Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado won his 7,000th career race Tuesday afternoon at Parx, guiding the $12,500 claimer Thefundsarelow to victory in the sixth race.
Prado joins seven other North American-based riders to have won at least 7,000 races. The others are Russell Baze, Laffit Pincay Jr., Bill Shoemaker, Pat Day, Dave Gall, Chris McCarron, and Angel Cordero Jr. All but Gall are also Hall of Fame inductees.
A native of Peru, Prado, 50, has won numerous riding titles on the Maryland and New York circuits. He was the last jockey to win at least 500 races in a single season, having won 536 in 1997.
Winner of the George Woolf Memorial Award in 2003, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame five years later.
Prado has won three classics: the 2006 Kentucky Derby (G1) with the ill-fated Barbaro and the 2002 and 2004 Belmont Stakes (G1) with Triple Crown spoilers Sarava and Birdstone, respectively.
Edgar has been one of my all-time favorite riders. A true professional and gentleman to boot.Glad to see him still getting live mounts in Maryland.