GII Pat Day Mile | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pat Day Joins The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

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 race meant for my career was monumental,” Day said. “First of all, let me back up. In January of 84, that was when I came to Christ. I was a stone alcoholic and a drug addict and was still highly successful in the midst of that. On January 27th of 1984, I accepted Christ into my life and got set free from that addictive lifestyle. I recognized that God had blessed me with tremendous talent and ability and opportunities and I started treating that with the respect that it deserved. Subsequently, I had an incredible year capped by the victory with Wild Again in the inaugural Breeders' Cup. That helped secure my first of four Eclipse Awards. I don't know that you could put a price on just what that did for my career. It was tremendous and catapulted me to the next level. I started getting opportunities after that to participate in the major races all over the country and to ride some of the top choices in those races.

If the Wild Again win was Day's top Breeders' Cup moment, his loss to Sunday Silence aboard Easy Goer in the 1989 Classic was surely his worst.

“When they came off the turn, Easy Goer was slow to change leads,” Day said. “He finally did. When he did, he caught on and accelerated, but obviously it was too little, too late. There was just so much hanging in the balance. The Eclipse Award for top 3-year-old. Horse of the Year. There were some tremendous accolades that hung in the balance. That Breeders' Cup was hard and the second hardest pill to swallow with him would have been the Preakness. I think I rode a horrible race and I think that I cost him the race in the Preakness. Easy Goer was a great horse. The best I ever rode. I know the record doesn't reflect it but I still think he was better than Sunday Silence.”

Who was his toughest opponent?

“Day in and day out, the smartest, strongest rider I rode against on a regular basis was Jerry Bailey,” Day said. “He would draw up a game plan and he was able to implement that game plan just about every time.”

Who was the most competitive rider he ever went up against?

“With that subject, Angel Cordero's name always comes up,” he said. “We would laughingly say he could ride two or three horses in a race. Angel, I love you, man. He was an astute handicapper. And if he handicapped the race and he felt that you had the horse to beat, he was going to beat you. He felt like if he beat you he would win the race. He was very competitive.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, WinStar Farm, the KTOB, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley discussed Frankie Dettori's decision to postpone his retirement and focus on U.S. racing in 2024 and the GI Kentucky Derby. The team agreed that Dettori, who has been riding in top form this year, deserved at least one more year. Finley predicted he might decide to keep riding for two or three more years. They also reviewed last week's action which included a win by European shipper Mawj (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) in the GI Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup S. at Keeneland and the ultra-impressive win by City of Troy (Justify) in the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.

The post Pat Day Joins The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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GSW Rushie Represented By First Foal

GII Pat Day Mile winner Rushie (Liam's Map) was represented by his first foal, a Florida-bred filly, born Jan. 31. Out of Julia's Pride (Proud Citizen), the filly is bred by Jay Goodwin, Susan Montanye and Andy Pickerell.

“We couldn't be more pleased to congratulate the breeders on a really spectacular Rushie filly. She looks to have his powerful shoulder and plenty of leg, which is exactly what we were hoping Rushie would pass along to his progeny,” said Dex Comardelle of Blue Star Racing. “This is a great start to the season.”

Florida-bred Rushie began his stallion career at Pleasant Acres Stallions in 2022 and is now standing at Blue Star Racing in Scott, Louisiana for the 2023 breeding season at $4,000 LFSN.

The post GSW Rushie Represented By First Foal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Jack Christopher Eyes Bigger and Better Things

After Jack Christopher (Munnings) romped in the GI Champagne S. at Belmont Park last year, his connections were optimistic that the horse had the talent to get them to the winner's circle at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. That happened, just not the way anyone had planned. Not ready for the GI Kentucky Derby after seven-month layoff, Jack Christopher ran instead in the GII Pat Day Mile S., which he won by 3 3/4 lengths. While the victory was somewhat of a consolation prize, it set the colt up for what still could be a very productive year.

“I was very impressed,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He was coming off a long layoff and going into a graded stakes on Derby Day. There were a couple of really nice horses in there. So I thought it was a big test for him, a big challenge. He passed it well. I was so pleased and so relieved that he's back and ready to move forward.”

