Eurico Rosa da Silva was in a dark place.
On the track, a jockey in his thirties won races and earned money. At home, he battled suicidal thoughts every single day.
“I got to the point where I had no selection but to go for help,” he recalled recently. “I went because if I had no selection, I’d kill myself.”
Da Silva got assist in 2006 and rode for over a decade before retiring. He’s one of the lucky ones.
Earlier this 12 months, horse racing was stunned by the suicides of two young jockeys, Avery Whisman, 23, and Alex Canchari, 29, lower than six weeks apart. Whisman’s friend, Triple Crown winner Mike Smith, said he had seen similar tragedies for 3 many years.
“I do know some riders that I knew thoroughly committed suicide when all was said and done,” said Smith. “It doesn’t occur all of a sudden. This is going on. You only never heard of it.
In accordance with one industry veteran, the dangers of riding Thoroughbreds at high speed add as much as the proven fact that every year, on average, two jockeys die from racing and 60 turn into paralyzed. Coupled with criticism from owners, trainers and players, and the must keep the weight down obligatory to start out their careers, jockeys have been suffering peacefully ever since riding horses.
![Da Silva celebrates his victory on his horse, Big Red Mike.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/jockey-suicide_.jpg?w=825)
While the jockeys interviewed for this story worry that racing is lagging behind other sports in accepting the importance of their mental health at work, the hope is that talking again about it can result in real changes.
“It must be addressed,” said jockey Trevor McCarthy. “We take so much of mental and physical beatings. With a mental and physical state, whenever you mix them together, it might be a recipe for disaster. Look, there’s proof of that, right? We lost two guys.”
McCarthy last 12 months, like da Silva before him, sought help before it was too late. His father was a jockey, as were his father-in-law and his wife, Katie Davis McCarthy. Everyone seems to be used to the ups and downs of this job, from a broken pelvis and collarbone after a race leak in November, to an unsteady grip while riding.
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A very difficult summer, including flying up and down the East Coast, took its toll on McCarthy, who at 118 kilos felt his food plan and lack of calories were affecting his work. He desired to quit.
“I went crazy and my body couldn’t handle it,” McCarthy said. “You are continuously playing mind games. And I feel so much of guys get caught up in it with weight and the mind game of not doing well or pondering they don’t seem to be adequate.
His wife made him promise to discuss with a sports therapist. McCarthy has been doing this for months, learning find a greater work-life balance, which has helped him win 28 races already this 12 months.
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Now 47, da Silva has been named Canada’s best jockey seven times and is a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
“In 30 years of riding, I can say that I even have never heard anyone speak about emotional pain, never speak about going for help,” said da Silva, who’s now a mental health coach. “I’ve approached so much of jockeys that I feel they need assistance, and again and again I’ve said, ‘Go get help.’ I motivate them to go for help. They simply listen, but they do not really need to speak about it.”
Dr. Ciara Losty of South East Technological University in Waterford, Ireland, identified that jockeys have “underdeveloped self-esteem of their sport” in comparison with team or Olympic athletes, who’re less prone to burn out because they seek other pursuits. She said jockeys could also be less conversant in mental health topics because of low levels of literacy and the lack of a coach support system or coaching staff.
“Keeping weight low and clearly eating unhealthily is a giant part of that,” said Losty, who co-author of a 2018 study on the mental health of jockeys. “Being a jockey there may be a risk of serious injury, and in case you’ve been seriously injured, the fear of being injured again whenever you become involved or get back in your horse can affect your performance or result in some kind of despair.”
Dr. Lewis King, currently at the Irish University of Technology, Shannon, he did a PhD in 2021 on this topic as he desired to explore what makes jockeys vulnerable to mental health issues and what keeps them from in search of help. He said chatting with 84 jockeys in Ireland, he found that 61% had reached the threshold for alcohol abuse, 35% for depression and 27% for anxiety.
King’s research found that despite almost 80% of jockeys affected by a minimum of one common mental disorder, only a 3rd saw an expert. He said most feared losing their jobs.
“The essential barrier was stigma and negative perceptions of others,” King said. “But mostly it was related to the negative perception of coaches. Amongst the jockeys I spoke to, there was a perception that in the event that they talked about their mental health issues or reached out to a trainer in a roundabout way, it could affect whether or not they might ride. The trainer may even see them as not having enough headroom, for instance, for horseback riding.”
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Coaches told King and his associates that they felt similar concerns about sharing their very own mental health concerns with owners.
McCarthy, who has been a jockey since 2011, said he had confronted trainers in the US in recent months, telling them to tone down their post-race criticism of other jockeys.
The complete series says that horse racing is “an old-fashioned sport,” McCarthy said. Losty pinned the lack of progress on mental health to the masculinized nature of the industry, with da Silva saying the topic remains to be “taboo” in racing.
“Asking for assist in our sport is, unfortunately, almost an indication of weakness,” said Smith, who rode Justify for a triple crown in 2018 and remains to be 57 years old. “You actually don’t desire to indicate any signs of It. We’re speculated to be tough and give you the option to handle anything.”
Jockeys and Horse Racing Guild Integrity and Safety Authority recently sent out an anonymous survey – a primary of its kind – to evaluate the best ways to support riders’ mental health and well-being, a hotline is amongst the ideas being considered, and a gathering with industry stakeholders is planned soon.
“It is vital that the industry comes together on this and other issues to advance our industry and supply look after horse and human athletes,” said Jockeys’ Guild President and CEO Terry Meyocks, a third-generation equestrian whose daughter, Abby, is married to a jockey. Kentucky Derby winner Javier Castellano.
“It is vital that folks speak about it,” said Meyocks, who noted that a median of two jockeys die every year and 60 turn into paralyzed.
McCarthy only began talking seriously about it after he married and had his daughter Riley, knowing he was at the forefront of enthusiastic about mental health and the way far behind other jockeys were.
“We’re a bit behind the eight-ball,” he said. “These will likely be small steps, but we have now an extended approach to go.”