Prado to Ride Adriano in Kentucky Derby

Despite having won the Wood Memorial (gr. I) aboard Tale of Ekati and the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) on Monba, Edgar Prado has decided to ride Courtlandt Farms’ Adriano in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

Prado was aboard the son of A.P. Indy for his victory in the Lane’s End Stakes (gr. II)  March 22.

“I knew it was going to be a tough choice for him, and it obviously makes me feel good about everything,” trainer Graham Motion said. “Edgar rode for me when I first started training. I’m not sure we both didn’t have our first stakes winner in New York together. So, we certainly go back a long way. We’ve always had a rapport and I’ve always felt the most comfortable with him riding the horses. When he won the Lane’s End, he didn’t have any other Derby mounts, so we discussed having him ride the horse back then. Then he goes and wins two grade I stakes leading up to the Derby.

“One of the reasons I worked Adriano at Churchill Downs this week was to let Edgar get a feel for him on the track and see what he thought. It was as much for his benefit as for mine. He wanted to see for himself before he made his decision, and I wanted to see for myself before I made my decision. I was tickled when he turned into the stretch and he showed that extraordinary stride when Edgar asked him. I let him do as he pleased, sort of like taking out a new car for a spin. He let him roll the last part, and I clocked him in :11 and change for the final eighth. When Edgar asked him he really took off from his workmate, who is a very useful stakes winner.”

In Adriano’s only dirt start, he finished ninth in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II), but Motion attributes that to the colt losing his cool in the paddock, which is something he will be working on a good deal before the Derby.