“Waiting eighteen years to win a stakes race ‒ it’s just a crazy feeling. When I look back at the video, I look like I can’t stop smiling. It was just the most amazing feeling, and it stayed with me for days after. I couldn’t believe it had finally happened to us.”
There is still a triumphant tone in Angelo LaMantia’s voice as he talks about Mason’s Gamble and his victory in the Ontario Jockey Club Stakes last month. LaMantia and Anthony DiPierdomenico (ATA Stables, Inc.) own the four-year-old stakes-winning colt and have been involved in the industry for nearly two decades.
Their initial introduction into the game was due in large part to another good friend, Colleen Dalos, who has known Angelo and Anthony since they graduated from university. Colleen is the general manager of operations and marketing for Tall Oaks Farm for the operation’s breeding and racing elements. Colleen’s father, Ivan, is Tall Oaks’ founder and has been a prominent force in Ontario’s racing and breeding game for over 40 years. A breeder of champions, Dalos’ ‘breed to race’ program is focused on racing homebreds from Tall Oaks.
