Richard Laurence "Darby" McCarthy (1944 – 6 May 2020) was an Australian indigenous jockey.

Early life

McCarthy was born in a sandhills camp at

Cunnamulla Cunnamulla () is a town and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. It is south of Charleville, Queensland, Charleville, and approximately west of the state capital, Brisbane. In the 2021 Au ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, the son of Albert and Kate, who married at 13.

Career

He became one of Australia's best

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

s in the 1950s and 60s, and did much to further the Aboriginal cause. Olympian runner

Cathy Freeman Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set while fin ...

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 Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...
. (quoted in ''Against all Odds'')

McCarthy raced frequently in Brisbane, where his records include three Stradbrokes, the

Brisbane Cup The Brisbane Cup is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and upwards, run under handicap conditions over a distance of 3200 metres at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane during the Queensland Winter Racing Carni ...

and the

Doomben 10,000 The Doomben 10,000 is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred Weight for Age horse race, run over a distance of 1200 metres at Doomben Racecourse, Brisbane, Australia during the Queensland Winter Racing Carnival. Total prize money is A$ ...

before he moved to Sydney. He won the 1969

AJC Derby The Australian Derby is an Australian Turf Club Group One, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds at set weights held at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in April, during the Autumn Australian Turf Club, ATC Championships Carniv ...

on ''Divide And Rule'' and the Epsom with ''Broker's Tip'' on the same day. McCarthy then went on to race in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, including at

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...

and in Paris, before a brief retirement and further riding in

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. He was inducted into the Queensland Racing Hall of Fame during the Industry Awards Night held in Brisbane, July 2004.

Death

McCarthy died on 6 May 2020, aged 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Darby 1944 births 2020 deaths People from Cunnamulla Australian jockeys Indigenous Australian jockeys Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia