Pat Day

How did we get hooked on this sport? We all have stories about how our love affair developed and blossomed. The TDN will be reaching out to numerous notable people in the industry to get their stories to find out how they got hooked and stayed hooked on the sport. Pat Day: I had no connection to horse racing when I was growing up. I wanted to be a bull rider. When I went to the rodeos, people would ask me did I ever think of becoming a jockey? I'm...

Registration is open for the International Jockey Concussion, Safety and Wellness Conference, which is set for October 9-11 at Fasig-Tipton's Lexington location, HISA said in a tweet on Thursday. The event is presented by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Jockeys' Guild of America. According to the HISA website, the agenda will focus on mental wellness, concussion and medical issues affecting athletes with a particular focus on Thoroughbred jockeys. The event includes international speakers and features presentations from Dr. Margot Putukian, Chief Medical Officer at Major League...

Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day and the connections of 2023 Horse of the Year Cody's Wish, along with the three artists behind the "Brushes and Bronze" exhibition, will be on hand for the show's finale at the Louisville Thoroughbred Society May 1. The trio of acclaimed equine artists--portrait painter Jaime Corum, impressionist painter Lisa Palombo and sculptor Jocelyn Russell--will be joined by Day, winner of the 1992 GI Kentucky Derby, Kelly and Leslie Dorman--the parents of Cody's Wish's namesake Cody Dorman--and Danny Mulvihill of Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm; and Theresa...

The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow will be the keynote speaker at the 2024 Race for Grace Gala and Auction, the Kentucky Chaplaincy announced via a release Monday. Held in conjunction with Kentucky Derby 150 week celebrations Monday, Apr. 29 at Churchill Downs on Millionaires' Row, a silent and live auction including items such as 2025 Kentucky Derby and Oaks boxes, halters from Derby 150 contenders, sign Tebow items, horse racing art, etc., look to be the feature. Along with the keynote speaker, WinStar Farm's Elliott Walden and Hall...

Just a few days removed from his 70th birthday, Pat Day joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to talk his career, what he's been up to since retiring in 2005 and, most of all, the Breeders' Cup. Day rode Wild Again to victory in the inaugural GI Breeders' Cup Classic in 1984 and it was an historic win that helped turn the future Hall of Famer into one of the biggest stars in the sport. Day was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. "What that...

Hall of Fame rider Pat Day was one of four new members named to the board of the Kentucky Derby Museum Sept. 15, the organization said in a release late Thursday. Joining Day, the other new Derby Museum board members include: Mark Bacon, SVP Managing Director - Super Premium American Whiskey Ashley Davis Sigman, Vice President of Davis Jewelers Eamon O'Brien, General Manager of Omni Louisville Outgoing board members Brandy Harmon, Michael Judah, and Loren Hebel-Osborne were honored during the meeting for completing their terms of service. The late Clinton...

The annual Dec. 26 start of the Santa Anita season has a natural, anticipatory, turn-the-page vibe to it. But this mark-your-calendar Opening Day mainstay hasn't always been a post-holiday tradition. Although Santa Anita has kicked off its winter/spring meet on the day after Christmas every year since 1977, the track originally opened in 1934 on Christmas Day itself, and did so for the first four years of its existence. "Filmdom entirely forgot its world of make-believe to migrate to the Santa Anita track yesterday for the renewal of horse racing...

The Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy will host their 20th annual Race for Grace, a dinner and fundraising event to support the ongoing work of the chaplaincy, on Monday, May 2 at 6:00pm. As a kickoff to Kentucky Derby week, the event will be held on Millionaires' Row in the clubhouse at Churchill Downs. Nationally-recognized pastor Bob Russell will be the keynote speaker of the event and Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day will be the Master of Ceremonies. "20 years ago, we said let's do this thing called the Race...

The Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy will celebrate 50 years of racetrack ministry May 2 at the Louisville-based track with its annual Race for Grace banquet. It is the primary fundraiser for the organization and the money generated allows the Chaplaincy to continue their mission to minister to the fundamental and spiritual needs of the horsemen and women working at the racetracks and training centers in Kentucky and Southern Ohio. With over 7,000 licensees and three chaplains across five tracks, the group serves the stable workers, jockeys, starting gate crew, and...

The Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy will host its Race for Grace Banquet and Auction May 2 on Millionaires Row in the clubhouse at Churchill Downs. The fundraiser will be held from 6-9 p.m. Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day will be the event's Master of Ceremonies and the keynote speaker will be Pastor Bob Russell. There will be a live auction featuring Keeneland's Director of Auctioneers Ryan Mahan and items will include six seat boxes for the 2023 Kentucky Derby and Oaks, leather halters from 2022 Kentucky Derby entries and...

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Larry Melancon might not have been the top jockey at Churchill Downs during his long career, though he ranks among the winningest riders at the historic Louisville track even a decade after his retirement. But no Churchill Downs jockey can match the resilience and longevity of Melancon, whose tenure of riding full-time under the Twin Spires for 36 consecutive years is unprecedented. Melancon, whose first official race was in 1971, arrived at Churchill Downs for the 1974 spring session. Up through his retirement on July 4, 2010 at Churchill...

The 12th annual Secretariat Festival will be held as a virtual event Oct. 10 and 11 owing to restrictions and recommendations brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. "We cannot replicate the in-person fellowship that our fans have enjoyed at our Festival events in the past," said Kate Chenery Tweedy, daughter of Secretariat's late owner Penny Chenery. "But as we started contemplating a virtual format, we realized that it would present some opportunities that we have been able to harness and present to Secretariat fans all over the world. Now and...