May-June 1999
Winning At Life
A Plain Truth Interview by Dan Wooding
Pat Day, who was born on October 13, 1953 in Brush, Colorado, and raised in a small ranching community of Eagle, Colorado, has won it all in the world of horse racing. He was inducted into Racing's Hall of Fame in 1991, and won his 6,000th race on January 23rd, 1994, becoming only the 7th jockey in history to pass this mark. He has led the nation in races won six times and earned Eclipse Awards in 1984, 1986, 1987 and 1991. Yet success on the track for Day, height 4' 11", almost ruined his life as he turned to drugs and alcohol to fill the void in his life. But a dramatic encounter with Jesus Christ changed everything for this jockey who now believes that with God's help, he is winning at life! Today it is a regular event to see Pat Day riding another winner in another major stakes race and then giving the victory salute as he crosses the finish line on some well-known horse. Pat Day has a lot to thank God for these days. He is married to Sheila Ann, and they have a daughter, Irene Elizabeth.
Dan Wooding: Why did you choose racing as a career?
Pat Day: I got into racing in a roundabout way. I had participated in rodeo as a young man and had met a number of individuals who suggested that, because of my size, I would make a good jockey. An acquaintance remembered that he knew some people who had a thoroughbred farm in Southern California. He made some phone calls and secured me a job there, and that was my introduction to the sport of horse racing.
Can you remember your first win?
Yes -- a seven-furlong claiming race at Prescott Downs, Arizona. The horse's name was Forblunged. I was only 19 at the time, and it was a tremendous feeling -- something I can recall vividly even today.
Did success come quickly for you, and if so, how did you handle it?
Yes, success did come quickly. If a jockey wins one out of every four or five mounts, it is a pretty good record. However, I found my success hard to handle. I acquired the attitude that I was pretty hot stuff on the racetrack and became arrogant and egotistical. I began to look down my nose at people.
Did drinking and drugs soon begin to take a place in your life?
It wasn't long before the joy of winning wasn't as satisfying as it had been at the beginning. I felt I could do anything I wanted to. I could continue to ride races and be successful, but I didn't appreciate it. So I would go out at night and drink and party and do drugs.
Every day, as soon as my obligations in racing were over, I would have a beer and then drink right on through the evening. I was an alcoholic.
How did you get involved with drugs?
Drugs for me started out very innocently with just a little marijuana, which I believed would not lead to hard drugs. But it did lead to heavier drugs, like pills and cocaine.
Was success all you thought it would be, and what was the turning point that brought you to Christ?
In 1982, I was the leading rider in the country. I believed that once I reached that pinnacle of success and got hold of that brass ring, I would never have another bad day. Success would lead to everlasting joy.
About two weeks into the new year, when I finally came out of an alcohol and drug-induced stupor, I felt totally empty inside. That sent me searching for answers to life. I started asking myself some big questions like, "What am I here for? If this is all that life has to offer, I'm not sure I want to be a part of it."
On January 27, 1984, I had flown from Colorado to Florida to participate in some races the next day. I arrived at my hotel late that evening, turned on the TV and Jimmy Swaggert came on. Having been raised in a Christian home, I didn't think what he was preaching and teaching was the answer to my question. So I quickly scanned the channels, turned the TV off, rolled over and went to sleep.
Later that night I awoke to the distinct feeling that I was not alone. I got up and turned the TV on again. As the picture came on, it was Jimmy Swaggert having an altar call.
So this was my own altar call -- my opportunity to bend my knee and accept Christ into my life as my Lord and Savior. The Bible talks about removing the scales from their eyes, and they were removed from my eyes. I knew that was what I was missing -- that the answers to life lie in a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.
I got down on my knees and wept and cried and invited Christ into my life. I truly believe that at that moment, God set me free from the bondage of drugs and alcohol. I have never drunk since then. I've been totally set free from that lifestyle.
The change was that dramatic?
It was life-changing. When I awoke in the morning, everything looked new and different. The air was cleaner, the sky was bluer, and the grass was greener. The Bible says when you commit your life to Christ you become a "new creature: old things are passed away, behold all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV). I was a new creature in Christ.
How would you compare that experience to being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991?
The Hall of Fame and all of the accolades I have received because of the success in racing are great. Winning the Kentucky Derby, winning the Breeder's Cup races, being inducted into the Hall of Fame, being involved in a number of organizations -- that's all wonderful. But they all pale in comparison to what took place the evening I committed my life to Christ.
