'A Classy Gentleman,' Trainer Angel Penna Jr. Dies

Angel Penna Jr., who trained 54 graded stakes winners in North America, including a dozen at the highest stakes level, died Nov. 22, according to published reports. He was 74.

Battling dementia, Penna died in his sleep in a memory care facility near his home in Boca Raton, Fla., according to Thoroughbred Daily News.

Penna, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, won 586 races from 3,370 starts in North America, and his runners earned more than $24 million during a U.S. career that began in 1980 and continued until 2021. His last starter was Only Time , who finished third in a maiden claiming race at Gulfstream Park in November of last year.

Though Penna trained in Florida in recent years, his stable had success across North America, particularly during his peak years from 1981-2011. During that stretch, he won grade 1 races with such top performers as Christmas Past, A Phenomenon, Cool, Silver Voice, Laugh and Be Merry, Nine Keys, Perfect Arc, Auntie Mame, and Diamondrella. Cynthia Phipps' Christmas Past and Pin Oak Farm's Laugh and Be Merry were honored as champions.

Today I lost a great friend, you will be dearly miss, RIP Angel pic.twitter.com/97kaC4fpJa

— Ignacio Correas (@IgnacioCorreas) November 22, 2022

Penna proved capable of winning top-tier races on either turf or dirt, taking such prestigious main-track races as the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and such grass races as the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1T) and Flower Bowl Invitational Handicap (G1T).

Penna grew up in racing, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Angel Penna Sr. The elder Penna, a leading trainer in France in 1974, won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) with the fillies San San (1972) and Allez France (1974). He died from cancer in 1992.

Initially an assistant to his father, the younger Penna started training in the U.S. in 1980. Turf Diary reported he began training overseas in 1975 in Spain, winning with his initial starter there and topping Spanish training statistics in 1977 and 1978. 

Trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. became an exercise rider for the younger Penna in the U.S. in the 1990s, galloping graded stakes winners Via Borghese, Auntie Mame, and Nine Keys, among others. Penna remained a mentor for Carvajal after he began training.

"He was like a father figure," Carvajal said. "I had a good horse, Imperial Hint  , and any time I had a question, he helped me out."

Carvajal said Penna assisted him in securing his paperwork for U.S. employment during his younger years.

"He was a classy gentleman," he said. 

Thoroughbred Daily News reported Penna is survived by his wife, Ruth, and stepmother, Elinor Penna. 

Respect for Penna was expressed on social media in the hours after his death, with radio broadcaster Steve Byk tweeting that Penna was "a consummate gentleman and polished horseman. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Thoughts to Ruth and Elinor."