The Glenn Mendez trained three-year-old colt Juice Man bellied his 21-1 odds and ran an absolute cracker to be sixth in Sunday's 19th running of the Clasico International Del Caribe at Gulfstream Park, Florida, USA.
By his sixth-place finish, the Justyn Kanta-Persad owned colt gave Trinidad and Tobago Racing a much-needed boost.
To make his performance even better Juice Man jockey Christian Torres took along four pounds over-weight and he was beaten some nine lengths by the upset winner — The Brother Slew at the Line.
The Venezuelan winner landed a massive gamble for owner/trainer Paul Valery at odds of 45-1 with Paco Lopez doing the steering.
Juice Man encountered some problem in racing after 500 metres and lost some valuable ground when he was taken very wide to deliver his challenge at the corner with 400 metres left to race.
However, Juice Man showed that he possessed the heart of a lion and a champion and he ran on without getting closer to the easy winner.
For the champion trainer, Glenn Mendez it is back to the drawing board for Juice Man, who has a monumental task at hand after his charge spent ten days in the Quarantine Facility at the Airport in Florida in the USA which can only be described as harsh for the three-year-old colt.
Trinidad and Tobago have not been represented in this event since 1998 when the Eric Durant trained Braveheart took his chance in 1998.
Supreme Soul the Jamaican 'Triple Crown' champion which is owned by Trinidadian Chevan Maharaj finished eighth.
This now sets up a fantastic Gold Cup 2019 and a mouth-watering clash between Apocalypse which won the feature event on Saturday and Juice Man which ran a superb race yesterday in the Clasico.
The running time for the event was a good 1:51.76.
Here is the result of the Clasico International Del Caribe 2019.
1st: The Brother Slew - P Lopez (45-1)
2nd: Gran Omero - J Castellano (7-2)
3rd: Turpin Time - J Lescano (18-1)
4th: Papa Candelo - J Diaz (7-2)
5th: Fix - R Santana (21-1)
6th: Juice Man - C Torres (21-1)