Trainer Arriagada Accepts Ups, Downs in Equal Measure

Juan Arriagada experienced personal and professional heartbreak in the days leading to last month's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.

On Oct. 26, the trainer's mother, Erna, died at home in Lima, Peru, after an extended illness. After wrestling with his options, Arriagada, who had been stabled at Delaware Park, elected to travel to Southern California to saddle his 4-year-old Estilo Talentoso  for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Nov. 6.

"In life, we have to do what we have to do," said Arriagada at the time. "The owners trust me with their horse, and I feel like I have to do it. I'm a professional, and I have to do my job."

Arriagada believed he would feel his mother's presence the day of the race, but his hopes took a cruel turn when he was forced to scratch Estilo Talentoso early in the week because of an issue with her right foreleg.

"I'm not the type of trainer who has 20 stakes horses in his barn," Arriagada said of his Breeders' Cup disappointment. "When something like that happens, it's pretty hard. But everybody in our sport has ups and downs. If you want good things to happen, you have to keep working hard."

A few days later, she was sold for $600,000 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment to the Japan-based JS Company at The November Sale at Fasig-Tipton.

Returning to the embrace of his wife Alison, a former trainer, and their 3-year-old daughter Tezza picked up his spirits. So did the chance to work with his other horses on the Tampa Bay Downs backstretch in preparation for the current Oldsmar meeting. And, a quick start that resulted in six victories, three seconds, and three thirds from his first 18 starters didn't hurt a bit, either.

"It's like the best therapy there is," said Arriagada, honored as the Salt Rock Tavern Trainer of the Month. "Horses can help you forget a lot of bad things. It's good working with them, and it's much better when you do well."

Of course, Arriagada will always have a soft spot in his heart for Estilo Talentoso. He purchased the daughter of Maclean's Music  —Bazinga Baby , by Afleet Alex , for $15,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales' 2019 June 2-Year-Olds & Horses of Racing Age Sale from the McKathan Bros. consignment. With Arriagada as her owner and trainer, she finished second in her first four starts—three at Tampa Bay Downs—before breaking her maiden in June of 2020 at Gulfstream Park.

That was the start of what was to come. She won the Escena Stakes in 2020 at Gulfstream Park, and this year won the Bed o' Roses Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park. Prior to that win and following a third-place performance in the Derby City Distaff Stakes Presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery (G1) May 1 at Churchill Downs, Arriagada agreed to sell Estilo Talentoso to Medallion Racing and other partners for $400,000.

She concluded her career racing for Medallion Racing, Barry Fowler, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Little Red Feather Racing, and BlackRidge Stables.

Back in Oldsmar, life goes on without Estilo Talentoso for the Arriagada family. Juan and Alison work as a team, exercising horses in the mornings and bouncing ideas back and forth about the horses. Arriagada currently trains 20 horses, supported by a team that includes grooms Clifford Rhymer, Ian Hughes, and Mauricio Madrid.

"I have to be on a horse. It's my life," said Arriagada, a former jockey who was unable to ride for a while with a balky knee. "And Alison complains if she only gets on three or four. When she gets on seven or eight, then she's happy."

They also receive occasional help from son Nicolas, 22, who works as an exercise rider for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. Nicolas earned his first career victory last April as a jockey at Tampa Bay Downs on one of his father's horses but struggles to maintain weight redirected his career path.

Nicolas saw his dad's reaction to his mother's death and the scratch of Estilo Talentoso as lessons he wants to carry forward himself.

"Nobody wants to feel that way, but he knew he had to do what he needed to do. He showed me you have to be strong in this life," Nicolas said. "Bad things will happen and you're going to hit the ground a lot of times, but you have to stand up and keep going."