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PAT DAY TOUR INFORMATION
Photo Courtesy of NTRA
Pat Day’s “What a Difference a Day Makes Tour” Off to Fast Start
Jockey Pat Day’s “What a Difference a Day Makes” summer and early fall tour of
tracks will have at least 10 stops before it ends October 8, said officials at the Race Track
Chaplaincy of America which is arranging the tour.
At each stop, Day personally meets fans and takes part in track’s media promotions.
At corresponding dinners, designed to raise awareness of and funds for local track
chaplaincy programs, he also gives his personal testimony of faith.
“God forbid that I should miss an opportunity to share the greatest news on earth,” said
Day. “Romans 10:15 says ‘how can they preach unless they are sent?’ God has presented
a great opportunity and I’m the one being blessed by it.”
The tour, named for the day he became a Christian, began at River Downs on July 20.
Track Marketing Director, JoLynn Johnston, said his visit accounted for the largest
Tuesday crowd in recent memory. Several hundred additional fans lined up for
personalized autographed photos of Day winning the 1992 Kentucky Derby on Lil E.
Tee. That evening Day spoke to some 150 persons in an event that raised over $5,000 for
local RTCA chaplain Forest Casey.
Day, a Hall of Fame member since 1991, recently won Saratoga’s Grade I Go For
Wand stakes on former Horse of the Year, Azeri, and ranks among the leading riders at
Saratoga despite riding chiefly on weekends. “I think the tour has given me new energy
and drive,” he said. “I’m riding with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.”
During the visits, Day rides one or two races, but gives the riding fees back to the
horses’ scheduled riders. On September 10 at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, Day
will ride in a Quarter Horse match race against the track’s leading rider to benefit the
local chaplaincy.
Day is the world’s richest rider with a record of over $290 million in purses and is the
leading active rider in victories with over 8,700. His strong Christian faith led him to
become an RTCA officer and more recently its Industry Spokesperson. The organization
sanctions and oversees 50 chaplains who serve at 80 tracks and training centers in the
U.S. and Canada. Its mission is to enrich the lives of horse racing’s workforce through
providing for their spiritual, emotional, physical and social/educational needs.
Other stops are possible, but as of August 18, the tour has scheduled the following stops:
- August 29: Emerald Downs
- September 10: Sam Houston Race Park
- September 12: Finger Lakes
- September 13: Remington Park
- September 15: Retama Park
- September 29: Penn National
- October 1: Lone Star Park
- October 3: Turf Paradise
- October 7: Thistledown
For more information contact RTCA Development Director Ed Donnally at 310-419-
1640, edonnally@racetrackchaplaincy.org
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