El Prado
El Prado (IRE) by Ara Davies
El Prado at Adena Springs ©
Emily Hufford 2004
Nearly everyone would agree that the top sire to come out of the 1989 foal crop is A. P. Indy. But another stallion came from that crop that can almost give Indy a run for his money. His name is El Prado (IRE).
El Prado comes from the most royal of royal pedigrees. His sire Sadlers Wells is arguably the top stallion in the world right now and is one of the pre-eminent sources of stamina in the breed. El Prado's dam Lady Capulet won the Irish One Thousand Guineas and was second in the group one Coronation Stakes against males. Her son Entitled was Irish champion three-year-old colt of 1987.
Lady Capulet is a half sister to Drone, broodmare sire of Kentucky Derby winners Charismatic and Grindstone, as well as Arc winner Dancing Brave and French group one winner Jolypha. Lady Capulet's half sister Mobcap is the dam of noted Florida stallion Notebook, sire of stakes winners Booklet, Spoken Fur, and Three Ring.
El Prado lived up to his pedigree with several group wins in Ireland and the two-year-old Irish Championship. He was retired to stud in the United States at age three after finishing out of the money in all three starts that year. El Prado retired with four wins and one second in nine starts and earnings equaling $237,394.
El Prado's first crop, foals of 1994, included graded
stakes winners Chindi and El Cielo. In 1996, he produced a pair of good
fillies in the stakes winners Swingin On Ice and The Happy Hopper. In
1999, he sired a dark bay colt out of the Bailjumper mare Cappucino Bay.
This colt was named Medaglia
d'Oro. Considered one of the top prospects for the 2002 Kentucky Derby
after his win in the San Felipe, as well as his 2nd place finish in the
Wood Memorial, Medaglia managed a
respectable fourth place finish in the Derby behind War Emblem, Proud
Citizen, and Perfect Drift. After a poor showing in the Preakness, Medaglia
came back to a close second in the mile and a half Belmont Stakes, letting
his good Sadlers Wells blood shine through.
He continued to do excellently in routes for the rest of his career, winning the Jim Dandy, the Travers Stakes and finishing second (twice) in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Dubai World Cup, and in the Pacific Classic. In addition, Medaglia d'Oro won the Donn Handicap, the Strub Stakes, the Oaklawn Handicap, and the Whitney Handicap, all at a mile and an eighth. Medaglia d'Oro retired earlier this year with a record of eight wins and seven seconds in 17 starts and earnings of over $5 million.
Medaglia d'Oro rocketed El Prado to the top of the leading sires list in 2002. He remained high on the list afterwards with such offspring as American Turf winner Senor Swinger, Churchill Downs Distaff winner Shaconage, Louisiana Derby runner-up Borrego, and Transylvania Stakes winner Timo. Currently he is the sire of the top two young turf horses in training: American Turf winner Kitten's Joy and Hill Prince winner Artie Schiller.
El Prado stands at Adena Springs Kentucky for a stud fee of $75,000.
