'All is good': Trevor McCarthy returns to racing Friday
Trevor McCarthy, sidelined with injuries since a spill in November, returns to racing Friday and has mounts Saturday in the Grade 3 Gotham and Busher stakes.
"I feel great," McCarthy told Horse Racing Nation on Monday. "No pain, and I got the clearance to go ahead and start back riding, so all is good."
McCarthy broke his collarbone and his pelvis in the Nov. 18 accident at Aqueduct. The injuries did not require surgery.
He was aboard Ever Summer when the filly was forced out by Jalon Samuel aboard Rhombique. Ever Summer clipped heels with another runner and fell. She got up on her own power and walked off with outriders. Rhombique was disqualified from second to last, and Samuel was suspended for seven days.
The accident occurred a year to the day after McCarthy returned from an 11-week absence following ankle surgery.
To get back into shape, McCarthy said, "I've been working out the gym, doing some physical therapy. And I've been getting on horses for almost three weeks now."
He has one entry on Friday, aboard 3-year-old maiden winner Grade and Charm in Aqueduct's sixth race.
He'll be aboard Brad Cox's Slip Mahoney in the Gotham, a points qualifier for the Kentucky Derby, and he'll ride Ziaerati in the Busher, a Kentucky Oaks points prep.
McCarthy told HRN in November that the upside of the accident was that he could spend the holidays at home with his family. He and his wife, jockey Katie Davis, have a 14-month-old daughter.
"I loved it," he said Monday. "It was a great time. And I was just super privileged."
As McCarthy returns, he'll try to keep thoughts of injuries out of his mind.
"It's something that you don't really want to think about, especially when you're out there," he said. "But there was definitely some thoughts that I had while sitting on the bench for the last few months, of a serious injury like that, multiple injury, accident.
"But it just made me think about my wife and my kid," he said. "But at the same time this is the best way that I can support them and give them the best life possible. So I'm really looking forward to coming back and providing my family with a good living, and hopefully, it's just a successful career moving forward."