Jack Christopher was expected to go off as the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but was withdrawn after Brown discovered that the horse had a shin problem. He subsequently had a screw inserted into his left shin to repair a stress fracture. Had Brown decided to rush things he might have had Jack Christopher ready in time to make the Derby, but he decided to go a more cautious route.

“We decided to give him enough time and not rush him back,” the trainer said. “It was the right approach.”

Jack Christopher had his first published workout on the year on March 27 at Payson Park and made steady progress from there. In order to make the Derby, he would have had to have run in a prep race in order to pick up points. Once Brown realized that wasn't going to happen, he settled in on the Pat Day Mile. He liked the distance and the timing and how it might set the horse up for the rest of the year.

“At the mile, it worked out perfectly,” Brown said. “He was able to find his stride down the backside. He broke a little tardy and had to be used just a touch to get into position. When Jose (Ortiz) sat back on the horse against the bit the horse was a comfortable mover, just tugging along gently the entire race. He was running within himself.”

The Pat Day simply confirmed what Brown already knew, that this is a very good race horse.

“He's very special. He is an incredible talent,” he said.

Yet, Brown couldn't escape the obvious. He has what very well might be the most talented 3-year-old in training and won a graded stakes race on Kentucky Derby day. Only it wasn't the Kentucky Derby.

“It is bittersweet,” he said. “You only have one crack at the Derby. But that's part of what makes the Derby so difficult to win. There is a small window. Could he have won the Derby? We'll never know. Now it's in the books and the horse didn't make it. There are a certain number of people out there who believe this is the most talented colt in this crop. With previous crops through history, sometimes the most talented horse in the crop does not make the Derby. I'm not saying that's the case here. There are still long careers to be had out of this crop with many different horses. He's one of them. Ultimately, we'll find out down the road who the most talented horse is.”

The problem now for Brown and owners Jim Bakke and Gerry Isbister is that there is no obvious next step when it comes to the next race. The GI Preakness S. comes up too soon and is not under consideration. The GI Belmont S. is out because it would be asking too much to go from a mile to a mile-and-a-half. Brown isn't in love with the idea of cutting back in distance, but he also wants to keep Jack Christopher on a steady schedule. With that in mind, he said the seven-furlong GI Woody Stephens S., run June 11, Belmont day, will be next. The larger goal is the GI Haskell S. on July 23 at Monmouth.

“When we decided to take some extra time with the horse and take him out of consideration for the Derby, the race I spoke to Mr. Bakke about was the Haskell,” Brown said. “I told him he wasn't going to make the Derby but the Haskell is really the target. I do think the horse will get a mile and an eighth.”

That's the sort of a race where he could meet Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) along with a number of other top horses from this division. It will be a test, but one he seems capable of passing. Is Jack Christopher an “incredible talent?” We're about to find out.

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Jack is Back in Pat Day Mile

In the post-race interview, trainer Chad Brown compared Saturday's impressive GII Pat Day Mile winner Jack Christopher (Munnings) to Hall of Famer Ghostzapper (Awesome Again), who Brown worked with while under the tutelage of Bobby Frankel. Like Jack Christopher, Ghostzapper also missed the Triple Crown series and focused on races around one turn during his 3-year-old season before blossoming into a top handicap horse at four, including a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

“This horse reminds me a lot of Ghostzapper, I was fortunate to work with that horse, he moves about the same as him and that one had a few rough patches as well,” Brown said. “He has a lot more to do, how far we'll see. It's a wonderful victory, very gratifying, but it's bittersweet that we got him to the first Saturday in May [but not the Derby], which we had been thinking about since he debuted at Saratoga. To get him here on the first Saturday in May, and to get him to the winner's circle, it'll always be in the back of my mind what could have been. It is what it is.”

While those are some big shoes to fill, and whether a 10-furlong Classic is in Jack Christopher's future remains to be seen, but he's certainly off to a good start with three impressive victories from as many starts.

Well hyped heading into his six-panel debut at Saratoga Aug. 28, the flashy chestnut–who is the spitting image of his sire–more than lived up to the buzz with a dazzling 8 3/4-length score, earning 'TDN Rising Star' honors. He followed suit with a decisive score in Belmont's one-mile GI Champagne S. Oct. 2, earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. The early favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the $135,000 FTKOCT buy was scratched by the vets the night before the race. A stress fracture was discovered in his left shin which required a screw and he did not return to Brown until February, making the GI Kentucky Derby basically impossible.

