Louisville, where we introduce you to the people, places and things that make up Kentucky's largest city.

This week, Meade Hall of Fame jockey Pat day.

He's won more races at Churchill Downs than any other jockey in history.

He retired from racing in 2005 as the all time leading jockey in money earned, and he still holds the record for all time career wins at both Churchill Downs and Keeneland race tracks.

He's a four time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1991.

He grew up in Colorado, dreaming of becoming a rodeo cowboy, but today he calls Louisville home.

And just like an unpredictable horse race, his life has taken some unexpected turns.

After years of drug and alcohol abuse, he credits a spiritual awakening to changing his finish line in life.

[MUSIC] Pat Day looks back on his life and career when he was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Kentucky Derby Museum.

>> A lifetime Achievement award, I believe is indicative of a life well lived.

You know, the first 30 years of my life I tried to self destruct.

But by the grace of God, the last half of my life has been decidedly good.

And subsequently, we've enjoyed a tremendously successful racing career that has culminated with a lifetime achievement award.

And, you know, it's just I continue to marvel at God's handiwork.

I rejoice in what he's done in me and through me and the blessings he bestowed upon me.

And certainly an award like this.

The moment that's going to stand out without any doubt, is when I was fortunate enough to ride Little League T to victory in the Kentucky Derby in 1992.

You know, I've been very fortunate to have ridden in the race a number of times, had ran second three years in a row and and come close.

And so I thought I had an idea of what that experience was going to feel like.

I was sorely mistaken if I thought that winning that race was going to be here.

It was turned out to be just a little bit north of the moon.

It was indescribable.

And I've given a lot of thought to trying to come up with the words or expression, or that would adequately express the feelings that I experienced when I wrote Under the finish line that day, it was absolute highlight of my career.

>> Well, we want to welcome the legendary Pat day here to our Louisville studio.

Thank you so much for being here.

And we just saw there you getting a little emotional talking about that Derby win.

What an incredible win.

But it also I don't know if many people remember came after two second place finishes three second place finishes.

Yeah in the Derby.

So take us back to that time and your memories from that.

>> Well I got to preface any remarks.

But the Derby is what everybody involved in horse racing, at least in the United States, wants to be involved with.

And I think the world over.

I think that, you know, it's it's a world renowned race.

And so everybody involved wants to win the Kentucky Derby, myself included.

It was very, very fortunate to have ridden in it at the end of my career 22 times, only only one victory.

But that was the absolute highlight of my of my racing career for sure.

But I had ran second three years in a row, and I thought I had an idea of what it would feel like having come close, but I was sorely mistaken.

Little League T came into the race in great shape that afternoon.

Trainer Lynn Whiting had him had him trained to a T and we were.

We were expecting a big effort out of him.

Lord only knows who's going to show up on race day and get the trip and ultimately get the run for the roses.

But we we felt like we were in a good spot and were going to get a good effort out of him, and we did.

He broke well, was in a good position going into the first turn.

Traffic jammed up a little bit, caused us a little bit of hesitation going into the first turn.

But he cleared that, got back on his feet, was moving kindly up the backside at the half mile pole.

He was in hand and in behind the first flight and right where I wanted to be.

And about that time, a Rossi went by me with Patrick Valenzuela with a handful of horse, and I thought he would just keep right on running.

And so after he went by, I eased out and followed him around the turn, and to my surprise, he held me up about 3 or 4 lengths on me and then just stayed there.

He didn't keep getting away from me.

And as I watched him, we come to the top of the stretch and P Val Patrick Valenzuela, his rider, kind of shook him up and didn't get any response.

And I hadn't asked Lily T just yet, so I knew that I had to.

Rossi he wasn't he wasn't my competition at that point.

But there were 2 or 3 horses on down the track, and I put Lily T to the task and he responded, lengthened his stride and just went to picking him up.

And boy, we come off the turn.

I said, I might be going to win this thing, you know?

And then I went by casual lies just inside the eighth pole come the 16th pole.

And I said, I'm going to win this if I don't fall off, you know.

So we kept to the task, but there was a feeling that started way down in the pit of my stomach that just kept growing and growing and growing with every jump.

And as we crossed the finish line, it was it was just absolutely indescribable.

The, the feeling that came over me, the feeling of joy and the feeling of, of, of having accomplished that and experiencing that.

And it was, as I said, it was indescribable.

I just stood up and just went to screaming at the heavens, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus, for allowing me the privilege and the honor of experiencing winning that great race.

And it it was just the absolute highlight of my, of my racing career.

One other races that probably meant more to my career, but none that meant any more to me personally.

>> Yeah.

Than that, that derby race, it's it.

And hearing you describe it, you know, those of us watching have I feel like an inkling of that because it's that excitement.

But I just can't even imagine what it would be like being there.

But I want to go back to the very beginning.

And you grew up in Colorado wanting to be a rodeo cowboy, is that right?

>> The, the the word here is wannabe.

I was a wannabe for sure.

Yeah.

>> What took you into horse racing?

>> Well, we were my mom and dad had a little farm out, and my dad was born in a repairman by trade.

Him and my mother wanted to raise their kids in the country.

And so they bought a little place out in the country.

We had a little a little farm there.

We had a milk cow and chickens, and we had some ponies and started riding at a very early age.

Just loved horses, loved riding.

And then about 9 or 10 years old, I got involved with little britches rodeos, junior rodeos, which kind of lit the bug for that.

And then in high school, I was on the rodeo team.

And then when I graduated high school, I really I had a desire to be a professional bull rider.

And I was pursuing that career with a very limited amount of, of success.

But in the course of my travels, I had met several people that inquired or as to whether I'd ever thought about being a jockey.

A four foot 11 weighed 100 pounds and seemed to be the the right size.

I don't know if they'd seen something in me that led them to believe I could be a jockey, or if they were trying to get me out of the rodeo arena where I had absolutely no talent at all.

But it was.

In response to that, I said, no, I don't.

I don't want to be a jockey.

I want to be a bull rider.

I don't know anything about being a jockey.

And, and one guy gave me his name and number and said, if you ever have an interest, give me a call.

So I did, and the fall of 72, I called him up and he got me a job on a thoroughbred farm in California.

I called them and they said, come out here after the first of the year, and we'll put you to work and see what we can do.

And so I went to the farm, sat down with a farm owner, a man named Farrell Jones, and a farm manager, Gene Cummins.

And they said, now you want to be a jockey.

And I said, yep, I want to be a jockey.

I'd never been to the races.

I'd never seen a race.

I didn't have a clue what I was trying to become.

And so they said, well, this is what we think you need to do.

You need to be on the farm for 2 to 3 years, learn the business from the ground up.

I'm like 2 to 3 years.

That's a long time just to learn how to ride a horse, you know?

And they said, yeah, you'd be here 2 to 3 years.

And then you go to the track and you'll be with the trainer and you'll continue to hone your skills.

You'll watch the races, study the films, do that for a year.

You'll be ready to start riding at the end of a month of daylight till dark, work seven days a week, menial farm labor.

And I got on a few horses there and I was around the horses.

But I said, man, I can't do this for 2 or 3 years now.

I didn't know what I was trying to become, but I really believed that God was in the midst of it all.

You know, there was a scripture that says, I know the plans I have for you, saith the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope in the future.

I didn't know that scripture.

I didn't know the Lord, but I believe the Lord was working in my life in spite of that.

And so I left the farm, had no intention of continuing to pursue that, went to Las Vegas, Nevada, where I had some friends and I was going to spend the winter and.

And then when the rodeo season started, I was going to get back involved.

I got to Las Vegas.

I couldn't find a job.

They had a little racetrack on the outskirts of Las Vegas called Henderson, called Las Vegas Downs.

It never got off the ground.

It.

But they had some people out there using it for a winter training.

TRACK.

And so somebody said, well, they need some help.

Go out there and see if you can get a job.

So I did, and a guy named Steve Talbot had some horses and he said, I'll give you $2 a head, get on my horses and gallop them.

And so I'd done that for a couple of months and he only had three horses.

So.

So I wasn't getting rich.

But now I'm a little closer and I'm liking what I'm doing.

Knowledgeable horse people knew they could see something special in me when I was just an absolute natural.

I didn't know that I felt comfortable on the back of a thoroughbred and.

