About Edgar Prado
Edgar S. Prado, an American jockey of Peruvian descent, was born on June 12, 1967, and his estimated net worth is $4 million. One of 11 children, Edgar Prado was born in Lima, Peru. He started riding in Peru, where in October 1983 he rode Tatin to his maiden victory. After bringing his equipment to America in 1986, he began riding on a contract basis for trainer Manny Azpurua in Florida before relocating to Maryland, where he excelled as a rider for a number of years.
6000 wins:
On Sunday, February 10, 2008, Prado rode Sumphin to victory in Gulfstream Park’s sixth race, marking his 6,000th career victory.
He is the 16th jockey to accomplish this in North America. On March 13, 2004, he achieved the 5,000 victory milestone at Gulfstream Park.
In the Triple Crown, spoiler role:
Prado is credited with foiling two consecutive tries at the Triple Crown. He defeated War Emblem’s effort to complete the sweep in 2002 by riding Sarava to victory, setting a Belmont Stakes record win payout of $142.50 in the process. He rallied late to catch the overwhelming favorite Smarty Jones in the final 1/16 to end the hopes of the Pennsylvania-bred two years later while riding the Nick Zito-trained Birdstone.
Achievement in New York:
Prado relocated to New York in 1999 to ride for John Kimmel, and during the 2000 Belmont Park Fall Championship Meet, the outstanding rider won his first New York Racing Association (NYRA) riding championship. That was a portent of things to come. Prado was the best jockey during the 2006 Belmont Spring/Summer Meet after winning the New York riding championship in 2005 with 206 victories. Later that year, he tied for the Fall Meet championship.
Three times, Prado has held the title of riding champion at Saratoga. In the three years from 1997 to 1999, he had the most victories in the country. The fourth rider to win 500 races in a calendar year is him.
Regular Barbaro rider:
Prado is best known for being the regular rider of Lael Stable’s in-house bred Barbaro, who won the Kentucky Derby in 2006 by an unprecedented 6 1/2 lengths to maintain his perfect record. Unfortunately, the streak came to an unfortunate end when Barbaro fractured his right rear ankle barely 100 yards into the Preakness. Prado deserves praise for helping him up right away, getting off his horse, and ministering to him. He also went to see Barbaro at the New Bolton Center, where the brave dark bay eventually passed away in January 2007 from laminitis.
2006 was a stellar year:
Edgar Prado had one of his best years ever as a jockey in 2006, a year in which he lost his mother to breast cancer shortly before the Kentucky Derby, despite Barbaro stealing all the attention. He earned his third riding championship at Saratoga after taking 46 races on 216 mounts and winning the Belmont spring/summer meet in 2006. He and Eibar Coa shared first place at the Belmont fall meet. He won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff while riding Round Pond for Barbaro’s trainer Michael Matz, earning him the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey of 2006.
Several honors:
He was designated the 54th recipient of the George Woolf Memorial Award in 2003, along with the 2006 Eclipse Award and the Mike Venezia Award. In addition to the Mike Venezia Memorial Award, he received the ESPY Award in 2006 for “extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship.” Additionally, he received two Fourstardave Awards for Special Achievement at Saratoga from the New York Turf Writers Association.
Family man:
Patricia, Edgar Jr., and Luis are the three children Prado and Liliana had together. His brother Jorge was a jockey and is currently a trainer in Maryland, while his brother Anibal is a rider at Philadelphia Park. His father was a trainer in Peru.
When Prado won 536 races in 1997, he became only the fourth rider in history to win 500 races in a calendar year. This was Prado’s big break. Edgar Prado’s net worth is projected to reach $4 million as of 2023. In 2014, Prado became the 19th rider in the annals of thoroughbred racing to win 5,000 races.
With a victory aboard Cory Gal in Gulfstream Park’s third race of the day in 2020, Prado and Angel Cordero, Jr. matched for eighth place on the list of all-time winners.