Immediately afterward, I thought I was being called into the ministry -- it was a bit of a struggle that I had. But through time in prayer, searching Scripture and seeking Godly counsel, I knew the Lord had saved me to work within the industry, not to leave it. To take the ability he had blessed me with and do the very best I could with it. To use the success to get people's attention, and upon getting their attention, to give him all the praise, honor and glory. To use that opportunity to further the cause of Christ.
Do you struggle with the fact that you are still involved in a business that has so much gambling?
I do to a degree, because I see what gambling does to lives. I do not, nor will I, promote the gambling aspect of our business. I think it is a great sport. Horses are beautiful creatures, and the majority of the people that work with them love the animals and love the sport. They are into it for the competition and everything around that, not for the gambling aspect.
Now, I understand that we wouldn't have the business we have without the gambling. But I feel like I would be doing an injustice to the Lord and to my calling if I were to use the celebrity status and the position I find myself in to promote the gambling aspect.
You are Vice President of the Race Track Chaplaincy. What exactly is that ministry?
The Race Track Chaplaincy is a ministry that was started about 35 years ago. There was a former jockey called "Salty" Roberts whose injuries forced him to retire early and who continued in racing as a hot walker and a groom.
He had gotten saved and had a real burden on his heart for race track people. The majority of those who work directly with the horses, given the schedule and the lifestyle, are not allowed to leave the racetrack and attend church. And often, if they do, I am sorry to say, they aren't welcomed at church with open arms. So he felt that if they couldn't get to church, he should take church to them.
Today we have about 38 chaplains at various racetracks around the country ministering to the people involved with racing. Our dream is one day to have a chaplain at every race meet throughout the country. We are slowly working toward that end.
What does a chaplain do at these race meets?
An hour or so before the races start, the chaplain will arrive in the jockey's room and will conduct a devotional. For five to ten minutes he'll share the Word, a little story that goes along with the Scripture, how you could apply it to your life, then have a little prayer time. I have found that this is the only way to start the racing program.
Now when you pray personally, Pat, do you pray that you are going to win?
No sir, absolutely not. I pray for safety -- Psalm 91:11, where it says, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways" (Psalms 91:11, KJV). We pray that collectively and I pray that. I pray that God will help us all to do our very best.
And for myself, personally, my heart's cry, whether I win or whether I lose, that I would conduct myself in a form and fashion that would be pleasing in the eyes of God -- that I would be either a humble winner or a gracious loser, conducting myself at all times in a way that would be pleasing to him.
When you gave your life to Christ, how did your wife Sheila Ann respond?
We had been through quite a bit. We got married on June 30, 1979, and we had lived a wild lifestyle, partying and drinking and carrying on. So this was a tremendous change in me. It was one that she welcomed, but she didn't understand. But she did attend church with me and prayed with me. Then in September of 1985 at a church in Chicago, when they had the altar call, she felt led to go forward and accept Christ as her Lord and Savior.
The greatest moment in my life was when I accepted Christ, and the second greatest moment was when she accepted Christ. We have since then been jointly serving Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Which is the best horse you've ever ridden, and which horse has meant the most to you personally?
A horse called Easy Goer that I rode every time he ran -- he won the Belmont in 1989 -- he was the best horse, in my opinion, that I have ever ridden. The horse that has meant the most to me is a horse called Wild Again that I rode in the inaugural running of the Breeder's Cup classic in November of 1984.
I can see where God has orchestrated and brought about opportunities that God and God alone could have brought about. I think he brought it to pass for me to ride Wild Again in the Breeder's Cup classic. He was the long shot, ran the race of his life and got the victory. That one race put my career on the next level.
What would your message be to anyone who is reading this story, who maybe doesn't know Christ or who is striving for success like you did?
I have had the opportunity, on a number of occasions, to share my testimony with groups of people -- churched and unchurched. The thing I try to impress upon them the most is, "Don't think that if you give your life to Christ, you are going to have the success that I've had." I don't know what God's got in store for you. He's got a plan and a purpose for each and every one of us. If it is to bless you with success as he has with me, that will come to pass.
If the Lord impresses upon me that I'm supposed to go somewhere and start a shelter for the homeless and minister to them, then that's what I want to do. I know that there is no true happiness for Pat Day apart from the will of God. And so I want to do what God wants me to do. When you commit your life to Christ and seek his will, your desires change, and they fall in line with the will of God.
Dan Wooding is an award-winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife, Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times). Wooding is also the author of some 38 books, the latest of which is titled A Light to India with Lillian Doerksen (WinePress Publishing). ASSIST's website is at: http://www.rwcc.com/assist.htm.