Darby McCarthy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Darby McCarthy was born Richard Laurence McCarthy in a sandhills camp at Cunnamulla in Queensland, the son of Albert and Kate, who married at 13.
He became one of Australia's best jockeys in the 1950s and '60s.
He has done much to further the Aboriginal cause.
Cathy Freeman said of him, "Darby influenced me and encouraged me to strive for excellence in all that I do and to persevere against all odds and for this I will forever be thankful ... We first met in Queensland when I was 15 and Darby and his family were kind enough to let me stay on weekends away from boarding school at Toowoomba." (quoted in Against all Odds)
Darby raced frequently in Brisbane, where his records include three Stradbrokes, the Brisbane Cup and Doomben 10,000 before he moved to Sydney.
He won the 1969 AJC Derby on Divide And Rule and the Epsom with Broker's Tip on the same day.
Darby then went on to race in Europe, including at Royal Ascot and in Paris.
[edit] External References
- Callaway, Lauren, Darby McCarthy: Against All Odds, Melbourne Books, 2004, ISBN 1-877096-15-6
- Sydney Morning Herald [1]
- Message Stick, ABC, [2]
