Ask Corridor of Fame jockey Pat Day concerning the pivotal victories of his profession, and the dialog reaches past the end line. Just lately, he appeared again on his 4 Breeders’ Cup Basic victories and the moments that formed his life. He considers himself blessed. Over 33 years, he recorded 8,803 wins from 40,305 starters that amassed greater than $297.9 million in profession purse earnings, in response to Equibase statistics. His victories embody 9 Triple Crown race. He rode in 117 Breeders’ Cup races, together with the primary 21 Breeders’ Cup Classics.
Lengthy earlier than these victories, there was “Blackie.” Day’s earliest reminiscence of a horse reaches again to his grandfather’s pony rides at South Dakota festivals, the place he thinks he might first have sat on a horse. His father, Mickey, later purchased two ponies: Blackie, a Welsh pony; and “Miss Claremont,” a Shetland pony. Again house in Colorado, Mickey saddled the hardly damaged Blackie and put Pat aboard. “I didn’t know something besides what I’d seen on TV about cowboys who’re all the time kicking and yelling and off they go. I yelled ‘Yee-haw’ and Blackie took off operating. The quicker he went, the louder I screamed. The louder I screamed, the quicker he went.” When Blackie lastly stopped, Day jumped into his father’s arms. Mickey set him down, wiped his eyes and guaranteed him he was OK. Then he insisted Pat get again on Blackie and led him again to the home — a lesson Day would always remember.
“That might have been a pivotal second in my life, as a result of I didn’t need to get again on him. I used to be horrified. However had my father given in to my want to not get again on him and allowed that seed of concern to take foot, it might have undoubtedly altered the trajectory of my life.” Mickey additionally insisted that Pat and his siblings trip bareback for a very long time. As Day remembers his father saying, “I need you to discover ways to trip the horse, not the saddle.” Day later helped Mickey break the neighbors’ horses. “I acquired plenty of horsemanship from my father. It was an awesome childhood.”
The horsemanship got here early; the thought of turning into a jockey didn’t. Day tried bull using at rodeos and labored on an oil rig, at a fuel station, at a ski resort, and as a plumber’s helper earlier than discovering his technique to the racetrack. There, his pure expertise introduced speedy success. “I had no intention of being a jockey, however I consider that God had his hand on me and directed me regardless of myself.” Success additionally unsettled him. “I used to be all the time small and had an inferiority complicated. Now I’m having this super success, and I am going to the opposite finish of the spectrum. I used to be partying like a wild man.” In January 1984, his life modified course. Day describes a non secular revelation in a Miami resort room that freed him from the bondage of medication and alcohol.
The identical 12 months introduced an expert turning level. Hollywood Park hosted the inaugural Breeders’ Cup, and a sequence of serendipitous circumstances put Day aboard Wild Once more (Icecapade – Bushel-n-Peck, by Khaled) within the Basic. Wild Once more, skilled by Vincent Timphony and owned by Black Chip Steady, carried a rare funding into the race: his house owners had paid a $360,000 supplemental price to make him eligible.
The eight-horse subject included Slew o’ Gold, Gate Dancer, and Monitor Barron. Day remembers Wild Once more breaking sharply and settling into stride. “We broke and ran away from the gate. He’s relaxed and in hand.” When Slew o’ Gold challenged outdoors him, Wild Once more wouldn’t yield. “He refused to get crushed when Slew o’ Gold ran up on the skin of him. He simply dug down. I’ve by no means been on a horse earlier than or since that attempted any tougher than he did within the final quarter of a mile. He refused to allow them to horses by him, nearly as if he knew that his folks had put up $360,000 to offer him this chance and he wasn’t going to allow them to down. I might hear him grunting. I might really feel him straining. He was giving me 110%, and I used to be content material to simply maintain him collectively and assist him and attempt to hold him straight. What a race!”
After a prolonged inquiry and the disqualification of Gate Dancer, Day and Wild Once more have been declared winners of the $3 million inaugural Breeders’ Cup Basic. Day remounted Wild Once more for the winner’s circle. “The Lord was the furthest factor from my thoughts. I used to be fairly eager on outdated Pat Day. You’re human. Breeders’ Cup! A $3 million race! I’m fairly overrated and the gang goes wild.”
He eliminated his helmet, desiring to wave and obtain the cheers. As an alternative, in a second of revelation, he raised it in humble thanks. Photographers captured the gesture, which turned an iconic second in horse racing historical past.
Day believes the Basic victory contributed considerably to his choice for the 1984 Eclipse Award as excellent jockey. He additionally gained the award in 1986, 1987, and 1991.
Between 1985 and 1990, Day completed second in three Classics. In 1986, he rode the Basic favourite, Turkoman (Alydar – Taba, by Desk Play), who he remembers had a definite dislike for Santa Anita Park. They completed behind Skywalker (Relaunch – Daring Captive by Boldnesian).
