McCarthy, Magee win titles at Pimlico

Jockey Trevor McCarthy and trainer Kieron Magee finished atop the standings at Pimlico’s 35-day meeting that ended Saturday.

McCarthy, 20, rode 43 winners, five more than Victor Carrasco. He lost his five-pound apprentice allowance during the meet.

“We rode a lot of nice horses and were very lucky to get off to a great start,” McCarthy said. “I was nervous because I know many bug riders drift off the scene rather quickly but some top trainers stood by me and it seemed to go well.”

McCarthy plans on riding at Monmouth Park and Delaware Park this summer while there is no racing in Maryland. In fact, he missed five of the last seven days of the Pimlico meet to build his business at Monmouth.

“It was a big decision and put us in a tough situation,” McCarthy said. “We didn’t want to get a late start at Monmouth so we decided to ditch some days at Pimlico and hoped we could hold on and win the title. Victor picked up some of my mounts and won some races but I got off to a great start at Monmouth.”

Magee, who shared the Laurel Park winter title with three other trainers, earned the training title by saddling 18 winners, seven more than Graham Motion and Jamie Ness. The Magee barn had two multiple win afternoons and won at a 32 percent clip.

“This is my home track and as thrilled I was to share the Laurel title, this means so much more,” Magee said. “We had a lot of horses run well,” referring to 14 different horses who won races during the meet.

Midwest Thoroughbreds topped the owner standings with 10 victories, two more than PTK LLC.

Live racing at the major Maryland tracks does not resume until Sept. 5 at Laurel Park.