There will soon be a new face in the Southern California jockey colony, belonging to Trevor McCarthy.
The native of Wilmington, Delaware, who celebrates his 27th birthday on May 16, was born into racing, following his father Michael McCarthy as a jockey, and made his bones in Maryland, leading several campaigns at Laurel and Pimlico.
Married to jockey Katie Davis, daughter of former top rider Robbie Davis, Trevor was fourth in the standings at Belmont Park through last Sunday, and after due diligence by both he and his new agent, an accord was reached.
If all works out well, McCarthy could follow in the footsteps of other jockeys who began their careers in Maryland before heading for greener pastures, among them Chris McCarron, Kent Desormeaux, Edgar Prado and Ramon Dominguez.
“I needed a rider and was not going to take one away from another agent here,” said Derek Lawson, who will represent McCarthy. “I recruited him. I started looking at riders who might fit out here, called him up, he made calls to trainers to learn about me and here we are.
“This is something he definitely wants to do,” continued Lawson, who got the pink slip from Flavien Prat in mid-February after playing a significant role in developing the 28-year-old Frenchman into a world-class presence.
“Trevor had a great winter at Aqueduct but he wanted to try something completely different, that being California, and he wanted to work with me,” Lawson said. “He will start riding here Memorial Day weekend (May 28 through 31).”
Lawson wasn’t resting on his laurels or smelling the roses during his sudden and enforced absence from the game he loves.
“I wanted to bring in someone new and Trevor filled the bill. I like developing good, young talent.
“I recruited him the best way possible, tried to show him the advantages here, and even though it’s heavy with competition at the top, otherwise he fits right in with everybody else.”
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