pat day

[shanahan]

let me be first...thanks, Pat.  why\'d you wait so long (no pun intended)?  OK, best PD ride ever?  Let the submissions begin...

[richiebee]

Two longshot BC rides.. Wild Again in the first Classic and Epitome in the Juvenile Fillies.

IMO classy, consistent and not given enough respect by racing fans on the coasts.

[manning]

I agree that he prob\'ly takes too much heat for his \"style\", but what could he have been thinking with Seeking the Gold in the Travers (1987?)

[flushedstraight]

One of my all-time favorites; too many great rides (or just happy memories?) to list...

and also, just because \"The Lord has advised him to move on\" doesn\'t mean he wont be advised to get back in the saddle some day.

[HP]

Many older TG users like me LOVE Pat Day for helping Gary Stevens out with that buzzer after the finish line at the \'95 Derby so that Thunder Gulch could win and help us cash.  

With all this talk about adding notations to the sheets, maybe Jerry will put a \"bz\" (for buzzer) note next to Thunder Gulch\'s Derby number in the Derby Winner Archive.

Thanks Pat!  

HP

Always seemed like a classy guy, but not the jockey you wanted on your lone speed horse on a biased track.

[Silver Charm]

I doubt that he will. He is too content with himself. What I mean is there are never the higher highs or the lower lows with him. Guys who stuggle to walk away feed off the action.

His numbers and record speak for themselves but really they are a total understatement to the human being he is. Friendly, charitable, family loving.

With him having stepped down from the saddle for the last time, the game isn\'t quite as classy today as it was yesterday.

[Millennium3]

All the great efforts in the big races Pat put up over 30 years will probably be argued over as \"his best ride\". But there was one effort that among ractrack regulars in the midwest that stands out even today.

The best Pat Day ride I saw was at Churchill Downs on a cheap claimer named Excelso, trained by Greg Foley. Excelso was a horse that had NEVER won beyond 7 furlongs in a long claiming career. Ever. Anytime this gem of consistency was put in a race farther than 7/8, bettors everywhere licked their chops because he\'d take money and we all knew he\'d never stay the trip. Until Pat got on him.

It was the quintessential effort that underscored Day\'s moniker around the track of \"Baby Hands\". Excelso won that claiming race that day going 1 & 1/16 miles at Churchill, and to this day, Excelso has no idea he ran that far. The big races can showcase how a rider does his stuff under pressure. These type of claimers show what they can do when they have nothing to lose. Many that saw it will swear by the fact thet Pat was the ONLY guy who could have coaxed a two-turn win out of Excelso.

He was a class act. I had the privilege to interview him before, and he was always gracious with his time tho those of us that needed it for the jobs we had to do. May he have a great life wherever he chooses to go.

[shanahan]

amen, class and millenium...I too think the sport is less classy without Pat.  I undersatnd he was quite the wild man - long before I became a fan of the greatest game - but when I met him at KNLD several times he was gracious and pleasant - posing for pics and signing autographs after the race...just a guy no one ever says anything bad about...is he the Musial of racing?