But anyhow, Steve was the clerk of scales on the fair circuit in Arizona.

When he got ready to go to Arizona and take up his duties, he said, follow me to Arizona.

I'll meet you, you know, introduce you to some people.

And so I did.

Lo and behold, we we went to Prescott for the summer, and I got introduced to a trainer named Carl Pugh.

And Carl was an ex rodeo guy.

He was a professional team roper.

But anyhow, we had that commonality and we just hit it off and he put me to work galloping these horses and taking his horses to the gate in the afternoons.

And now I'm around the races.

Now I'm getting excited.

By mid-summer.

I told Carl, I said, man, I want to ride.

I want to, you know, I want to get in the action.

Yeah, yeah, I'll let you ride a few.

I'll make a long story short, I won my first race on July 29th of 1973.

By January, I was the leading rider at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona.

I think it was pretty clear to see that God had blessed me with tremendous talent and ability, and I was I was where I, where I was chosen to be.

>> Yeah.

You had almost immediate success.

>> Oh, yeah.

Seven months after January, February, March, April, may, June, July.

>> Yeah.

>> Seven months.

>> So rare in in this industry.

But looking back now, yeah, if you think you were you were made to do this.

>> I believe that God divinely directed me out of the mountains of Colorado by way of the rodeo arena, ultimately into the great sport of horse racing, where it was obvious.

He blessed me with tremendous talent and ability and opportunities, and subsequently an incredibly, incredibly successful racing career.

>> Yeah.

You were the leading jockey by number of wins in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991.

But it was in the midst of that in 1984 that you had a life change.

Tell me about that.

>> Well, the success came so fast and furious.

I didn't really appreciate it.

At the end of the day, I was looking for higher highs, was taking it all for granted.

Actually, my attitude was that I deserved it.

Like I had put forth the time and effort to be where I was and which was a complete fallacy.

But if I'm climbing the ladder of success, as I said, at the end of the day, I was looking for higher highs and got involved with drugs and alcohol and assorted Life.

In the midst of that, I was continuing to be quite successful.

And then I met a beautiful lady from Louisiana, my my wife Sheila, and she stabilized me, brought some stability to my life, but it didn't alter my drug and alcohol involvement.

And, and then in 1982, I was in a position to be leading rider in North America.

There was a few times in the course of my career that in the midst of that drug and alcohol lifestyle, that I would come to my senses and go, you know, there's got to be more, I'm missing something.

And I was trying to, I guess, fill that up with the drugs and the alcohol and the lifestyle that I was living.

In 1982, I was in a position to be leading rider in North America.

And I thought, boy, that's the key.

If I could be the leading rider in North America, if I could reach that, that level of success, I'll never have another bad day.

The world would have you to believe that you know, and your chosen vocation.

When you reach a certain level, you're supposed to be happy forever.

That's, you know, you've gotten a hold of the brass ring.

You've.

You've found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

And so I rode hard through 82 through the fall of the year, rode here at Church Hill, went to New Orleans, was riding at the fairgrounds at the end of the racing program on December 31st, myself and Angel Cordero Jr were tied up on the 395 winners apiece.

There was.

The only racetrack running on New Year's Eve was a little racetrack in the southwest corner of Louisiana called Delta Downs, and I was able to get a charter flight from New Orleans to Delta Downs and to orange, Texas, which is right across the river from from where Delta Downs is.

And, and I got down there and secured a couple of mounts and subsequently won the National Riding title.

At the time I was in the, in the celebrating.

So the pilot and I just him and I, we stopped at a liquor store on the way back to the airport, got a six pack of beer, got to the airport, got on a plane.

The time we got to New Orleans, the beer was gone.

Sheila had rented a room at the fairgrounds at the racetrack.

We were.

They were having a New Year's New Year's Eve celebration party.

And so I walked in and somebody walked up with their hand like this.

And I held, you know, some pills of some kind.

Somebody else walked up with a big glass tumbler of an alcoholic beverage of some kind.

And the party was on.

I was off and running.

And for two weeks we were celebrating.

And when I came out of that drug and alcohol induced stupor and took a personal inventory, the fleeting feeling of succeeding was gone.

Nothing had changed.

