Grade I winner Paddy O'Prado , who will enter stud in 2012 at B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm near Lexington, will be honored at Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino Aug. 5.
Prairie Meadows is holding “Paddy O’Prado Day” in honor of the most accomplished Thoroughbred racehorse ever owned by Iowans, according to a release from the track.
Paddy O’Prado, whose group of 11 owners included 10 from Iowa who raced under the name of Jerry Crawford’s Donegal Racing, won five graded stakes and earned $1,721,297. The 4-year-old son of El Prado—Fun House, by Prized, was retired May 23 with a leg injury two days after winning the Dixie Stakes (gr. IIT) at Pimlico Race Course in his season debut. The gray/roan colt was bred in Kentucky by Winchell Thoroughbreds.
According to Prairie Meadows, the owners made a provision when Paddy O'Prado was retired that he would be shipped from Kentucky to the Iowa track for the day named in his honor. The colt will be paraded in the paddock and on the track, and Prairie Meadows will give away 11-inch-by-17-inch posters of Paddy O’Prado.
“I know as a group, we’re ecstatic,” said Jason Loutsch of Ankeny, Iowa, one of Paddy’s owners. “Most of the owners are from central Iowa and we run our horses at Prairie Meadows, so we’re thrilled that he will be here. We’ve always thought of him as Iowa’s horse because of all the support he got from Iowans. We think it’s a great move by Prairie Meadows and we’re very appreciative.”
Paddy O’Prado’s victories included the Secretariat Stakes (gr. IT) and Virginia Derby and Colonial Turf Cup, both grade II. He also won the Palm Beach Stakes (gr. IIIT) and placed in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I).