Is the Criticism Leveled at Pat Day Justified?

The field dropped its guard and Pat Valenzuela attacked in the Kentucky Derby; attacked precisely at the right moment. When the race was there for the taking, the California rider used perfectly the deft burst of lethal speed he knew was within Sunday Silence. He asked with his hands and Sunday Silence put a blanket of roses in his lap.

Immediately, fingers pointed at Easy Goer’s rider, Pat Day. Clearly, his critics said, heavily favored Easy Goer had not run his race on the muddy track. But he also failed to overtake Sunday Silence in a walking 27-second final quarter while losing by less than three lengths. Day said that his colt had given him nothing and finished second on class alone. But, the critics agreed, Day offered no help to Easy Goer, having exercised the patience for which he is famous long past the point at which it was appropriate. Easy Goer, they said, needed a rider on Derby Day, not a passenger. If class alone was enough for him to be second, an aggressive ride might have made three lengths’ worth of difference.

Again in the Preakness, Valenzuela was the victorious aggressor in a memorable stretch drive and Day who was the target of brickbats, this time for failing to be patient enough.

First, Valenzuela lured Day into moving earlier than he wished at Pimlico; then Valenzuela attacked again, calling upon Sunday Silence for that burst of speed after being forced to steady on the stretch turn. Again, the burst was there when called upon and again it may have been the most significant ingredient in the result. This time, the move carried Sunday Silence into the stretch in front of Easy Goer, whose momentum had slackened as he turned into the straight. Day, admittedly, was caught by surprise if not flatfooted. Again, Valenzuela was in control and Day was faced with rallying Easy Goer and overtaking him.

Easy Goer battled back and put a head in front near the eighth pole, but the move that Valenzuela coaxed out of Day five-eighths of a mile earlier exacted a toll in the final desperate yards of the Preakness. Twice beaten on Easy Goer in the Triple Crown, many in the East see the difference in Day twice having been outridden by Valenzuela.

The videotape, Day said Saturday at Belmont Park, was all but worn-out before it was a week old. But every time he has replayed the Preakness and relived the ride for which he has been so severely criticized, Sunday Silence wins by the same hard nose and puts himself in line to become the 12th thoroughbred to win the Triple Crown.

A month ago, most of the racing world anticipated that it would be Easy Goer and Day closing in on the sport’s ultimate prize. But that plan was washed away by the rain that fell on Kentucky Derby Day, and Easy Goer reminded the world how much he dislikes mud. It was possible to discount that race, Day’s ride notwithstanding. But Preakness Day was dry, the weather perfect and Easy Goer ran well enough to win most races run at Pimlico on the third Saturday of May--even this one.

There is still a hint of awe in Day’s voice when he begins to talk about that chilling quarter-mile battle of wills between Easy Goer and Sunday Silence in a stretch that seemed never to end. “I knew he had to have ridden hard to get back to me that quick,” Day said of the instant above the quarter pole when he found himself confronted by Sunday Silence much sooner than he had anticipated. “Once we got into the lane and I got my stick in my left hand, Easy Goer changed leads and just inside the eighth pole, we stuck our head in front. I thought it was all over with at that point. But (Sunday Silence) refused to give up.

“To be steadied, then within an eighth of a mile to come back at me like he did--it was a tremendous move,” Day added. “We just weren’t walking at that point, we were moving along. It surprised me that he came back at us like that. I expected him to come back, but not until somewhere in the lane.”

Since the Preakness, what many consider a premature move by Day that resulted in Easy Goer running a quarter-mile in less than 23 seconds between points of call. Day agrees the Preakness may have been lost at that point, but defends his decision.

“We ran a quarter-mile there in 22-and-change,” Day said. “I’ve always said the best horse in the world has between a quarter- and a five-sixteenths-mile spurt. That quarter took its toll in the final 20 yards; that’s my opinion. When I started by (Sunday Silence) up the backside, it wasn’t a planned move. But when I came out from behind him and he started to drift me out, I felt I was in a bad spot. If I stayed there going into the turn, he was going to leave me hanging. My horse wanted to run and I felt the only option I had was to let him run a little bit, then try to float him back inside so we wouldn’t be so wide. When I started by him, (Valenzuela) let his horse run, so I had to let mine run a little more. We were moving pretty good. At that point, Sunday Silence steadied and my horse came back to me (relaxed) and gave himself a little breather. Once Sunday Silence steadied out of there, we didn’t continue our forward momentum.”

The other criticism of Day’s ride was his decision, when Easy Goer relaxed, not to take an aggressive posture entering the stretch.

“I’m sure when (Easy Goer) put that move on that everyone just anticipated him going on,” he said. “I’ve read some comments from a couple of trainers who thought that if I just went on after I intimidated Sunday Silence there’s a good chance I would have won. Who’s to say? Monday-morning quarterbacks. I’m not second-guessing myself.”