Even at 48, Prado can still bring it

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Every elite athlete should do this poorly on their way down. Folks can say what they want about Edgar Prado in the twilight of his career, but the fact is that the 48-year-old jockey can still ride with the best.

“All I need is the horse,” said Prado.

In combating the perception that age is getting the best of him, Prado won four stakes at Keeneland this fall – the most of any jockey – including three for longtime client Graham Motion.

“He’s shown no signs of slowing down, as far as I can tell,” said Motion, who has put Prado on more than 200 winners since they first teamed together in Maryland in the late 1980s. “It was very exciting to enjoy this recent run of success together. Edgar is a great guy.”

With the 32nd Breeders’ Cup at hand, Prado is prepared for the Keeneland spotlight again as the jockey of Runhappy, the speedy 3-year-old who will be one of the favorites Saturday in the $1.5 million BC Sprint for owner Jim McIngvale and trainer Maria Borell.

“Getting the mount on a horse like Runhappy has been great,” said Prado, a Peru native whose first winner in the U.S. came at Calder in June 1986. “The best reward in this business is winning for people who work hard. I’ve been very blessed in my career to work for great people.”

A three-time national wins leader (1997-99) who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008 and is best known as the jockey of the legendary Barbaro, Prado has, in fact, seen his numbers slide noticeably in recent years. Whereas his mounts earned an average of nearly $19 million annually during his five-year career peak (2002-06), he has averaged only about $5.5 million per year from 2010-14. Last year, his mounts earned less than $4 million for the first time since 1995.

After dominating the Maryland circuit in the 1990s, Prado moved to New York in the early 2000s while also riding at Gulfstream Park during the winter. His transition was seamless, as he rode regularly for the top trainers of that time, including Bobby Frankel, Rick Dutrow Jr., and Nick Zito, while posting career highs in earnings.

But with younger jockeys such as Javier Castellano, Joel Rosario, and the Ortiz brothers now attracting the choice mounts, Prado in 2014 resigned himself to leaving New York to ride year-round in south Florida, where he and his wife, Liliana, have had a home in Hallandale Beach for years. The couple has three grown children, ages 29, 21, and 20.

“I couldn’t get my business back in New York after I was out a little while with an injury,” he said. “It was the right decision to make. I’ve traveled a lot during my career, and it is good to be home.”

Over time, Prado no longer had become the first jockey whom trainers think about when a horse warrants a big name in the saddle.

But Borell thought of him.

Prado first rode Runhappy in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop on the Aug. 29 Travers undercard at Saratoga, and they won by four lengths. He then rode Runhappy in the colt’s only subsequent race, a win Oct. 2 in the Phoenix at Keeneland by 1 3/4 lengths.

“Edgar has been a good friend for a few years now,” said Borell, who had other racetrack jobs before turning to training in 2013. “As a newbie to New York, maybe a lot of the jocks wouldn’t take me seriously and listen to my directions. I knew Edgar would give us 200 percent effort, and I thought his riding style would be a good match.”

American sports history is filled with iconic athletes who may have stuck around a little too long, such as Johnny Unitas, Willie Mays, Roy Jones Jr., and Shaquille O’Neal.

Racing, however, is somewhat different, as jockeys such as Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay Jr. rode at a high level well into their 50s, and Russell Baze continues to win races by the bunch at age 57.

“I don’t know when I’ll retire,” said Prado, whose 6,868 career wins are second only to Baze among active jockeys. “But it won’t be anytime soon. I still have a passion for the job, especially after the last month. When you get a horse like Runhappy, it’s fun.”

Besides Runhappy, Prado has mounts on two BC longshots this weekend: Andreya’s Reward in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Calamity Kate in the Distaff, both Friday. He has four prior BC wins to his credit.

Runhappy will break from post 5 amid a full gate in the six-furlong BC Sprint, and Prado is looking for another career highlight.

“I just want a nice and smooth trip,” he said. “Everything else will take care of itself.”