From Bloodhorse.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 5, 2021) — Julio Canani, a successful trainer of Breeders’ Cup winners who died Feb. 5 at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena at age 83, reveled in attention. Much as he enjoyed accepting trophies after a big race, he also would dress up in a giant green hat at Santa Anita Park on St. Patrick’s Day. He loved the few episodes of the HBO series Deadwood that he did for producer and writer David Milch.
“I get to be in a bar and spit on someone,” Canani once said of the old West series.
Canani trained such horses for Milch as 2001 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T) winner Val Royal. Prior to Deadwood, Milch put Canani in a couple of episodes of the television series NYPD Blue.
“I go over there for fun, and they say, ‘Let’s dress him up,’ ” Canani explained.
A decade ago, Milch created the Peruvian trainer Turo Escalante based on Canani for the short-lived racetrack-based series Luck. Milch infused the character with an outsize personality, something Canani also had in abundance.
Canani trained the winners of 1,137 races for purse earnings of more than $49 million. His career ended in 2015 following a suspension of his license for alleged improprieties in the sale of racehorses.
In his heyday, Canani trained horses at the highest level. He won the Breeders’ Cup Mile twice, with Val Royal and in 1999 with Silic, and the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with Sweet Catomine.
Among the California-breds Canani trained were California Cup Mile winner Drake’s Victory and Sunshine Millions Oaks winner Silent Sighs.
One of Canani’s most surprising victories came with Martial Law in the 1989 Santa Anita Handicap (G1). Supplemented to the race by a partnership headed by Clover Racing Stable, Martial Law scored by 1 3/4 lengths at 51-1.
Afterward, Canani joked about the scene in the horse’s stall when he told his foreman that the horse would be entered in the race: “You know, that horse turned around and gave me a dirty look.”
Canani won the Del Mar Derby (G2T) four times—with millionaire Ladies Din in 1998, Val Royal in 1999, Blackdoun in 2004, and My Best Brother in 2012. Ladies Din’s victories included wins in the 2000 Eddie Read Handicap (G1T) and 2002 Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T), races Canani won two more times during his career. Other grade 1 winners Canani trained included Tranquility Lake, Special Ring, Hyperbaric, Amorama, and Silver Circus.
Born in Peru in 1938, Canani left home at age 16. After emigrating to the U.S., he worked for a landscaping company before he came to the racetrack and walked hots for trainer A.T. (Tommy) Doyle. Canani took out his trainer’s license in 1968, primarily training claimers until 1975, when he won his first stakes, the Oceanside Stakes, with Willmar. He saddled jockey Bill Shoemaker’s last mount, Patchy Groundfog, on Feb. 3, 1990 at Santa Anita. Shoemaker finished fourth.
Canani is survived by his wife, Svetlana; his four children, Nick, Lisa, Isabella, and Alexander; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. The Canani family has requested donations be made to the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation.