No matter what anyone could ever write about Edgar Prado the Peruvian iron man of horse racing no amount of words would be enough. The greatest thing about Edgar he is the same man off the track as he is on the track and an all-around great human being.
Born in Lima Peru in 1967 Edgar Prado exploded on the racing scene like he was shot out of a cannon. In 1997 was his first ever big break winning 536 races in that year and making him one of four jockeys to ever do so. Much of that success was in Maryland where he ruled that jockey colony with an iron fist.
In 2004 Edgar Prado was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY. He is the 19th jockey in history to have over 5000 wins in a career and he’s not done yet! At the young age of 52 there’s no quit in him.
The most notable horse Edgar Prado ever rode was Barbaro, unfortunately the last memory wasn’t the fondest. Barbaro fresh off of dusting his competition piloted by Edgar in the Kentucky Derby was assuming his next challenge in the Preakness as a heavily favored betting proposition. Barbaro suffered a sever ankle injury in mid race and Edgar Prado jumped off him to save the horse. Unfortunately, Barbaro never made it back to racing and was euthanized.
Edgar Prado is a five-time Breeders Cup winner as well as a winner of the George Woolf memorial Jockey award, Mike Venezia Memorial award and an Eclipse award winner in 2006 for outstanding jockey. In May of 2018 he became one of eight jockeys to have eclipsed the 7000-win mark. Edgar Prado has won the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes twice and the Kentucky Oaks. Some of the most other noteworthy horses Edgar has ridden are Scat Daddy, Birdstone, Lemon Drop Kid, Saint Liam, Silver Train, Lost in the Fog and Runhappy.
Edgar Prado recently fell off a horse in a race and broke a rib, I had messaged him while he was in the hospital and asked him how he was. He complained of being a little sore but said he was fine. I am quite sure a broken rib wouldn’t stop Edgar Prado from riding. I believe Edgar will leave riding when he feels as though he’s accomplished everything he wants, but if you were to ask anyone, he’s already done that. Edgar Prado has almost thirty nine thousand mounts and over 260 millions dollars in career earnings.