I was more empty than I was.

I discovered that the climb to the top was more rewarding and fulfilling than actually getting there, because you had something to reach for.

I'm like, so that that kind of sent me on a search, like, what am I here for?

This isn't making any sense.

I've got a beautiful wife and a successful career, but I feel empty inside and I wasn't getting any answers as I would scream into the heavens, what am I here for?

I wasn't getting any answers, but as the Lord would have it, in 1983, I was a leading writer again.

And in January of 1984, my wife and I were vacationing in Colorado with my family.

And on January 27th of 1984, she drove me into Denver, put me on a plane.

I flew to Miami, Florida, where I was scheduled to ride in a race the next day.

I got into the.

I checked into a hotel near the airport, got in my room, flipped on the TV set as is my habit, and started getting ready for bed.

As the Lord would have it, there was a Jimmy Swaggart televised crusade that happened to be on that channel.

Now, I wasn't thinking that Jimmy Swaggart had the answer to what I was looking for.

And so when I'm ready for bed, I ran through the dial on the on the TV.

Nothing got my attention.

Got all the way around the dial back to Jimmy Swaggart, turned the TV, set off, went to bed immediately, fell into a deep sleep, slept so soundly that when I awoke I thought I'd been sleeping for 6 or 8 hours and.

But I awoke to the distinct feeling that I wasn't by myself, and I sat upright and looked around in the room.

I couldn't see anything, but I could feel a presence there with me, and I don't know if it was the Lord that prompted me at that point to walk over and turn the TV set on.

Or if that was my self thinking, boy, let's get the TV on and get some noise going and and get rid of these feelings.

But I turned the TV on as a picture materialized on the screen.

I realized I've not been sleeping very long.

Jimmy Swaggart still on TV, and it was right at the end of his program, when he extends the invitation to the viewing audience, to any and all that would care to receive him as their Savior.

And at that moment, it was like the spiritual scales were removed from my eyes.

I recognized that the presence there with me was the spirit of the living God.

And this was my opportunity.

And I knew that.

I knew that that's what what I needed, what I wanted.

And I fell on my face and wept and cried and received Christ into my heart.

Or so I said for a number of years, only to remember later that I had actually prayed when I was 13 with a neighbor lady that we called them Jesus freaks, but they loved the Lord and they wanted to talk about the Lord.

But she'd actually led me to receive Christ into my heart when I was 13, and I believed that God had his hand on me from that that point forward, I tell people today that the spiritual conception occurred at 13.

The birth occurred at 30 in that hotel room.

I don't know how long I was on the floor.

I finally got up and went back to bed.

When I got up and walked out the next morning, it was like the whole world had changed.

It was like the grass was greener, the sky was bluer, the air was clear.

It was.

But it wasn't.

The world had changed.

I was changed and radically changed.

How much?

So I got on the plane the next evening, started back to Colorado.

Stewardess came by there with the drink cart.

You know.

Sir, can you.

Would you like a drink?

And I snarled, no.

She walked away and I thought, where'd that come from?

So I thought about it.

I remembered that normally when she would come by, I would get two of those little bottles of booze because I didn't want to run out.

And as I thought about that, I go, wow, not only do I not want it, I found it to be repulsive.

I believe that when I received Christ as my Lord and Savior, that he broke the chains of bondage, set me free from that addictive lifestyle.

>> Now you've dedicated your life to spreading the gospel, and particularly working with with jockeys and other workers at, at, at racetracks.

And what have what have you learned from that?

Reaching out to other people and, and, and helping people in that way?

>> Well, some, some are actually attempting and some aren't.

You know, the best that we can do is, is try to be a godly witness, a living testimony to the saving grace of Jesus Christ and a positive influence in the lives of all of those that we would come in contact with.

Well, immediately after that, I thought I was being called into ministry.

I mean, I wanted I thought I was going needed to go to the seminary and become a minister and get a church somewhere.

And, but in reflecting on that was I'd been riding for ten years and had had a fair amount of success.

If you had that kind of success, I mean, and I'd even stated on occasion I had God given talent, God given talent.

Well, if you have talent, shouldn't you take it and use it and do the best that you can?

Well of course.

Oh, but wait a minute.

