MY GUY BARBARO

My Guy Barbaro
A Jockey’s Journey Through Love, Triumph, and Heartbreak with America’s Favorite Horse
By Edgar Prado & John Eisenberg
Price: $25.95
Hardcover- Item #B1907-208-pages
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pub Date: March 2008

A new superstar appeared on the American sports landscape in the spring of 2006. Barbaro, a 3-year-old racehorse, won the Kentucky Derby by six and a half lengths, the largest margin of victory in 60 years. Barbaro’s impressive performance immediately stirred talk of a possible Triple Crown. But in the opening yards of the Preakness Stakes two weeks later, the horse suffered a catastrophic leg injury that ended his undefeated career and left him fighting for his life.

Edgar Prado, a native of Peru and one of the world’s top jockeys, rode Barbaro to glory and then stood beside him for months as the horse valiantly struggled to survive and millions of fans held their breath. Having ridden in more than twenty-five thousand races over the previous two decades, Prado thought he had been around too long to fall for any one horse, but Barbaro—intelligent, charismatic, and resourceful in sickness as well as in health—stole his heart.

In My Guy Barbaro, Prado recounts his own story, a tale of grit and dreams that moves from his impoverished childhood in Lima, Peru, to the winner’s circles of the greatest racetracks in the world, and memorably chronicles his emotional time with Barbaro before, during, and after the horse’s breakdown. Their bond was special and immeasurable. With Prado still reeling from a wrenching personal loss, Barbaro lifted his spirits by giving him “the ride of a lifetime” in the Derby. When the tables turned and the horse needed support two weeks later, Prado was there, going out of his way to make a succession of visits to the New Bolton Center, the animal hospital in Pennsylvania where Barbaro underwent more than two dozen surgeries and was ultimately put down.

Barbaro made worldwide headlines for eight months, and now Prado’s poignant, clear-eyed narrative takes us where no reader has gone before—onto Barbaro’s back in the heat of a race and into the intensive care suite where Barbaro’s life-and-death drama played itself out. My Guy Barbaro is a heartwarming, unforgettable story of a man and his love for a beautiful animal and an irreplaceable teammate.

PRAISE FOR MY GUY BARBARO

Susan Richards, New York Times bestselling author of CHOSEN BY A HORSE
”Edgar Prado’s unadorned prose beautifully captures the trajectory of two lives: his own and that of the horse he would come to describe as a ‘friend, teammate and hero.’ After reading this book, it is difficult to predict who you will love more: Prado or his beloved mount, Barbaro.”

Jeremy Schaap, New York Times bestselling author of CINDERELLA MAN and TRIUMPH
”In this indispensable tribute, Edgar Prado illuminates why Barbaro touched so many. With John Eisenberg, one of our finest chroniclers of the sport, Prado delivers the definitive life of the thoroughbred who, had he stayed healthy, likely would have been as beloved in triumph as he was, instead, in tragedy.”

Gary Stevens, three-time Kentucky Derby Winning Hall of Fame Jockey, NBC Sports Analyst
”MY GUY BARBARO will take you on an emotional roller coaster ride with one of the greatest athletes in horseracing. This story takes you on a journey that will make you feel like you were there every step of the way. I couldn’t put this book down.”

Joe Drape, author of BLACK MAESTRO and THE RACE FOR THE TRIPLE CROWN
”This inside look at how a racehorse and jockey communicate and care for each other is at once heartbreaking and harrowing; it chronicles the relationship of two of the sport’s most compelling figures -- Barbaro and Prado. Their tale is wonderfully told, and makes you understand why people love horses.”