Juan Cano is living the American Dream

His natural talent and hard work led to Hambletonian Oaks glory.

by Murray Brown

Don’t ever tell Juan Cano that the American Dream is dead. The young man, born and raised in far less than affluence, left school at the age of 8 in his native Guatemala to begin life anew. He could barely speak English when came to the U.S. at the age of 17 in 2000 with a dream in his head and a desire to work hard, succeed, and reach the pinnacle of his chosen profession, culminating, but far from finishing, with his training wins in this year’s Hambletonian Oaks with Conversano and the James B. Lynch Memorial consolation 1 with Gigglingonthebeach.

From the words of the incomparable Neil Diamond’s “America”:

“Got a dream to take them there

They’re coming to America

Got a dream they’ve come to share

They’re coming to America”

Let’s go back to 2000 when you first came to these shores from Guatemala. What led you to come here?

“Several members of my family had worked with horses in the States. I suppose my uncle was the first one. He came to work for Erv Miller in 1985. He said that the work presented greater opportunity than what was available in Guatemala. If you worked hard, there was the chance to make a decent living and have a good life. I have two uncles who are well known in the industry. Armando Cano works for Ron Burke and another uncle, Jose Cano, worked for Rick Beinhauer for many years.

“My first job here was with Brian Pinske. I worked for Brian for three years until his sad passing in 2002. After Brian passed away, I went to work for Erv Miller. At Erv’s I learned so much. It was there where I first started to train as well as continuing to groom. 

“Erv and his wonderful family remain among the finest people I have known in my years in the sport. I stayed with Erv for nine years. While with Erv, Tony Alagna was his second trainer. Tony was now on his own and doing well. For no other reason other than perhaps a change of scenery and a chance to maybe advance my career, I got in touch with Tony and asked him if he was looking for help. His response was ‘When can you be here?’”

Alagna said: “Juan helped me as one of my second trainers for three years between Florida and New Jersey. Juan always had a great set of hands, which is paramount and which you can’t teach. I regularly put him on a troublesome trotter if I wasn’t able to train it myself. It’s no surprise to me to see Juan having the success that he’s having. All he needed was to be given the opportunity. After his Oaks win, I naturally texted to congratulate him and he responded immediately. Juan will always be a good friend.”

In 2019 you had an offer to go on your own?

“Yes. I was 35. I thought that if ever I was going to do it, now was the time. Tim Betts gave me six horses and I went on my own.”

How did your association with Joe Parisi’s Hot Lead Farm come about?

“Brett Pelling had a horse that he wasn’t getting along with. He gave it to me to try. Joe Parisi saw this. He said, ‘Brett Pelling might very well be the best horse trainer in the business. If he thinks this guy is good enough to give a horse to, maybe I should give him a try.’ So, he did. That’s how our association started.”

Let’s speak of the present. What is the size of your stable and where are you situated?

“Right now, we have 14 head in training. Of course, we train at Joe Parisi, Jr.’s Hot Lead Farm here in New Jersey. Joe owns seven of those that we have going including our two biggest stars Conversano and Gigglingonthebeach. They are evenly divided up between seven 2- and 3-year-olds and seven overnight horses. We race mostly at The Meadowlands and Pocono Downs. If our stakes horses show enough, we will ship them to wherever their schedules indicate we should take them.”

Let’s speak of those stars — Conversano first.

“She was a homebred that Joe retained to race at 2 and 3, and then to become a member of his quality growing broodmare band. She was a nice enough filly at 2. She earned a little over $30,000 and won a New Jersey Sire Stakes at The Meadowlands. We only raced her a few times and never took her out of New Jersey. She was somewhat immature at 2. We thought that with some growth and maturity, that there was a good chance that she’d become a Grand Circuit filly at 3. I suppose a lot of trainers and owners think that. It came true for us. Thus far this year, she has won seven of her 10 starts and has earned $498,011. We started the year qualifying her at Chester. She then went on a winning streak in winning the Lady Suffolk, the Garden State, was second in a New Jersey Sires Stakes, and then won the $225,000 final, the Reynolds Memorial, was third in the Delvin Miller Memorial, she won the Hambletonian Oaks elimination, then Andy McCarthy, who had been driving her all along, chose to drive Miss Belmar with which he had also won an Oaks elimination in the final. I contacted James MacDonald. He said he would be happy to come down and drive her in the Hambletonian Oaks final. I guess the rest is history.”

What were your thoughts, going into the race of your lifetime, the Hambletonian Oaks, and then being without a driver?

“It’s part of the business. I actually felt bad for Andy. He had two top fillies to choose from for the final. I understand his choice based on it being a business decision. Miss Belmar is trained by Noel Daley who has one of the larger and more successful Grand Circuit Stables in all of North America. Here was I with a small stable with only a few young horses in it. I watch races from all over. I knew that James MacDonald was the best driver in Canada and is a driver who can compete with the very best anywhere. I got on the phone with him and asked him if he would drive Conversano in the Oaks. He said that he would be more than happy to come down and drive her. Of course, we won the race. It was the greatest thrill I’ve had in my entire career. I’m usually not a very emotional person, but on Aug. 2, 2025, I doubt that there was a happier one anywhere.”

How about Gigglingonthebeach?

“She is another one of Joe’s homebreds. I was always a great fan of her sire Papi Rob Hanover and was glad to get her to train. She was a very nice 2-year-old. We chose to race her in the Stallion Series events in Pennsylvania rather than in the tougher PASS [Pennsylvania Sire Stakes] events. In retrospect, I think it was a wise decision. She ended up winning two of them and then the $40,000 final at Chester on her way to earning $69,090. This year at 3, we haven’t raced her much. She won a Stallion Series race at Chester and then won the $125,000 James B. Lynch Memorial consolation 1 at Pocono. We’ve only raced her seven times so far this year. She has earnings just shy of $100,000. We’ve got big plans for her though. We are going to take her to the Jugette, where I expect she will be in against tougher competition than she has previously been in with.”

You said you’ve got big plans in store?

“Yes. We are going to Delaware, OH, for the Jugette. I’ve never been there before. Of course, I’ve never been to the Little Brown Jug, which is obvious. Then, if she’s good enough, we will take both her and Conversano to The Red Mile where we can go against the best of the Grand Circuit horses. Of course, after Lexington there are the Breeders Crowns at Mohawk. But maybe I’m getting a little too far ahead of myself.”

While in Lexington, do you have yearling shopping in mind?

“There’s nothing definite yet. I’d like to get the stable up to around 20 for next year. Of course, that depends on whether my owners are willing. I think that 20 is a number I’d be comfortable with and can train and do justice to. Joe Parisi has three homebred fillies for me to train this winter. I’ve also had a few people mention yearlings to me.”