Pat Day

Horseracing personalities infobox


name = Pat Day
|caption =
occupation = Jockey
birthplace = Brush, Colorado, United States
birth date = October 13, 1953
death date =
career wins = 8,803
race = Jockey Club Gold Cup (1976, 1985, 1989)
Pimlico Special (1996)
Washington, D.C. International (1994)
Woodward Stakes (1989)
Blue Grass Stakes (1984, 1990, 1999, 2000)
Florida Derby (1990)
Hopemont Stakes (1991, 1998, 1999)
Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (1998, 2003)
Hollywood Gold Cup (1989)
John C. Mabee Handicap (1997)
Del Mar Handicap (1993)
United Nations Handicap (1989, 1992, 2002)
Canadian International Stakes (1991, 1995)
Kentucky Oaks (1988, 2000)
Raven Run Stakes (2003)

American Classics / Breeders' Cup wins:
Kentucky Derby (1992)
Preakness (1985, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996)
Belmont Stakes (1989, 1994, 2000)
Breeders' Cup Classic (1984, 1990, 1998, 1999)
Breeders' Cup Distaff (1986, 1991, 2001)
Breeders' Cup Juvenile (1994, 1997)
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (1987, 1994)
Breeders' Cup Turf (1987)

International race wins:
Dominion Day Stakes (1987)
Canadian Triple Crown (1991)
Canadian International Stakes (1991, 1995)
awards = Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey
(1984, 1986, 1987, 1991)
U.S. Champion Jockey by wins
(1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991)
U.S. Champion Jockey by earnings (1999, 2000)
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (1985)
Mike Venezia Memorial Award (1995)
Big Sport of Turfdom Award (2005)
honours = National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame (1991)
horses = Lady's Secret, Theatrical, Dance Smartly
Tank's Prospect, Lil E. Tee, Tabasco Cat
Unbridled, Wild Again, Favorite Trick
Easy Goer, Sky Classic, Awesome Again
updated = February 13, 2007:"For Melvin "Pat" Day the New Zealand artist see Melvin Day"Patrick Alan "Pat" Day (born October 13, 1953 in Brush, Colorado) is an American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991. Day also received the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1985, given annually to a North American jockey who demonstrates the highest standards of professional and personal conduct. In 1995, he was voted the Mike Venezia Memorial Award for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship".

Day has ridden winners of U.S. Triple Crown races nine times. In 1999 he rode Menifee, who placed directly behind Charismatic in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Prior to the Belmont Stakes, where Menifee failed to place in the top three and Charismatic broke down in the final furlong, their rivalry was compared to that of Affirmed and Alydar in 1978. Fact|date=February 2007

In 1991, Pat Day won the Canadian Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Distaff aboard the future Hall of Fame filly Dance Smartly. He is the only jockey to have ridden at least one mount in each of the first 20 Breeders' Cups, and ranks second all-time in Breeders' Cup winners, with 12.

Day is also the all-time leading rider at Churchill Downs and Keeneland, the two largest tracks in his adopted home state of Kentucky. At the Downs, Day was often so dominant that veteran horseplayers would complain — bettors would often wager so much money on horses with Day in the saddle that the payoff odds would decline.

In 1989, he set a North American record when he won eight of nine mounts in a single day at Arlington Park.

Early in his career, he had serious substance abuse problems with both drugs and alcohol, but became a born-again Christian in the early 1980s. He has been involved with the Race Track Chaplaincy of America since his conversion, and is currently the racing industry's representative on the board of that organization.

After undergoing hip surgery that forced him to miss the Derby for the first time in 21 years, Day announced his retirement on August 3, 2005 after a 32-year career that saw him ride 8,804 winners, fourth on the all-time list, and set a North American record for prize money won, with his mounts earning nearly USD 298 million. He said he would retire and commit the rest of his life purely to spreading the Gospel.

Day and his family reside in Crestwood, a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky.

Lil E. Tee was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1992 scored one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Kentucky Derby. His jockey was Pat Day; This was Pat Day's first and only Kentucky Derby victory.

External links

* [http://www.ntra.com/bios_content.asp?searchdata=pat+day&searchby=jockey Profile at NTRA.com]
* [http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/jockey.asp?ID=179 Profile at National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame]
*Del Mar Media guide

Pat Day will appear on Sunday, October 5, 2008 at Philadelphia Park racetrack.