OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trevor McCarthy hopes the success he enjoyed in the middle of December is a harbinger for the upcoming winter. Between Aqueduct and Parx, McCarthy won six races from Dec. 11-15 as he continues to work his way back from the injuries that seemed to derail his trajectory on the New York Racing Association circuit in 2023. McCarthy, 29, was the second leading rider at the 2021-22 Aqueduct winter meet with 54 winners from 314 mounts. He developed a reputation as a rider who tried hard for every finishing position, understanding the importance of doing so for not only the horses’ connections but the bettors. Though he endured the usual struggles at the bigger meets in 2022 when the high-profile regulars returned for Belmont and Saratoga, McCarthy was pleased enough with the results and was looking forward to the 2022-23 winter. But in November 2022 at Aqueduct, he was involved in a spill in which he suffered a broken collarbone and fractured pelvis. He was out 3 1/2 months. Getting his business back was tough and McCarthy struggled for most of the year. He didn’t want to relocate out of town to try and build up his business, though he did post a stakes double at Colonial Downs on Sept. 9, winning the Colonial Cup with the appropriately named Starting Over and the Virginia Oaks on Thirty Thou Kelvin. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. While McCarthy called those wins “confidence boosters,” he was hoping for a bit more success in New York. “This year has been a little bit of a tough year for me,” McCarthy said. “This is the toughest place in America with the jockey colony; it’s not an easy place to break into and it’s not an easy place to restart, either. There’s been plenty of Hall of Fame riders that have come back off injuries and it’s taken them a year or two to get back to where they wanted to be.” While McCarthy was sidelined last winter, his wife, the jockey Katie Davis, was enjoying some success. McCarthy admitted it led to him having some mixed feelings. “At the time it was a little confusing for me,” McCarthy said. “For her it was extremely awesome. For me, it was really tough. She was at such a high and I was at a low and it was hard to juggle them both. But I was proud and super happy for her and if I didn’t have her, things would have probably been even tougher. I was very fortunate.” McCarthy has been among the more outspoken jockeys in bringing the mental-health challenges of his profession to the forefront. McCarthy recalled that in 2016 he won 274 races and still wasn’t satisfied. In the summer of 2022, he was splitting time between Saratoga and Colonial Downs, riding seven days a week and it was taking its toll. He was having trouble enjoying much of anything. “I think going to Colonial during Saratoga that summer made me realize I do need to seek some help and talk to somebody and express the way I felt,” McCarthy said. “At that time, I was scared to get that help that I needed because I didn’t want to feel weak. I saw a lot of other guys struggling with what I was struggling with, maybe they weren’t as open about it. Once I was able to seek that help and kind of learn to deal with this, it was good.” In 2023, jockeys Avery Whisman and Alex Canchari – guys McCarthy knew well and called friends – committed suicide, further bringing the mental-health challenges of jockeys to light. Those incidents further emboldened McCarthy to talk about mental health issues, which he did in panels at Saratoga and at the recent Global Symposium on Racing in Arizona. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures “I’ve had numerous guys, numerous wives tell me that I’m not alone and that they were very appreciative of me putting my neck out to share my story and to keep working on this and to really show people that it is important and needs to be addressed,” McCarthy said. “A lot of guys are still in that old mentality to toughen it out and stuff the pain away when really it needs to be talked about.” With his mind and body in a good place, McCarthy is looking forward to the upcoming winter. “Things look really bright for the wintertime and hopefully I can rebuild and just show people that I’m capable and I have the confidence to win races and the ability to win races and to keep moving forward and hopefully I can have a good year,” he said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.