KINGSTON, Jamaica - Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado returned to the saddle Friday at Gulfstream Park West after being sidelined for nearly two months.
Although his return was not triumphant, Prado was otherwise pleased to get back in action after recovering from a rib injury sustained in a last-race spill at Gulfstream Park on Aug. 16.
“It’s nice to back,” said Prado, who finished off the board on longshot Hannah Catherine in Race 5. “It took about a month-and-a-half, which is average for that type of injury. My plan is to stay here unless there’s an offer to go somewhere else. You never know.”
Prado has one mount at Gulfstream Park West on Saturday – Barbie’s King in Race 1 – before he ventures to Belmont Park on Sunday to ride Paret, a James Lawrence II-trained Australian import who has been stakes-placed in his last three starts in the U.S., in the Point of Entry Stakes.
Prado ranks ninth all-time among North American riders with 7,031 victories, 26 fewer than No. 8 Angel Cordero Jr. His winning ride aboard Florida Derby (G1) champion Barbaro in the 2006 Kentucky Derby is among his numerous high-profile stakes triumphs that include Belmont Stakes (G1) wins aboard Birdstone (2004) and Sarava (2002), as well as five Breeders’ Cup victories.
The Eclipse Award-winning jockey in 2006 was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008.
