Horse Racing - Famous Jockeys Bios
Pat Day
Pat Day was born on October 13, 1953 in Brush, Colorado and he was raised in Colorado. As a child, Day dreamed of becoming a professional rodeo cowboy, but because of his size he was persuaded to become a jockey instead.
Pat Day has been winning races since July, 1973, when he won his first at Prescott Downs in Arizona. Day has since won the Eclipse Award four times as North America's outstanding jockey, and in the summer of 1997 became only the fourth rider in history to notch 7,000 career victories. His Triple Crown record is equally as impressive; Pat has finished first or second with 18 of his 45 classic mounts.
Day has won numerous riding titles all over the country, including Arlington Park, Churchill Downs and Keeneland. Day scored his 8,000th career victory aboard Camden Park on May 31, 2001, at Churchill Downs, following Laffit Pincay, Jr., and Bill Shoemaker to that plateau.
Pat Day has also piloted numerous champions and classic winners, including Easy Goer, Lady's Secret, Unbridled, Summer Squall, Tabasco Cat, Paradise Creek, Turkoman, and Timber County. Among the nation's leading riders since 1982, Day captured the inaugural Breeders' Cup Classic in 1984 aboard Wild Again and won the past two renewals of the race with Awesome Again and Cat Thief.
Quick facts about Pat Day
In 2004 pat Day was ranked 11th nationally in money won with $7,963,343 and he had 124 wins from 596 starts. Pat Day was inducted into Racing Hall of Fame in 1991.
Pat Day is the top money-winning jockey in Breeders' Cup history with $22,913,360, and the only jockey to have ridden in all 20 Breeders' Cups. Day has second-most victories in Breeders' Cup history with 12 in 112 rides. Pat Day has won four Classics with Cat Thief, Awesome Again, Unbridled and Wild Again in 1984; three Distaffs with Unbridled Elaine 2001, Dance Smartly (1991) and Lady's Secret (1986); one Turf race with Theatrical (1987); two Juveniles, with Favorite Trick (1997) and Timber Country (1994); and two Juvenile Fillies, with Flanders (1994) and Epitome (1987).
Pat Day has 9 Triple Crown victories: one Kentucky Derby with Lil E. Tee (1992); 5 Preakness Stakes, with Tank's Prospect (1985); Summer Squall (1990), Tabasco Cat (1994), Timber Country (1995) and Louis Quatorze (1996); and 3 Belmont Stakes, with Easy Goer (1989), Tabasco Cat (1994) and Commendable (2000).
Pat Day set North American lifetime earnings record on Aug. 10, 2002, surpassing Chris McCarron, when he won the Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap aboard With Anticipation.