Prado has no ill feelings toward Dutrow, even though the trainer and Iavarone criticized him for trying to block Big Brown aboard Riley Tucker in the Preakness.

“He doesn’t think his horse can get beat so we’ll see what happens,” Prado said. “I have no complaints, no regrets, nothing against Rick. If he wins the Triple Crown, I will be the first one to congratulate him.”

Prado is scheduled to climb aboard Casino Drive for the first time Thursday morning. Trainer Kazuo Fujisawa does not train his horses in the conventional way American racing fans are used to — morning gallops followed by regularly scheduled timed workouts.

Japan’s leading trainer has about 50 horses, and their daily routine includes walking fast for 45-60 minutes “for warming up muscle, tendons, blood circulation,” said Tada, followed by a 10-minute walk around the paddock and a trip to the track for a jog, canter or gallop. Then it’s another 30-45 minutes of walking to cool down.

“On the track, we don’t go fast,” Tada said. “It’ every day a canter, a steady, good canter.”

Prado is up for anything if it means winning aboard Casino Drive, who is 2-for-2 with one win in Japan and the other in the Peter Pan Stakes on May 10 at Belmont. .

“When I start, riding, walks ... believe me, if that’s what it takes to have the horse to get familiar, I don’t mind,” he said. “My license says jockey. I jump in and do everything possible to do more.”

He’s also looking forward to galloping Casino Drive around Belmont Park .

“Hopefully he’ll do the things I want him to do,” he said. “It’s like jumping on a new car. You want to make sure the headlights and the steering wheel work, and hope when you press the gas pedal there’s a lot of gas left.”

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