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E-mailFirst Derby win for Prado is special
John Grupp is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff writer and can be reached at 412-320-7930 or via e-mail.
Prado, who denied the nation a pair of Triple Crown winners, waved his arms and cheered on the crowd after winning the 132nd Kentucky Derby aboard Barbaro on Saturday.
"I was getting excited," he said.
The response from the 157,536 in attendance was markedly different from the fan reaction the last time Prado won a Triple Crown race.
Prado was the jockey who caused so much heartbreak -- and later said he was sorry -- when Birdstone ruined Smarty Jones' Triple Crown bid at the 2004 Belmont.
Prado's victory that overcast day was greeted with stunned silence.
Prado also upset Triple Crown hopeful War Emblem in the 2002 Belmont Stakes, riding 70-1 shot Sarava to the win.
But after his first victory at the Kentucky Derby, Prado was embraced by the second biggest crowd to see a horse race in U.S. history.
"I don't get too excited when I win; I get very thankful," Prado said. "Today, I was thankful and excited at the same time because I knew I was riding a great horse and it was a beautiful day."
Prado dedicated the race to his late mother, Zenaida, who spurred her son to leave Peru as a young man and grow into one of the top jockeys in North America. She died Jan. 19.
"I dedicated this to her," Prado said. "She was an inspiration in my life."
Prado had brought his mother to the world's biggest race in previous years, but he never finished better than third.
This time, he rode Barbaro to a 6 1/2-length victory. Only four horses in the 132-year history of the Kentucky Derby have won by larger margin.
"The first big race I won (after she died) was the Florida Derby (April 1). I dedicated that to my mother, too. Not only that, but every race that I've won. I'm thinking of her. She gave me a lot of support and she really made me the person that I am."
Prado, the nation's leading rider for three consecutive years in the late 1990s, kept Barbaro focused after a slight stumble out of the starting gate. Under Prado's patient riding, the son of Dynaformer tactfully stalked the front-runners. At last, Prado urged Barbaro on the far turn and won going away.
"Edgar didn't look like he got after him too hard," Barbaro trainer Michael Matz said. "I don't even know if he hit him at all."
Said Prado, "He was covering so much ground. I wasn't even concerned about the horse in the front."
Prado has ridden more than 5,000 winners, with purse earnings of $18 million last year. The second youngest in a family of 12 children became Peru's leading jockey at age 17, and came to the United States in 1986. Sitting next to his wife, Liliana, and daughter, Patricia, after the race, he thanked the woman who made it all possible.
"When I left Peru, it was very hard and I was very young. (My mom) never discouraged me. She told me 'Just keep trying hard and don't give up.' That's a very valuable thing that you learn, and I try to follow that."
