Churchill Downs' Pat Day Mile Stakes (G2) went back to its roots last year as a Triple Crown prep race when Seize the Grey won on the Kentucky Derby (G1) undercard before winning the Preakness Stakes (G1) two weeks later.
That's also a possibility for at least one contender in this year's $600,000 race for 3-year-olds. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Built had enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, but instead, opted for the Pat Day.
Going in the Pat Day "is probably the right thing to do for the horse," trainer Wayne Catalano said. Since December, the son of Hard Spun earned points in four Derby preps at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, including a win in the Gun Runner Stakes and a second in the Lecomte Stakes (G3).
"We kind of ran him pretty hard at Fair Grounds, but it (the Pat Day) looks like a better spot to be," Catalano said. "We'd like to run in the Derby but the circumstances with the horse and the distance, we're not too sure he wants to get a mile and a quarter like the rest of them."
As to the Preakness, Catalano said it's a possibility, but "we'll see how he runs."
The Pat Day, being run for the 101st time, was renamed in 2015 for the Hall of Fame rider. It previously was the Derby Trial and for many years was run a week before the Derby. Seize the Grey was the eighth winner of the Churchill stakes to win the Preakness—and the first since Tim Tam in 1958. The only Kentucky Derby winner on the list is Citation in 1948. The others are Head Play in 1933, Bimelech in 1940, Faultless in 1947, Hasty Road in 1954, and Fabius in 1956.
Built is the 7-2 morning-line third choice behind the Bob Baffert uncoupled entry of Madaket Road (2-1) and Gaming (3-1)—but Baffert says he has no illusions of the Preakness for his pair.
"These are horses that didn't quite make the Derby, so they just didn't really fit in, so that's why they're in the Pat Day Mile," Baffert said.
Gaming won the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and was second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) last year, and Baffert said he had high hopes for the Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman-owned Game Winner colt.
"And then he just took a step backwards and he wasn't—a lot of it's mental with him," Baffert said. His most recent race was a second in the Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
"His last race was okay," Baffert said. "He came running on. So I thought (this) might be a good spot, maybe one turn, maybe that's what he wants to do. He wanted one turn."
Baffert's other entrant, Madaket Road finished second in his debut in the 2024 Bob Hope Stakes (G3) before breaking his maiden and finishing third in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park. The Quality Road colt, owned in a partnership led by SF Racing, finished second in the Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn and most recently was fourth in the Florida Derby (G1).
"He just looks like he's a miler, but ran in the Rebel. He went real fast, held on," Baffert said. The distance proved to be too much in Florida.
Trainer Todd Pletcher enters Gate to Wire with no aspirations of getting back in the Triple Crown race mix. The Donegal Racing son of Munnings won the Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park in February before a fifth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) in March.
"We've kind of come to the conclusion after the Fountain of Youth that he's best at one turn, so we'll probably focus on one-turn races with him. ... I don't know that he wants a mile and three-sixteenths, so we're not really looking at it as a Preakness prep as much, just a nice race to be in."
This year's nine-horse edition also includes two horses from the same D. Wayne Lukas barn as Seize the Grey—Perfect Force and Innovator, both owned by BC Stables. Seize the Grey's jockey Jaime Torres rides Innovator.
Churchill Downs, Saturday, May 3, 2025, Race 6Entries: Pat Day Mile S. presented by SAP (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Madaket Road (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 118 Bob Baffert 2/1 2 2Built (KY) Umberto Rispoli 118 Wayne M. Catalano 7/2 3 3California Burrito (KY) Irving Moncada 118 Thomas Drury, Jr. 12/1 4 4Smoken Wicked (LA) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 118 Dallas Stewart 12/1 5 5Gate to Wire (KY) Flavien Prat 118 Todd A. Pletcher 6/1 6 6Gaming (KY) John R. Velazquez 122 Bob Baffert 3/1 7 7Macho Music (FL) Javier Castellano 118 Rohan Crichton 12/1 8 8Innovator (KY) Jaime A. Torres 118 D. Wayne Lukas 20/1 9 9Perfect Force (KY) Nik Juarez 118 D. Wayne Lukas 12/1