In 1988, Churchill hosted the Basic earlier than the observe had night lights. Day remembers an overcast, gloomy sky that was practically darkish by race time. Using Searching for the Gold (Mr. Prospector – Con Sport, by Buckpasser), he completed behind Alysheba. “He ran a giant race however by the point the race ran, it was previous nightfall. He bought a great journey and fired onerous off the flip and simply got here up second greatest. Alysheba clearly was an excellent horse!”
In 1989, Day guided Straightforward Goer (Alydar – Stress-free, by Buckpasser) to second behind Sunday Silence, who, Day recollects, ran across the turns quicker than he did down the straightaways. “Straightforward Goer modified leads and simply spit the bit out. Now I’m fishing. I’m shaking him up, I’m shaking the reins at him, I’m screaming at him; I flip my stick up and I get no response. He lastly modified leads late. We got here up with a diminishing neck brief. Be that as it could, we wound up second greatest. Sunday Silence modified leads and ran away. He was a great horse.”
In 1990, Day gained the Florida Derby aboard Unbridled (Fappiano – Gana Facil, by Le Fabuleux). That fall, the Breeders’ Cup at Belmont was marred by tragedy. Chris Antley’s mount, Mr. Nickerson, suffered an obvious coronary heart assault, and Antley fractured his collarbone. Throughout the Distaff, Go for Wand fractured her ankle, collapsed, and needed to be euthanized. A phenomenal, sunny fall day in New York had taken a devastating flip. “I see it in my thoughts. It was prefer it was gradual movement as I’m watching it. It turned me inside out. I needed to go house.” After speaking with Angel Cordero, Day requested Tony, the clerk of scales, to assemble folks collectively. The chaplain, jockeys, valets, and media met within the recreation room to wish — a gathering Day felt turned the tide on a troublesome day.
With that gathering behind him, Day went to the Basic aboard Unbridled, the 1990 Kentucky Derby winner, who broke from submit place 14. He remembers a flawless journey on the Carl Nafzger-trained 3-year-old. “Carl had performed a wonderful job getting him as much as the race, and he stepped as much as the plate and simply ran lights out.” Nafzger put it merely: “It was a basic trip on a basic horse.” Unbridled gained the Basic and the Eclipse Award because the champion 3-year-old male of 1990.
Eight years separated Unbridled’s victory from Day’s subsequent Basic win. When that victory got here, it will be towards a subject whose depths made it particularly memorable. The ten-horse subject included Silver Allure, Swain, Skip Away, Contact Gold, and Victory Gallop. Day was undaunted. He had already gained 4 races aboard Superior Once more (Deputy Minister – Primal Power, by Blushing Groom): the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Handicap, Grade 1 Whitney Handicap, Grade 2 Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap, and Grade 3 Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap.
Day recollects watching the race unfold from behind the sector. “We have been behind the pack. Once we got here off the flip, it was just like the parting of the Purple Sea. Silver Allure and Swain (Ire) drifted manner out previous the center of the racetrack. Superior Once more dropped down, fired and got here house operating and bought the cash. It was an awesome race!”
Day’s fourth Basic victory got here in 1999 aboard Cat Thief (Storm Cat – Prepare Theft, by Alydar), skilled by D. Wayne Lukas. Earlier that 12 months, Cat Thief had gained the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park. Issues along with his ft prompted his crew to attempt glue-on footwear for the primary time, and within the Basic, he responded willingly to Day with a decided successful effort. Lukas known as Day an intuitive rider and praised him within the winner’s circle: “We’ve been on a roll all summer time and he got here by means of when it counted.” Their relationship had survived the ups and downs of a troublesome enterprise. “We had an awesome relationship,” Day says, his voice softening. “He employed me and fired me a number of occasions however that’s a part of the enterprise. I by no means took it personally.” Their bond reached past racing: Day baptized Lukas when the coach determined to spend his remaining days at house earlier than his passing June 28, 2025.
Wanting again, Day sees the inaugural Basic because the victory that modified the dimensions of his profession. “The Breeders’ Cup was actually good to us. I can’t even put into phrases what the Breeders’ Cup has meant to my profession. I consider that the Basic victories catapulted my profession to the subsequent degree. I began receiving alternatives to take part in all the key races. I used to be getting selection horses. It actually catapulted my profession to the stratosphere.” (Day gained 12 Breeders’ Cup races with 40 top-three finishes from his 117 starters.)
In the present day, he’s thrilled by the occasion’s development and the expertise it attracts. “It has grown by leaps and bounds. It’s an extravaganza with one of the best of one of the best in all classes: filth, grass, brief, lengthy. An thrilling two days of racing!”
Thirty-three years, 8,803 victories, quite a few awards and accolades and a spot within the Corridor of Fame inform the story of a rare profession. However the picture of Day elevating his helmet after Wild Once more’s Basic victory provides one thing the report books can not: a glimpse of what these achievements imply to him. From the boy who reluctantly climbed again aboard Blackie to the jockey who gained 4 Breeders’ Cup Classics, his journey introduced him farther than he ever imagined. As every Breeders’ Cup brings ahead nice racing, Day can look again on the victories that formed his profession with the gratitude captured in that raised helmet. He considers himself blessed.
