Trevor McCarthy Returns from COVID-19 to Ride at Laurel

Trevor McCarthy has endured his share of job-related injuries over the course of a 10-year riding career that has seen him win more than 1,500 races, four overall Maryland championships, and 12 individual meet titles.

His latest setback came courtesy of a bout with COVID-19. He was one of multiple people who tested positive for COVID-19 this summer at Colonial Downs, where he was leading rider. That meet ended prematurely due to a spike in cases this month. 

Back at full health and eager to return to riding, the 26-year-old McCarthy is named in six of nine races when racing resumes at Laurel Park Aug. 27. It will be his first action since going winless with two mounts Aug. 5 at Colonial.

According to Laurel Park publicity, McCarthy has ridden just 11 of the first 33 days of Laurel's extended summer meet and just once since June 27—on July 17—having spent most of the summer at Monmouth Park and Colonial. He still ranks eighth in the standings in both wins (15) and purses earned ($443,151).

"I've been back working out on my bicycle and back on my (mechanical horse), getting ready to gear up and get back to the races. We're looking forward to it," said McCarthy, who is engaged to fellow rider Katie Davis. "We've been trapped in the house for (two weeks), and it's been something else. We're excited to get back."

McCarthy said he began feeling ill Aug. 8. He canceled his morning workout and evening riding assignments the following day at Colonial and urged Davis to do the same.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and I felt terrible," McCarthy said. "I said to Katie, 'We're not going anywhere.' She said, 'What do you mean?' and I said, 'I feel terrible. I feel like I'm really, really sick.'

"She kind of looked at me like, 'Are you serious,' and I was like, 'We're not leaving the house,'" he added. "We were just very cautious and right then and there I made the decision. I was just thinking more about everybody else than myself at that time. It was the right move, and Katie couldn't go as well because she's been around me even though she didn't have any symptoms. It wouldn't be smart to have had her go without me."

McCarthy said he experienced symptoms over the next 48 hours that felt like a severe flu and kept him housebound until he was able to get checked out Aug. 11. It was then that his fears were confirmed.

"I was sick for like two days. More like flu—fever, headache, I had the chills, a runny nose. Finally the third day I felt so much better, so I went and got tested and that's when I found out I was positive," McCarthy said. "Katie was negative, so it was really strange that day. We just went back home and I did my quarantining. It was only about five days total that I felt really bad. I lost my taste and smell for one day. Two days were really strong and then the three days after that were like a small cold I was just kind of getting over."

Having heard and read stories about COVID-19 cases where people experienced extreme symptoms, McCarthy said he didn't expect to get a positive result for the virus.

            

"After those five, six days I was fine. It was weird," he added. "Katie eventually showed a little bit of symptoms, nothing as severe as mine, just stuffy nose and she lost her taste and smell. But she wasn't anywhere close to how sick I got. It was strange."

McCarthy credited his active lifestyle and healthy diet with helping to curtail the most serious symptoms of coronavirus as well as lessen its duration.

All jockeys coming from the Colonial meet, including other Maryland regulars such as Davis, Forest Boyce, and Jorge Ruiz, are required to serve a 14-day quarantine period from Aug. 13 and have a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours in hand to return to ride at Laurel. Thursday is the first eligible day.

McCarthy told Laurel Park publicity that he is scheduled to be retested this week.

"I haven't had any symptoms lately," he said. "It's just a part of what's going on in this world right now. I've got to follow the rules and that's it. There's not much more we can do."

McCarthy is excited about the upcoming calendar in Maryland. Laurel is scheduled to host nine $100,000 stakes over Labor Day weekend, including the Federico Tesio Stakes for 3-year-olds and Weber City Miss Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Sept. 7. Both races are automatic qualifiers for the Preakness Stakes (G1) and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2), respectively, rescheduled for Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

"It should be a real exciting fall meet. It's going to be great," McCarthy said. "It seems like they're going to have a nice weekend the first part of September, and then you're always looking forward to Preakness time and Maryland Million time as well. It should be a fun fall meet."