Our questions are answered by the legendary former rider who rode 8,803 winners and set a career earnings record
Colorado-born Pat Day put aside an ambition to become a rodeo cowboy to excel at another equine discipline in which he is recognised as one of the most accomplished jockeys of all time.
After riding his first winner in 1973 at Prescott Downs, Arizona, Day rewrote the record books, becoming all-time leading rider at both Churchill Downs and Keeneland. Among the many stars he rode were the Hall of Famers such as Easy Goer, Dance Smartly and Lady's Secret, as well as the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Wild Again.
He registered his only Kentucky Derby win on Lil E. Tee in 1992 yet won five editions of the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes three times.
He led the North American rankings by wins six times and by the time Day retired in 2005, he had achieved record career earnings of $297,934,732 with 8,803 wins, establishing him behind only Russell Baze, Laffit Pincay and Bill Shoemaker on North America’s all-time list.
Day was a four-time Eclipse Award winner and was honoured with the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1985. He became a born-again and ‘vocal’ Christian in 1984, then after retirement became president of the Kentucky Racetrack Chaplaincy, a role the 71-year-old gave up to become the full-time carer of his wife Sheila following a stroke.
Which racing figure, past or present, do you most admire?
That’s not an easy question for me to answer. I’ve been privileged to meet the who’s who of racing, at least in this country, and some from abroad. Having been involved with the industry as a competitive jockey for over 30 years, understanding the difficulties we face in the jockey colony and the difficulties within the industry, I have the utmost respect for everybody involved. I’d be hard pressed to pick just one person that I admire more than all the others. I admire Perry Ouzts who continues to ride here, aged 70.
We recently had a fund-raising event for members of our permanently disabled jockeys. I believe we have 52 jockeys that incurred life-threatening, career-ending injuries in racing accidents. I admire each and every one of those. In a heartbeat they lost their livelihoods and for the most part they are wheelchair-bound, having to adjust and make do with their injuries. I admire the leaders of our industry. I’m sorry I can’t pick out just one or two.
Which is your favorite venue, and your favorite race, anywhere in the world?
My favorite venues would be Saratoga, Keeneland and Del Mar. They are boutique meets. I think Keeneland represents the sport in its truest form but I certainly enjoyed all three of those tracks.
As far as the race it would be the Kentucky Derby. I won it just one time on Lil E. Tee for my dread friend Lynn Whiting and owner Cal Partee. Arazi, the two-year-old champion of 1991, was the overwhelming favorite. I remember every jump of the race. It’s marked in my memory bank forever.
I think I had ridden in the race nine times, been second on three occasions. I thought I had an idea of what winning would feel like, having come close before. Yet when we turned for home and I called on Lil E. Tee he responded to go past Casual Lies, who was second, and an overwhelming, indescribable feeling came over me and continued to grow with every jump from there to the wire and then just exploded. From a rider’s perspective the only thing that would be better than winning it once would be to win it twice.
Who is your favorite racehorse and why?
Lil E Tee will be forever in my heart, but he was not the best horse I rode. That was Easy Goer who I rode in all of his starts. I was blessed to ride some of the best of the best. Easy Goer was a big, beautiful individual with a big engine. I applaud Shug McGaughey for the way he handled the horse.
In the Gotham, a mile prep for the Kentucky Derby, he glided over the ground so effortlessly and I never had to encourage him. When we got back Shug said, ‘Look at the time!’ I was blown away by how fast he ran, a fifth of a second off the world record. That was him.
Sunday Silence beat him in the Derby when we came up against a track that was not to his liking. He had no confidence in the footing and wouldn’t extend himself. He finished second.
He came back in the Preakness and I take full responsibility for a narrow defeat. I don’t think I rode the best race and we came up a nose short of victory.
Then we came back in the Belmont and beat Sunday Silence soundly. He won the Jockey Club Gold Cup pretty handily but in the time between then and the Breeders’ Cup Classic he started to go a little sour, not willing to go to the racetrack, not willing to train and subsequently he ran like that in the Classic. It wasn’t his usual performance which was sad when there was so much at stake, and we came up a diminishing neck short at the finish.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
There are two. One would be the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1984 aboard Wild Again, the inaugural running of the meeting. I don’t think I have ever ridden a horse then or since that tried any harder than he did in the stretch run. The connections had put up $360,000 to make him eligible to run and on form he was probably third or fourth best. He refused to let them down. I still get chills remembering that stretch run. The other would be the Derby aboard Lil E. Tee.
If there is one thing in racing you could change, what would it be?
Rather than look at the negative, I would like to see some way we could enlighten the general public about the grandeur of racing, from flag fall to finish. If people could get some insight of everything from the planning of the mating, through the foaling, and what leads ultimately into the winners’ circle, whatever the race might be.
I’d like to see our fanbase and the public at large be able to recognise the tremendous love that those that work in the great sport of horse racing have for their horses. There are some really bright minds who could put together a think tank and come up with something that can maybe grow our fanbase, but at the very least shore it up and keep everybody from abandoning the ship.
Pat Day was speaking to Jon Lees
• View the entire What They're Thinking series
Jerry Bailey: I’d like to see a national commissioner for US racing – with some teeth
George Scott: I would like everyone to be a bit more positive about racing
Sheila Laxon: The sport is getting too precious – we would never put our horses’ health at risk
Brian Hernandez Jr: We were quietly confident Mystik Dan would be able to pull it off
Kevin Attard: I didn’t think the Breeders’ Cup would be in the realm of possibility
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires