Watch: Jockeys spend day with siblings of children fighting cancer

Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado and Gulfstream Park’s leading jockey Edgard Zayas recently spent the day at Whispering Manes Therapeutic Riding Center in Miami to visit and work with children from Sofia’s Hope.

Sofia’s Hope’s founder Marta Blanco started the program nearly seven years ago in honor of her daughter Sofia, who died in 2012 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomsoa.

Sofia was an avid rider, Blanco said, and “rode up until a few days before she went into the hospital and passed away.”

“It was very important to me to do something that was related to horses,” she said.

Prado and Zayas spent the day at Whispering Manes with children of siblings who are fighting cancer.

One of the horses the children and jockeys spent time with was retired Thoroughbred Cool Man Walkin, whose last victory was in a race named in support of disabled jockey Michael Straight, who walked into the winner’s circle with the aid of a bionic exoskeleton.

“It was a very special race and we’re so happy that (Cool Man Walkin) is in very good hands and making a lot of kids very happy,” Zayas said.

“It’s wonderful to bring a smile to a kid and bring something to the community,” Prado said.