Retired Jockey Pat Day Believes His Faith in Jesus Christ Saved His Life & Career

A lot of sports fans know that Pat Day was one of the most successful jockeys in horse racing history. What many may not know is that Pat Day believes he was on the verge of self destructing from alcohol and drug abuse partially through his career and would never have been as successful as he was-if he had not turned to a faith in Jesus Christ.

There is no doubt how successful he was in his career. He won the Eclipse four Outstanding Jockey four times and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991. He also received the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1985. The award is given annually to a North American Jockey who demonstrates the highest standards of professional and personal conduct. He also won the Mike Venezia Memorial Award in 1995 for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship."

Pat Day won a winner, Lil' E Tee, in the Kentucky Derby one time, in 1992. He rode in the most famous race in horse racing 22 times, however, won Triple Crown races nine times, and won a total of 8,803 races, fourth on the all-time list. He is number one in the amount of purse earnings as a jockey. His winners brought in close to $300 million.

Through it all, Pat Day says he would have ruined his life and never been as successful, if he had not turned to believe in Jesus Christ as God's Son, Whom he believes died on a cross and rose again to save the world from sin. He said on an interview on the 700 Club, as recorded on www.cbn.com, that had he not become a Christian in January of 1984, "I would have self-destructed."

Pat Day, who retired in 2005, recalls that he had become arrogant as a result of his success, after achieving a great deal of success very quickly. He found that after becoming the leading rider in the country in 1982 his life was not as happy as he thought it would be after such success. He recalls coming out of a drug and alcohol induced stupor. He says the first two weeks of 1983 were a blur. His racing career was a success again in 1983, but he felt the same sense of emptiness.