Pat Day is one of the most popular and richest Jockey who was born on October 13, 1953 in Brush, Colorado, United States. Day was awarded Day the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 1984 1987, 1986, and 1991. In 1991 Day was admitted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In 2006 an honorary sculpture of his celebrating the victory at the Kentucky Derby was unveiled at Churchill Downs. The year 2015 saw Churchill Downs renamed the Derby Trial in his honor as the Pat Day Mile.
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, which honors “extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship”. He received the Big Sport of Turfdom Award for 2005 in acknowledgement of the way he worked with the media to enhance coverage of the sport.
Day made his base in Kentucky, where he rode at Churchill Downs and Keeneland in the spring and fall. In the winter, he originally rode at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, switching in the mid-1990s to Gulfstream Park. In the summer, he originally rode at Arlington Park, later switching to Saratoga. With the change in circuits, Day’s number of wins decreased but his earnings increased. Day won his first earnings title in 1999, followed by another win in 2000 in a close battle with Jerry Bailey. Day finished 2000 with his mounts earning $17,479,838 in purses (recording 267 wins from 1,219 starts). Bailey finished with $17,468,690 in earnings.
Day was the most successful jockey according to victories in the years 1982, 1983 1984 1986, 1990 and 1991. The first win of 1982 was only won after Day set off on December 31 , 1982, to Delta Downs, where he took home two races in the evening race to beat Angel Cordero Jr.’s total by one.
At the beginning of his career the man was suffering from serious substance abuse issues with drugs as well as alcohol, but he became an evangelistic Christian in the beginning of the 1980s. He has been a part of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America since his conversion and was the representative of the racing industry in the board for this organisation.
On June 20, 1984, Day set a Churchill Downs record for the most wins on a single card when he won seven of eight races in which he rode. The record was tied in 2008 by Julien Leparoux. In 1989, he set a North American record when he won eight of nine mounts in a single day at Arlington Park.
