Busy Edgar Prado Picks Adriano
Top Money Rider Chooses Lane's End Champion for Kentucky Derby
Riding money leader Edgar Prado had his pick of some of the year's best Thoroughbreds for his Derby ride May 3. He opted for Adriano, trained by his long-time employer.
In choosing a Kentucky Derby mount, this Thoroughbred season's top earning jockey Edgar Prado had his choice among Tale of Ekati, Wood Memorial Champion at Aqueduct Race Course, New York Apr. 5, Keeneland's Apr. 12 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes winner, Monba, and Adriano, who took the title in the Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park, Florence, Kentucky on Mar. 22. The common thread of the choice was the fact that Prado was the winning jockey in all three of those races.
To cap his busy schedule riding the best three-year-olds of the year, Prado was aboard Atoned for trainer Todd Pletcher in Apr. 19th's Coolmore Lexington Stakes back at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky.
The takes-your-breath-away schedule is a result of Prado's keen judge of horses and his season's earnings currently leading the jockey's list of dollars in the winner's circle. Prado rode to his first Kentucky Derby triumph aboard Barbaro in 2006. The jockey is best described by Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens, who played jockey George Woolf in "Seabiscuit", as "hard-working".
Leading Money-Winning Jockeys This Season:
- Edgar Prado ----- Starters, 27 --- Winners, 3 --- Stakes Winners, 2 ----- Earnings, $863,709
- Mike E. Smith ----- 9 -- 2 -- 1 ----- $650,580
- Garrett K. Gomez ----- 27 -- 7 -- 3 ----- $595,079
- John R. Velazquez ----- 23 -- 4 -- 0 ----- $488,324
- Cornelio H. Velasquez ----- 30 -- 5 -- 1 ----- $407,114
- Robby Albarado ----- 29 -- 1 -- 0 ----- $395,636
- Kent Desormeaux ----- 33 -- 8 -- 0 ----- $347,315
- Tyler Baze ----- 24 -- 5 -- 0 ----- $281,998
- Jamie Theriot ----- 25 -- 5 -- 1 ----- $268,524
- Alex O. Solis ----- 23 -- 6 -- 1 ----- $259,497
Their Leading Thoroughbred Partner Earners, respectively, are: (1)Monba (2)Gayego (3)Ariege (4)Cowboy Cal (5)Kip deVille (6)Z Fortune (7)Stormy West (8)Tres Borrachos (9)Mr. Nightlinger (10)Lightmyfirebaby.
Adriano's Trainer, Graham Motion, Pleased With Colt's Breeze
Adriano's trainer, H. Graham Motion, has frequently employed Prado, which according to the jockey's agent, Bob Frieze, probably influenced Prado's choice of Derby horses.
On Sunday, Apr. 13, Prado breezed Adriano a half mile at Churchill Downs with the colt's stablemate, Longley. Adriano went the half in :50, pressing past Longley in the last furlong. Trainer Motion said he expects to point the chestnut colt to the Run for the Roses May 3 based on the workout.
Adriano, owned by Don Adam of Courtlandt Farms, is a homebred sired by the great A.P. Indy. In previous races, he has run on grass and all-weather surfaces. He finished ninth in the Feb. 24th running of the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on conventional dirt, and he won the Lane's End on Turfway's Polytrack surface.
No matter the surface, or the conditions, Prado is a certain choice to give Adriano every opportunity to win at Churchill Downs.
