by Frank Angst

Agent Bob Frieze said Edgar Prado will ride C P West in the $1-million Belmont Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Belmont Park.

Prado, a two-time winner of the Belmont, did not have a Belmont mount until trainer Nick Zito decided to start C P West in Saturday’s 1 1/2-mile race.

Prado guided C P West to a fourth-place finish in the Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 19 at Pimlico Race Course.

Prado is the only jockey in this year’s Belmont field with a previous victory in the 1 1/2-mile classic. He won the 2002 Belmont aboard Sarava and the ‘04 race on Birdstone.

Frank Angst is senior writer of Thoroughbred Times