Gunnevera trainer kidnapped twice, now in Kentucky Derby

The kidnappers pointed guns at his head every night, fed him occasional scraps of cheese and bread and kept him in a roofless room with no running water, except for when it rained down from the heavens.

Secluded for 36 days in 2009, Antonio Sano thought about his wife, his three kids and his thriving business as one of the top horse trainers in Venezuela.

Eight years later — about to saddle a horse in the Kentucky Derby — he never envisioned what his life would become.

“I believe now,” Sano said. “Before? No. It’s incredible.”

Most every trainer who brings a horse to the Kentucky Derby for the first time has a history filled with obstacles and dreams of one day making it to the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.

But none has a story like Sano, whose Gunnevera already owns a trio of graded-stakes victories in his career and figures to be among those making a late charge down the stretch in the May 6 Kentucky Derby.

Sano, 54, was known as the “Czar Valencia Hipismo” — King of Valencian horse racing — during a successful 19-year career as a trainer in Venezuela, where he won 3,338 races.

But that life ended on the morning of July 24, 2009, as Sano was leaving his family’s apartment in Valencia — the third-largest city in Venezuela — to go to work. Sano has openly discussed the kidnapping with reporters this week but prefers to give little detail.

“He was leaving the garage and going into the street, and two SUVs pulled over with seven men,” said Alessandro Sano, 20, the oldest of Antonio’s three children, who also include Maurizio, 18, and Marielena, 11. “He couldn’t do anything about it and had to come to a complete stop with the car. That’s when they caught him.”

Kidnapping is rampant in Venezuela, a country currently embroiled in political unrest and protests since the election of President Nicolas Maduro in 2013. The Venezuelan Violence Observatory estimated 28,479 “violent deaths” in 2016, a homicide rate of 91.8 per 100,000 residents. By comparison, FBI data reported a murder rate of 4.9 per 100,000 residents in the United States in 2015.

In 2009, the year Antonio Sano was kidnapped, leaked government data reported an estimated 16,917 kidnappings in Venezuela, or about 46 per day. While numbers vary depending on the source, Sano estimated there are about 20 kidnappings per day in his native country.

“It’s a business,” said Sano, whose parents and sister still live in Venezuela. “It’s a good deal for the people and the government. ... I cry every day for Venezuela. I cry for my mother and my father. The people in Venezuela on top are no good.”

Sano said he was a target for the kidnappers because of his high profile and the money he had made as a successful trainer. He said he had been kidnapped once before when his car was hijacked and he was forced to drive around to seven ATM machines and withdraw cash. Sano called it a “secuestro expreso,” or express kidnapping, and said it lasted just four hours.

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But the second time would not be so fast. Sano’s wife, Maria Cristina, said there was no contact from the kidnappers for the first 15 days.

“They were the worst days of my life,” she said. “I didn’t know if he was killed or kidnapped or what. They found his car the same day he was kidnapped, but not being able to hear from anyone for 15 days and not knowing what was going on was very scary.”

Antonio Sano said he was chained to the wall in a small room. There were no windows, no doors and little food.

Sano said the kidnappers threatened to kill him but also expressed a desire to keep him alive.

“They told me, ‘I need you alive. You’re dead, no money. You’re alive, you’re money,’” Sano said.

The Miami Herald reported the ransom was nearly 700,000 Bolivars or about $320,000 in American money at the time.

Sano’s wife said the kidnappers wanted more, “but we had to talk to them and tell them we didn’t have any more money.”

In order to pay, the Sanos used all of their savings, sold their cars and took donations from relatives and friends. Among them was Solomon Del Valle, who delivered the ransom money to a vacant lot. Sano returned home Aug. 28, 36 days after being kidnapped.

The Sanos knew they had to leave Venezuela for their safety and by December of 2009 had moved permanently to Weston, Florida, a city with a large Hispanic population. Sano left behind 162 horses, distributing them among several trainers, some of whom had helped pay his ransom.

He began training at Gulfstream Park and got his first victory in the United States on April 3, 2010, with a horse named Scorbit in a $10,000 claiming race.

Sano has been climbing the ranks since then and won 87 races and recorded more than $2.6 million in earnings last year. But his big break has come with Gunnevera, a son of Dialed In and owned by the Peacock Racing Stables. That ownership group consists of Del Valle and his son-in-law Guillermo Guerra — both Venezuelans — and Miami businessman Jaime Diaz, who is from Spain.

They purchased Gunnevera for $16,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September Sale. He has posted a 4-2-1 record in nine career starts and earned $1,170,200. He’ll enter the Derby after a third-place finish behind Always Dreaming and State of Honor in the Florida Derby.

“The post position was no good, and the track was so fast,” Sano said of the Florida Derby. “I wanted the horse to be closer.”

That will be up to jockey Javier Castellano, also a Venezuelan and named earlier this week to the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.

Castellano said Venezuelans will be cheering for Gunnevera, much like they did in 1971 when the Kentucky-born and Venezuelan-trained Canonero II won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before finishing fourth in the Belmont.

”Venezuela, unfortunately, we know through the news that they’ve been struggling with politicians,” Castellano said. “I don’t really want to talk about it because it’s too complicated to fix it. I hope to give something back to my country.”

Sano said he’s also trying to give back — to his native country, to those who helped him escape captivity and to those who welcomed his family to the United States in 2009.

He regularly invites visitors in to meet Gunnevera in Barn 41 on the Churchill backside and tells them, “It’s your barn. It’s your horse.”

“Thank God a lot of people in the United States opened their arms for me and supported me,” Sano said. “I’m excited for the experience. This is the first time in my life at Churchill Downs. All people know it’s a good track and beautiful people. I am proud.”

And so is his wife.

“He had to start back at zero after all the hard work he did in Venezuela and all of the victories he had,” Maria Cristino Sano said. “All of the hard work was lost. But he worked hard every day, waking up at 4 in the morning every day. He showed he’s a really good trainer and showed what you can do when you work hard.”

Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.