Clásico Simón Bolívar: Venezuela's Biggest Race and Gran Yaco's 2026 Win

Simón Bolívar Classic 2026: Gran Yaco gets his revenge

The Simón Bolívar Classic is Venezuela's biggest horse race: a Grade 1 over 2,400 meters (about a mile and a half) run every year at La Rinconada racetrack in Caracas. The 80th edition of this Simón Bolívar Classic horse race in Venezuela went to Gran Yaco (USA), a 5-year-old by City of Light, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026.

Gran Yaco rallied on the outside in the stretch and settled it in the final 200 meters, 2001online reported. It was a textbook revenge win: in 2025 he lost this same race to Astuto in a photo finish, by a neck according to Meridiano.

The result at a glance

• Trainer: Noel Kucich, who won the Bolívar in his first year as a trainer, according to Gran Caracas News. It was also jockey Yoelbis González's first Bolívar.
• Owner: Victoria's Ranch, the stable of former Venezuelan MLB star Víctor Martínez.
• The favorite: Tuscan Gold, who had to settle for third.
• Time: 2:32.4 (152.4 seconds), per 2001online, Radio Miraflores and Gran Caracas News. Other figures have circulated, so check the Instituto Nacional de Hipódromos (INH) for the official chart.

That made six wins from 29 starts for Gran Yaco, per Meridiano. This isn't an unbeaten wonder horse. He's a stayer who kept improving until his big day arrived.

What the Simón Bolívar is, and why it's Venezuela's top race

If the Kentucky Derby is the race everyone in the US knows, the Simón Bolívar is the one that stops Venezuela. Local racing writers call it the "magno evento nacional," the great national event, and Radio Miraflores calls it the most important race in the country.

Three things set it apart:

1. The distance. 2,400 meters is the classic distance of the world's big staying races, the same trip as France's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. It takes speed, but above all stamina and a rider who can ration it.
2. The grade. It's a Grade 1, the top level on the calendar. For a plain-English guide, see what a Grade 1 race is.
3. The stage. It's run at La Rinconada, which opened on July 5, 1959, in Coche in south Caracas and is the country's main racetrack.

The purse: one sourced figure

Meridiano, in its Oct. 28 preview, and Gran Caracas News both reported a $500,000 purse for this edition. Gran Caracas News added that it's the richest purse in Latin American and Caribbean racing. That comparison is the outlet's own, and we haven't been able to confirm it independently.

The Vargas-Bolívar double, explained

The Clásico José María Vargas is a Grade 2 race over 2,000 meters on dirt at La Rinconada, run in the first half of the season. It works as a stamina exam before the big November target.

Gran Yaco won the 66th Vargas on March 15, 2026, in 2:06.42, according to Hípica Global. González rode and Kucich trained that day too.

Winning both in the same year says a lot about a horse. He held his form for a full season, from March to November, and stepped up 400 meters without losing class. Meridiano lists the recent horses that did it:

• Apistos (2020), at age 5, for trainer Fernando Parilli Araujo. Meridiano calls him the first to do it this century.
• Rod Hendrick (2023), at age 4, also for Parilli Araujo.
• El de Froix (2024), for trainer Riccardo D'Angelo, ridden by Francisco Quevedo.
• Gran Yaco (2026), for Noel Kucich, ridden by Yoelbis González.

That's four doubles in just six years, as Meridiano puts it. For a trainer in his first season, joining that list is a hard start to top.

Why so many top runners at La Rinconada are US-bred imports

Look at the first three in the 2026 Bolívar: every one has "(USA)" after his name. That suffix shows where a horse was born, and imports are a central part of the show at La Rinconada.

The reasons are practical:

• Supply. The US breeds thousands of Thoroughbred foals every year, so Venezuelan owners find a deep pool of horses with pedigree and race experience there.
• New blood. Meridiano reports that imports resumed in 2024 and grew the local horse population. The paper says that makes for more competitive races and, later on, mares and stallions to strengthen Venezuelan breeding.
• Race experience. Many arrive already raced. Gran Yaco was bred in Kentucky, and Hípica Global said the Vargas was his first stakes win across the US and La Rinconada.

Imports don't win every time, though. In a May analysis, Meridiano found that 7 of 39 imports debuting at Coche without prior starts at other tracks won (17.9%). Criollos, the Venezuelan-born horses, still hold their own: Astuto, the 2025 winner who beat Gran Yaco, is a criollo, per Gran Caracas News.

How to read a racehorse's name

• (USA), (ARG), (BRZ): country of birth. In Venezuela, no suffix usually means a criollo.
• "By City of Light": the sire. City of Light won the Pegasus World Cup in the US.
• Gran Yaco's dam is Like It Hot, by Giant's Causeway, per Hípica Global.

The team behind Gran Yaco

Víctor Martínez, the owner. The former MLB catcher and designated hitter, one of Venezuela's best-known ballplayers of his generation, races as Victoria's Ranch. Winning the Bolívar puts his silks at the top of Venezuelan racing.

Noel Kucich, the trainer. He won both the Vargas and the Bolívar in what Gran Caracas News calls his first year as a trainer. Keeping a stayer sharp for eight months and two major races takes careful barn work: shoeing, feeding, workouts and rest.

Yoelbis González, the jockey. He rode Gran Yaco in both big 2026 wins. In the Bolívar he waited and pounced in the stretch, the key at 2,400 meters, where moving too early costs you.

If you follow Venezuelan riders, you may also like our profile of Junior Alvarado, the Venezuelan jockey who's starred in the US.

How to follow Venezuelan horse racing if you're new

You don't need to know pedigrees to enjoy a big race. This checklist gets you started:

1. Follow the INH. The Instituto Nacional de Hipódromos posts official results, finish videos and photos on X (@OficialINH).
2. Read the racing press. Meridiano, Líder en Deportes and Hípica Global cover La Rinconada every week, in Spanish.
3. Learn the distance. A 1,200-meter race is a sprint and a 2,400-meter race is a staying test. It changes how the whole race is run.
4. Watch the horses, not just the tote board. In the paddock, look at sweat, attitude and how each horse walks.
5. Pick up the lingo. Terms like "stayer," "by a nose" and "off the pace" are in our glossary.

If you take kids to the track, remember that racehorses are powerful, keyed-up athletes. Nobody approaches one without staff permission. Our safety section covers the basics.

What to watch next

• Gran Yaco's next step. At 5, with two major wins in 2026, the question is whether his team aims him at defending the title in 2027. Nothing has been announced.
• Gun Bolt and Tuscan Gold. The runner-up and the beaten favorite are the obvious rivals for next season's staying races.
• The import effect. With imports back since 2024, watch whether criollos win back ground in the 2027 classics.
• The INH calendar. Check the official dates for upcoming La Rinconada stakes before planning a visit.

For more big races this season, see our Breeders' Cup 2026 coverage or browse all our trends.