Todd can emulate his big brothers

As the youngest of three McCarthy brothers it is understandable Todd felt the pressure to succeed in the sport of harness racing.  With a father that trained dual Miracle Mile winner Be Good Johnny and two successful brothers driving winner after winner, expectations were high. Surprisingly Todd waited nearly a year to apply for his licence to drive in races despite being eligible to do so.

“I knew harness racing was where I would end up but I was still competing on the dirt bikes and there definitely was pressure because Luke and Andy were doing so well but once I finally got my licence I loved it,” Todd McCarthy said.

“There was no pressure from Mum and Dad or anyone else in the family but it was very daunting when I first started and while it worried me early in my career I quickly learned that I had to put thoughts like that out of my mind.”

When Todd drove Whitershadeofpale to win at Albion Park on Friday afternoon he brought up his 100th Australian winner for the season, the first time the 22-year old had achieved the feat.  He added to that when Bling It On won on Saturday evening taking his season tally to 101 and his career total to 295.

By the time Luke and Andy McCarthy had turned 21 the pair had each driven more than 300 winners.  However Todd is set to become the quickest of the McCarthy family to reach the mark.  Luke drove his 300th winner after 2017 drives, while Andy needed 1896 races.  Todd has driven in only 1871 events and needs just five winners in his next 24 races to surpass his brothers.

Todd’s career started in Queensland and he drove only for his father.  His claim was very valuable but when he was unable use to his junior concession he was the stable’s fourth option.  Owners wanted Luke, Andy or John and Todd was happy to accept the situation.

“When I first started in Brisbane, juniors got 40 concession wins each season and Dad wanted to use the claim just for his stable but when owners wanted to use Luke or Andy I understood why, I didn’t have much experience and they wanted the best driver on their horse.

“It is hard for a junior to get going because you need success to attract more opportunities and you’re still learning what to do.”

Todd made the move to Sydney but it took him a while to settle into his new surroundings.

“I love the style of racing at Menangle but it is different from Albion Park and it takes time to become accustomed to the differences.

“When I arrived Mat Rue was doing a lot of the concession driving for Luke but I picked up a few drives and slowly things started to improve.”

The improvement in Todd’s driving has been evident in the past couple of seasons with a number of stables now using his services.

“There have been a lot of changes for me over the past two years but I think the biggest one has been maturity.

“Two years ago I was only thinking about my horse and where it had to be in the race, I had a set plan and if things didn’t work out how I thought, I had nothing to fall back on but now I think a lot more in races, I know where my main dangers are and I have worked out what I’m going to do if certain things happen.”

Todd also credits pacer Seel N Print for helping with his development.

“Seel N Print really put me on the map, he gave me the confidence to compete against the top drivers and helped me pick up outside drives too.”

 With less than two months of the season remaining Todd has a slender lead in the Metropolitan Drivers’ premiership.

“The metro premiership is something that I would really like to win, I have a one win lead and that made the decision to go to Albion Park over the weekend difficult because I am getting a lot of drives at Menangle at the moment.

“I won a strike rate premiership in my first season of driving in Queensland but have never won anything else so it would be nice to win it this season.”

What does the future hold for Todd?  Will he follow in the footsteps of his brother Luke and remain in Sydney or will he head to the USA and emulate Andy?

“I want to be a driver, I work for Dad in the mornings helping him and working Seel N Print but I really like the driving side of the industry.

“At some stage I would like to head to North America for a short stint but my future is in Sydney.”

Harness Racing NSW (HRNSW) is the controlling body for harness racing in New South Wales with responsibility for commercial and regulatory management of the industry including 31 racing clubs across the State.  HRNSW is headed by an industry-appointed Board of Directors and is independent of Government.