MIAMI GARDENS - 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 Aug. 16.

    “It’s nice to back,” said Prado, who finished off the board on long shot 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 today – Barbie’s King in Race 1 – before he ventures to Belmont Park 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 ride aboard Florida Derby winner Barbaro in the 2006 Kentucky Derby is among his numerous high-profile stakes triumphs that include Belmont Stakes 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 two years later.  comments powered by Disqus