Racing revolves around gambling.

And it's, you know, that's that's kind of a dark area.

Can can you profess to be a Christian and stay in this environment?

And that's when I met the chaplain.

Didn't know we had a chaplain, but I met the chaplain, Mike Spencer.

He, he became my best friend and spiritual mentor.

And I shared with him my dilemma.

I said, Mike, I don't know what I should do.

Well, he came up with a novel idea.

He said, let's pray about it.

And so we did.

We prayed and sought the scriptures.

And through that process, the Lord revealed to me that he had saved me to work within the industry, not to leave it.

Take the talent, take the ability, do the very best that I possibly could, all the while being open to opportunities to give him the praise, the honor and the glory.

>> That Derby win came after this awakening.

>> Yes.

>> And tell me about how your career and writing was different in the before and after.

Like you mentioned, it's it's an industry that's around gambling and drinking and that kind of thing.

Was it, was it hard for you to continue in that environment?

And how did you change?

>> Well, it was as I said, I thought it was being called into the ministry and then received the revelation from God that I was to stay in the industry, not to leave it, take the talent, take the ability, do the best that I possibly could.

Well, then, as now, the only vehicle that's actively endeavoring to bring the gospel message to the racetrack chaplain is to the.

To the racetrack is a racetrack chaplaincy of America.

And so I throw in my lot with them.

I became very involved and supportive of that ministry.

I think today we have 56 or 57 Chaplaincies chaplains that are ministering at different racetracks and training facilities all around the country.

Here in Kentucky, we have 3 or 4.

The training facilities at Ellis Park at Turfway and Belterra, and Churchill Downs, of course, and the training facility here in town.

And, you know, our desire is we endeavor to meet some of the physical, some of the material needs of the workforce.

But most importantly, we want to share the gospel message with them.

And I heard somebody say one time, don't tell them that Jesus loves them until you're ready to love them yourself.

And that's what our chaplains do.

They they're out there every morning walking the barns, visiting with the people, cultivating relationships, and trying to meet some of those needs and in the process, be the hands and feet of Jesus.

And then, you know, our desire is that at some point they would come to believe and trust in the Lord and receive him as their Savior.

>> And you were instrumental in creating the Christ Chapel there on the backside of Churchill Downs.

Tell me how that has changed the backside and that workforce from your perspective, what you've seen.

>> We've seen the need for a full time chaplain.

And so we've taken steps to to secure a full time chaplain.

A chaplain came up Ken Blom, and he came on.

And at the time we were meeting, having our weekly church services in the rec center back there.

And it wasn't very long before it was standing room only.

And so we seen the need for a full time, you know, for a for a chapel.

And so we approached Churchill Downs and they were in complete agreement.

They said, look, we'll allocate the ground, but you're going to have to raise the money to build the church to to build the building, and then you're going to be responsible for that.

And people were incredibly generous and supportive as we went out knocking on doors and raised the funds and built the building.

You know, when we approached Churchill Downs and they said, well, you we'll allocate the land and you can build the building.

But one thing they said, it's got to look like a church.

And so we've got a steeple on top of the Christ Chapel.

And from the grandstand you can actually see it if you look.

It's not, you know, blaring back there, glaring back there, but it's you can certainly see it if you're looking for it.

And it's a, it's a great place.

It's a multi multi-use building, but nothing that isn't God honoring the activities that they conduct in there.

But they have weekly church services and Bible studies and other activities, vacation Bible school, and they just have a ton of activities.

Now we've grown, we have a women's ministry and a children's ministry and, and the regular men's ministry.

And it continues to grow.

There's a God has put together a tremendous council that oversees the activities of of the Kentucky Council and, and then the national office.

Dan White's is executive director and just do an excellent work supporting the chaplains, getting the right chaplains in the right place and, and continuing with to spread the gospel.

>> You can watch and share this episode anytime.

It's online at ket.org.

Johnny Nash.

InsideLouisville.

Plus, follow us on social media for more, including what it's like for Pat day to watch the Kentucky Derby from home these days.

You can find that on Instagram.

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LOU.

Thanks for spending a little time getting to know Louisville.

I hope we'll see you here next time.

Until then, make it a great week.