Juan D. Arias (born May 6, 1938, in
Marin,
Yaracuy
Yaracuy State ( es, link=no, Estado Yaracuy, ;) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is bordered by Falcón in the north, in the west by Lara, in the south by Portuguesa and Cojedes and in the east by Cojedes and Carabobo.
Its geograp ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
) is a retired
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
horse trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...
best known for race conditioning
Canonero II to win the
1971 Kentucky Derby and
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Canonero II would be voted the
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse.
An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...
as the 1971
American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse The American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971.
The award originated in 1936 when both ''Turf & Sport ...
.
Arias grew up in poverty on a farm in central Venezuela.
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,
and received his training licence on 4 July 1959.
References
1938 births
People from Yaracuy
Horse trainers
Venezuelan sportspeople
Living people
20th-century Venezuelan people
21st-century Venezuelan people
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