Prado Shares Memories of Barbaro

Posted by BarbaraAnne Helberg Apr 16, 2008

He's been called "a work of art in the saddle", described as hard working, unassuming, mild-mannered, and quick thinking around horses. He's the man who saved Barbaro from instant disaster, keeping the injured Thoroughbbred quiet and calm until emergency assistance arrived, even as the ill-fated Preakness Stakes continued with all spectator eyes focused in silence on the Kentucky Derby champion.

He's Edgar Prado. Horseman, yes. Hero (in the Barbaro incident). Undoubtedly. A top jockey (over 6,000 wins). Absolutely.

But he is more than those nouns can describe. He's a devoted son, husband, and father. His story is poignant and touching, told unassumingly and quietly, like his persona, in My Guy Barbaro. Prado's book is a soft-spoken account of a Thoroughbred racing moment in time, but also a tribute from him to his family, and a thank you to those who helped him become the man and the jockey he is today.

His description of the moments of Barbaro's breakdown is heart-breaking and intimate in its simple suggestion of what an individual goes through emotionally in a quick instance of crisis. The negative and the positive become strange bedfellows as time swirls around split second decisions. There is little opportunity for speculation. Instincts must kick into life-saving gear.

Prado successfully kept Barbaro under control, but also credits the horse as being smart enough to remain calm. There were over twenty fractures in the leg Prado helped hold aloft.

On average, in a given racing season, 3,000 Thoroughbreds breakdown on the track; many must be euthanized on the spot. Some of them mysteriously deeply touch human lives. Such was the saga of Barbaro, shared beautifully by the man who piloted him to greatness, Edgar Prado.