Page 40 - The Game August 2006

40 The Game, August 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Yvonne Schwabe 2006Yearlings
Filly by Meadowlake out of the Two Punch mare Jingle Berry. Hip No. 99 in the Select Ontario Sale with consignor Hill ‘N’ Dale Sales Agency, Agent. She is a half to 3-yr-old Holly Time (Gilded Time) who broke its maiden at Belmont and is a full sister to 2-yr-old, Thompson lake, purchased as a yearling in 2005 by Kingfield Farms for $50,000.
Filly by Kafwain out of the Mt. Magazine mare, Shebandowana. She is a half sister to Graded Stakes winner of $566,000, Wanna Runner (El Corredor) and will be consigned by Hill ‘N’ Dale Sales Agency at Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Pat Day
Get Tied On
with Chaplain Shawn
Pat Day: sinner turned winner. I can't help but quote Perry Lefko, in his chapter on Pat Day in "The Greatest Show on Turf". It's a killer line, but I think Pat would prefer "a sinner saved by grace". Right now, Pat has a different career, one that he'll share more of when he comes to Ontario August 24 to 29. But first, a little history.
Pat was born in Brush, Colorado in 1953. Thank God he didn't succeed in his first venture with horses, on the rodeo circuit. (Who knows what shape he'd be in now - rodeo riders don't have a lot of longevity!) . He is first on the all-time leading money winning list with $297,912,019 (and won't be
caught any time soon) and is also
fourth on the list of wins (8803). He
started riding in 1973 and retired
August 4, 2005. Inducted into
racing's Hall of Fame in 1991, at
this writing he's the top money
winning jockey in Breeders’ Cup
events ($22,913,360), and has the
second most Breeders’ Cup wins
(12). He has nine Triple Crown
wins, is a four time Eclipse Award
winner as outstanding jockey
(1984, 1986, 1987 and 1991), and
he set a North American record at
Arlington Park in 1989 when he won eight of nine mounts in one day. He is also the all-time riding leader at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. In 2005 he was named the winner of The Big Sport of Turfdom Award. Pat is married to Sheila and has one daughter, Irene.
In August, he'll be at Woodbine, Fort Erie and Mohawk, speaking at the Hall of Fame dinner, hosting a Golf Tournament, attending our Chaplaincy Bar-B-Que and will be the keynote speaker at the wind-up dinner.
Is there no slowing him down?
I thought retirement means lots of fishing or golfing.
Although Pat has been to Canada before, he's never had an opportunity to hang out with Canadians on their home and native land. As a preview to his visit, I engaged the help of a number of back stretch buddies with this question: If you could ask Pat Day one thing, what would it be? The following list of questions is the result.
Q - What have you been doing since your retirement?
A - Not anything different than I've been doing for 22 years, aside from riding. Just sharing with whoever I can what the Lord has done in my life.
Q - What are your plans for the future?
A - More of the same. I help my wife with her ministry, Mom's Closet Resource Center, a resource for single mothers. I've been taking some correspon- dence courses, in regards to the bible.
Q - When did you know you had the stuff to be a Hall of Fame rider?
A - No particular time, really. I just kept climbing the ladder as success came my way. I always did the best I could. I rode my first race at Prescott Downs in Arizona and just kept riding at better tracks as success continued.
Q - Did you have a favorite kind of race to ride? (turf or dirt, sprint or route)
A - Not really. There's nothing like a good turf horse on grass, but there's nothing worse than a horse on a surface it shouldn't
be on.
Q - Who do you consider the
fastest horse you rode?
A - I'm not sure about the fastest,
but I've always said the best was Easy Goer. He did run 6 furlongs as a two year old and rider error got him beat. I pulled the trigger too soon and didn't realize how much horse I had under me. But he was the best.
Q - What was your favorite horse to ride? (not necessarily a stakes or great horse)
Sky Mesa colt out of the mare Irish Cherry, by Irish Open is a 1/2 brother to Gr.1 winner, Spun Sugar. Selling at Keeneland September with Hill ‘N’ Dale Sales Agency.
Pat Day
A - Any horse that tries their best.
Q - What was your favorite race meet?
A - Keeneland, Saratoga and Del Mar, in that order. Q - What trainer would you have liked to ride for
that you didn't?
A - No one in particular, although I've always
appreciated high percentage trainers.
Q - What was your most memorable moment in
racing? In life?
A - In racing, 1992 Kentucky Derby on Lil E Tee,
especially after running second three years in a row. In life: coming to Christ in 1984, getting married June 30, 1979 and the birth of my daughter March 3 1987.
Q - If you were a trainer today, who would be riding your horses?
A - I'll plead the fifth on that one!
Q - I'm not sure you can do that in Canada- what advice would you give to apprentices?
A - Keep focused, recognize the dangers of racing and that it needs your full attention, work hard and stay straight.
Q - If you could do it all over again, is there anything you would have done differently in your life or career?
A - Not really. I'm a composite of who I am today by all that has happened to me. There are some things that I've done that I'm not pleased with, but I can't change that. Maybe I wish I was more mature when I was first introduced to Christ as a youth. But other than that, life and racing has been good to me.
Q - Thanks Pat, we look forward to your visit here in August. I promise it won't snow.
A - I'm looking forward to it as well.
Filly by Chief Seattle, out of the mare De Sister, by Defrere. She is the half sister to Yvonne’s 2-year-old in training, Daiquiri (Two Punch) and is Hip No. 54 in the Select Sale in Ontario with Beth Hancock, Agent
Funny Cide at Woodbine
You needed a wide angle lens to get a shot of all of the owners involved in Sackatoga Stable as they pose for their win photo with their 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, Funny Cide, after winning the Gr. 3 Dominion Day Handicap at Woodbine on July 1 with trainer Barclay Tagg and jockey Richard Migliore in the irons.
Photo Left - Funny Cide after getting cooled down by the hose