Juan Arriagada

Born: January 16, 1978 | Birthplace: Lima, Peru | Residence: Oldsmar, FL

First Win: Moonshine Promise, Tampa Bay Downs, 2017 | Started Training: 2017, Tampa Bay Downs Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Delaware Park

Arriagada enjoyed another outstanding meet last season, finishing fourth in the trainer standings with 23 winners. He also challenged for the Leading Owner crown, winning 21 races to finish second, three behind Endsley Oaks Farm. Arriagada emerged on the national scene as a conditioner in 2021 with 4-year-old filly Estilo Talentoso, whom he had purchased as a 2-year-old for $15,000. After starting 2021 with a third-place finish in the Wayward Lass Stakes at the Oldsmar oval, Estilo Talentoso competed in seven consecutive graded stakes. She won the Grade III Bed o’Roses at Belmont after Arriagada sold her to a syndicate, but he continued to train her. Estilo Talentoso finished second in the Grade I Madison, the Grade II Princess Rooney and the Grade III Runhappy Barbara Fritchie and third in the Grade I Derby City Distaff presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery and Grade II Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes. She was scratched from the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint before being retired, concluding her career with $532,538 in earnings. A former jockey who won about 300 races in Peru and Chile before coming to the United States in 2004, Arriagada struggled to keep his emotions under control on April 16, 2021 after his 21-year-old son, apprentice jockey Nicolas Arriagada, earned the first victory of his career at Tampa Bay Downs aboard Native Hawk, a 9-year-old gelding owned and trained by his father. On Mother’s Day of 2017, Arriagada married trainer Alison Hassig; their daughter Tezza was born in August of 2018. Before going out on his own, Arriagada worked under Joe Orseno, Rusty Arnold, Anthony Dutrow and Anthony Pecoraro.