Juan Arias (horse trainer)
Venezuelan horse trainer (1938–2021)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Juan D. Arias (May 6, 1938 – August 20, 2021) was a Venezuelan Thoroughbred horse trainer best known for race conditioning Canonero II to win the 1971 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in the United States.[1] Canonero II would be voted the Eclipse Award as the 1971 American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse.[2]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 6, 1938 Marin, Yaracuy, Venezuela |
| Died | August 21, 2021 (aged 83) Caracas, Venezuela |
| Horse racing career | |
| Sport | Horse racing |
| Major racing wins | |
| U.S. Triple Crown wins: Kentucky Derby (1971) Preakness Stakes (1971) | |
| Significant horses | |
| Canonero II, Discomo, Hassi's Image | |
Arias grew up in poverty on a farm in central Venezuela.[3] As a child, he had hoped to become a pilot in the Venezuelan air force but suffered a hernia which prevented him from going into the training program. Instead, aged fifteen, he became an apprentice to a local horse trainer, and two years later was accepted into the trainers school at La Rinconada, a race track in Caracas,[4] and received his training licence on 4 July 1959.[3]
Arias died on 20 August 2021, at the age of 83.[5]
