D'Angelo to have bigger presence at meet
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Trainer Jose D’Angelo will have a bigger presence at Saratoga this summer than in years past with a 20-horse string.
“I know it’s a very important meet,” said D’Angelo, who ranks 11th in wins nationally this year with 78,. “I have horses that I think fit perfectly over there. We’re going to try to do good over there.”
Last summer, D’Angelo – who also maintains strings in Florida and New Jersey – had about six stalls at Saratoga and won one race from 17 starters. The previous year, he won two races, mostly shipping in.
D’Angelo’s first starter at this meet will be Episode, who goes in Thursday’s sixth, a maiden race for 2-year-old fillies. Episode, a daughter of Maximus Mischief, has finished third in each of her first two starts, both over Gulfsteam’s synthetic surface.
“She’s doing better and better every week,” D’Angelo said. “I know she ran two times on Tapeta, but she worked pretty good on dirt.”
On Friday, D’Angelo will send out Twirling Queen in the $150,000 Coronation Cup for 3-year-old filly sprinters on turf. Twirling Queen is 3 for 3 since coming into D’Angelo’s barn, including a victory in the Mamzelle Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 11.
“She’s so fast, I sent her there early to have her ready,” D’Angelo said. “She has a big heart, she’s a runner. She’s done everything right since the first day she arrived in my barn.”
On Saturday, D’Angelo appears to have Celestial Glaze well spotted in a $50,000 claiming race and Space Launch in a second-level allowance on turf.
D’Angelo said he may run recent maiden winner Howard Wolowitz in the $150,000 Quick Call Stakes on July 14.
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