said D’Angelo.
“I would like to win here, but no race looks easy. I think the most important is to see the post position that we get and go from there. Ideally we would like to be drawn towards the outside."
