The following appeared May 21 in bloodhorse.com. Jockey Edgar Prado won three straight Virginia Derbies between 2002 – 2004 at Colonial Downs. He won with Orchard Park and Silver Tree for trainer Bill Mott, and Kitten’s Joy for trainer Dale Romans.
Edgar Prado is now eighth all time among jockeys in wins.
Jockey Edgar Prado moved past fellow Hall of Famer Angel Cordero to grab sole possession of eighth place on the career wins list May 21 with victory No. 7,058 at Gulfstream Park.
The 52-year-old Lima, Peru, native scored aboard Wesley Ward-trained Flying Aletha, who defeated stablemate Lime by 5 1/2 lengths in the five-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies that was moved off the turf course to the main track.
“I’m very excited. After the recent setback with the quarantine and the coronavirus, I’m glad to be back and riding again,” Prado said. “I’m extremely excited and happy to pass a legend like Cordero. The next goal is eight away, so hopefully we can get there sooner than later.”
The still-active Perry Wayne Ouzts ranks seventh on the all-time wins list with 7,066.
Prado hustled Flying Aletha out of the gate past Lime, the 2-5 favorite ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., to set the pace on the backstretch. The daughter of Tiznow withstood a mild challenge from her stablemate before drawing away to a comfortable victory.
“The plan was to let the other horse get to the lead and follow her, but when my horse broke so good, going five furlongs with an inside post, I didn’t even think about it,” Prado said. “I just let her go and she was very comfortable, and when I asked her, she responded. Once she got to running and I wasn’t next to that horse, she was just looking for competition, so I had to stay busy and keep her mind on business.”
CJ Thoroughbreds’ Flying Aletha completed the distance in :58.73 after setting fractions of :22.66 and :46.21 for the first half-mile. Lime, who finished second in her April 16 debut at Gulfstream, finished 6 1/2 lengths clear of Whistler Dixie and Victor Lebron.
Flying Aletha’s debut followed several impressive workouts on turf at Palm Meadows Training Center.
“She’s been working unbelievable at Palm Meadows on the turf. For her to do what she did today on the dirt and beat my other filly, who was 2-5, really says a lot about her,” Ward said. “She’s going to have a big future.”
Ward said both Flying Aletha and Lime are candidates for future stakes in Europe. The trainer was especially pleased that Prado reached his latest milestone aboard one of his horses.
“Isn’t that nice? I rode with him here at Calder when he first came to this country. We rode together at Calder in 1987,” Ward said.
Prado, who rode as an apprentice in Peru, began riding in the U.S. in 1986. He notched his first win aboard Single Love at Calder on June 1, 1986. The jockey, who was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2008, has amassed countless highlights during his illustrious career, including a Kentucky Derby (G1) win aboard Barbaro in 2006, when he was honored with an Eclipse Award as North America’s outstanding jockey, and Belmont Stakes (G1) wins aboard Birdstone (2004) and Sarava (2002), as well as five Breeders’ Cup victories.
Prado’s mounts have earned nearly $270 million in purses.