Hammered down to 3-5 favoritism for this return, Jack Christopher brushed with his inside neighbor a bit after the break, but was kept steady by Jose Ortiz and tugged his way up three wide between horses to establish position exiting the chute. He pressed from a joint second as GII Best Pal S. winner Pappacap (Gun Runner) clocked early fractions of :22.70 and :45.61. Sidling up besides the pacesetter on the backstretch run, the Brown pupil seized command at the top of the stretch with Pappcap still to his inside and GIII Swale S. victor My Prankster (Into Mischief) ranging up to challenge on the outside. Neither proved to be any match for Jack Christopher, who was kept to task by Ortiz when he began to drift slightly in the lane and gunned clear in the final sixteenth to win as he pleased. Pappacap held second over My Prankster.

“We asked a lot of him today after a long layoff and an injury,” Brown said. “Coming off of a layoff, you never know, especially running a mile. I had a really good feel, here on Derby Day, I asked a lot of him. I chose this race because I wanted him to run against his own age group, and I didn't want to sprint the horse. I wanted to run him in a race that allowed him to stretch his legs a little bit, get comfortable at some point of the race, protect him, and to move him forward. It certainly worked today.”

The Eclipse winner continued, “Jose did a great job, he got squeezed a little bit at the start, and made the good decision to use him early to move him up and out and in the clear. He really took control of the race at that point. At the end of the day, he's a super talented race horse and if we can keep him on the track, we'll see a lot of great things from him.”

“Cutting back to one mile brought my horse's 'A' game today,” Ortiz said. “I was worried around the three-eighths pole because I thought if there was one horse that could beat me it was Pappacap after he ran so well last time [fourth in the GI Curlin Florida Derby]. So I moved into him and when I got to him at the five-sixteenths, I felt like I had him. I heard Flavien [Prat on Pappacap] asking for more and he wasn't getting anywhere. So I was confident and waited longer so I had plenty horse for the end.”

Pedigree Notes:
Jack Christopher is one of five Grade I winners for Coolmore's Munnings and one of three of his offspring to secure that top-level score in 2021 along with Eda and Kimari. Breeder Castleton Lyons purchased the winner's dam Rushin No Blushin for $70,000 at the 2014 KEENOV sale in foal to Congrats. The half-sister to MGISW sire Street Boss (Street Cry {Ire}) did not have much luck at first. The resulting foal died and her next two foals did not do much running. She was barren in 2018 and then came Jack Christopher. The 13-year-old mare's only foal since is a juvenile filly by Mo Town. Rushing No Blushing failed to get back in foal to Munnings for 2022 and visited Complexity last spring. This is also the family of graded winners Bellera, Life Imitates Art and Beyond Blame.

Saturday, Churchill Downs
PAT DAY MILE S. PRESENTED BY LG&E AND KU-GII, $500,000, Churchill Downs, 5-7, 3yo, 1m, 1:34.81, ft.
1–JACK CHRISTOPHER, 122, c, 3, by Munnings
1st Dam: Rushin No Blushin, by Half Ours
2nd Dam: Blushing Ogygian, by Ogygian
3rd Dam: Fruhlingshochzeit, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
($145,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKSEL; $135,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT). *TDN Rising Star*. O-Jim Bakke, Gerry Isbister, Coolmore Stud and White Birch Farm, Inc.; B-Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $291,400. Lifetime Record: GISW, 3-3-0-0, $621,400. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Pappacap, 122, c, 3, Gun Runner–Pappascat, by Scat Daddy. O/B-Rustlewood Farm, Inc. (FL); T-Mark E. Casse. $94,000.
3–My Prankster, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–My Wandy's Girl, by Flower Alley. ($600,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Lawana L. and Robert E. Low; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $47,000.
Margins: 3 3/4, HD, 2. Odds: 0.70, 7.50, 8.20.
Also Ran: O Captain, Trafalgar, Doppelganger, Tejano Twist, Kavod, Major General, Trademark, Ben Diesel. Scratched: Howling Time.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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