Darrel McHargue
Encyclopedia
Darrel G. McHargue is a retired American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Champion
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 in Thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

. One of five children from a family not connected to horse racing, he was first introduced to riding as a teeneage boy when he rode a neighbor's Quarter Horse
American Quarter Horse
The American Quarter Horse is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name came from its ability to outdistance other breeds of horses in races of a quarter mile or less; some individuals have been clocked at speeds up to 55 mph...

. He was seventeen years old when he made his professional debut in 1972 at Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...

 in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

. The following year he was the leading rider at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland
Laurel, Maryland
Laurel is a city in northern Prince George's County, Anne Arundel County, and Howard County, Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Incorporated in 1870, the city maintains a historic district including its Main Street...

.

Triple Crown races

Darrel McHargue competed in eight Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

s between 1974 and 1986. His best finishes were a second with Run Dusty Run in 1977 and a third with actor Jack Klugman's
Jack Klugman
Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, and television and on Broadway...

 colt Jaklin Klugman
Jaklin Klugman
Jaklin Klugman was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was owned and bred in California by John Dominguez and actor Jack Klugman. He showed promise as a two-year-old, winning the California Breeders' Champion Stakes...

 in 1980.

In 1975, the twenty-year-old McHargue earned the most important win of his career when he rode Master Derby
Master Derby
Master Derby was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1975 Preakness Stakes.-Background:He was bred by Robert E. Lehmann at his Golden Chance Farm in Paris, Kentucky...

 to victory in the Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown
United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...

 series.

McHargue had two mounts in the Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

, finishing third with Master Derby in 1975 and second with McKenzie Bridge in 1976.

1978 Championship

McHargue was the leading jockey at the 1977 Oak Tree Racing Association
Oak Tree Racing Association
The Oak Tree Racing Association is an American not-for-profit corporation that exists to conduct live thoroughbred horse racing in Southern California.-History:...

 fall meet. The next year would be the best of his career. He rode six winners in one day at Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...

 on March 5, 1978 and again on October 25, 1979. In 1978, he was the leading money-winning jockey
United States Champion Jockey by earnings
There is recognition for the United States Champion Jockey by earnings but no formal award is given to the jockey whose mounts earned the most purse money in American Thoroughbred racing. The American Racing Manual shows that since 1910 the following jockeys headed the annual earnings list the most...

 in the United States with a record $6,188,353 and was voted the Eclipse Award
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 as the United States' Outstanding Jockey
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey
The Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey is an American thoroughbred horse racing honor for jockeys first awarded in 1971. Part of the Eclipse Awards program, it is awarded annually....

. In addition, he was voted the 1978 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack.The award was created...

 presented by Santa Anita Park to the jockey in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack.

Beginning in 1980, McHargue rode the great John Henry
John Henry (horse)
John Henry was an American Thoroughbred race horse who had 39 wins, with $6,591,860 in earnings. He was twice voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984, with his 1981 selection is the only one whereby the victor received all votes cast for that award. John Henry was also...

 in eleven of his starts, http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=3060583 winning such races as the San Juan Capistrano Handicap, Hollywood Invitational Turf Handicap
Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap
The Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of June at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California...

, San Gabriel Handicap
San Gabriel Handicap
The San Gabriel Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California at the close of each year. The Grade II race is open to horses, age three and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the turf and offers a purse of $150,000.First run in 1935, it...

, San Luis Rey Handicap
San Luis Rey Handicap
The San Luis Rey Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Held during the third week of March, the Grade II event is open to horses of either gender, age four and up, willing to race one and one-half miles on the turf.Prior to 1955,...

, and San Marcos Stakes.

European racing

A proven rider on turf
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

, in 1983 Darell McHargue moved to a base in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 where he rode for various trainers including Luca Cumani
Luca Cumani
Luca M. Cumani is an Italian thoroughbred horse trainer. He has trained at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket, England since 1976...

 and Dermot Weld
Dermot Weld
Dermot K. Weld is one of Ireland's most successful racehorse trainers. He holds the record for the most winners trained in Ireland ....

 and for owners such as the American husband and wife team of Bertram and Diana Firestone and Englishman, Ivan Allan. In 1984 he was the regular rider for Allan's outstanding colt Commanche Run
Commanche Run
Commanche Run was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in England, he was out of the mare, Volley. His sire was Run the Gantlet, an American multiple Grade I winner and successful sire...

 and was scheduled to ride him as the early favorite in the St. Leger Stakes
St. Leger Stakes
The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...

. However, the ruthless and egotistical superstar jockey Lester Piggott
Lester Piggott
Lester Keith Piggott is a retired English professional jockey, popularly known as "The Long Fellow". With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is one of the most well-known English flat racing jockeys of all time....

 put pressure on Ivan Allan to give him the mount and the owner eventually gave in. Commanche Run won the British Classic. The always polite McHargue said nothing but soon thereafter returned home to Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/the-inside-track-1297210.html

McHargue retired from riding in early April 1988 and began a new career a few weeks later as a racing official. In 1994 he graduated from
the Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP). He worked at northern California tracks and in 2005 was appointed a race steward at Hollywood Park
Hollywood Park
Hollywood Park is a thoroughbred race course and poker card room in Inglewood, California, about three miles from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum.-History:...

.

McHargue is married to Robin McHargue, daughter of the late trainer, Robert Winfield.
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