Herb McCauley
Encyclopedia
W. Herbert McCauley is an American 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...

 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:...

 who has been called "one of the most talented and aggressive riders of his generation" by John Piesen, an odds-maker for the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...

and the Daily Racing Form
Daily Racing Form
The Daily Racing Form is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States....

. http://www.jimhurley.com/articles.asp?id=10&m=8&y=2007&date=8/25/2007

While still a small boy, Herb McCauley began riding horses on his grandfather's farm. At age sixteen, he embarked on a career in Thoroughbred racing, breaking yearlings
Yearling (horse)
A yearling is a young horse of either sex that is between one and two years old. Yearlings are comparable in development to a very early adolescent, they are not fully mature physically, and while they may be in the earliest stages of sexual maturity, they are considered too young to be breeding...

 at William L. McKnight's
William L. McKnight
William L. McKnight was an American businessman and philanthropist who served his entire career in the 3M corporation, rising to chairman of the board from 1949 to 1966. He founded The McKnight Foundation in 1953....

 Tartan Farm near Ocala, Florida
Ocala, Florida
Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County, and the principal city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857.-History:Ocala...

. Within two years, McCauley moved north where he began his riding career at Monmouth Park Racetrack
Monmouth Park Racetrack
Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.Monmouth Park's marquee event...

 in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. In October 1975 he rode the first of his more than three thousand career winners at Keystone Racetrack
Philadelphia Park Racetrack
Parx Racing and Casino is a thoroughbred horse racetrack and racino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. It currently houses 3,300 slot machines.-History:...

 in Philadelphia. For the next twenty-three years McCauley was a top jockey at tracks in the U.S. northeast and notably rode five winners from five mounts in a single racecard on November 18, 1985 at Meadowlands Racetrack
Meadowlands Racetrack
The Meadowlands Racetrack is a horse racing track at the MetLife Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States.The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harness racing...

 in East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....

.

On July 10, 1998, Herb McCauley suffered compound fractures to the tibia
Tibia
The tibia , shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates , and connects the knee with the ankle bones....

 and fibula of his left leg in an accident at Monmouth Park. The injury resulted in him undergoing four surgical proceedings followed by a lengthy rehabilitation process. With his career in ruins, McCauley's personal life suffered and he turned to alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 in a misguided effort to cope. Having suffering from bulimia since his teens, in a May 1999 conference on the various disorders some athletes have to deal with, McCauley spoke publicly for the first time about his battle as a jockey to maintain riding weight that resulted in constant binging and purging.

Unable to ride, for a time McCauley served as an agent for jockeys but more than eight years after being sidelined he decided to attempt a comeback. Following an intense training program, in September 2007 he returned to riding competitively and a few weeks later earned his first win in nine years at Meadowlands Racetrack.

In 2007, Herb McCauley was nominated for induction in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

.
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