Hoop’s pride & Loy for Mccarthy race
Brodie’s Indigenous discovery puts him on special path
AS HE prepares to ride the odds-on favourite in a race named after the nation’s ion’s greatest Indigenous jockey, key, Brodie Loy has proudly dly opened up about being Inndigenous himself.
The 25-year-old d Queensland hoop is rid- ing rising star Uncom- mon James in the Darby y Mccarthy at Doomben on n Saturday, the race named ed in honour of the champion ion jockey who was a trailblazer azer for Indigenous sportspeople. ple.
Loy, initially from Albury bury in regional NSW, says he e is a proud Indigenous man and has made it his mission to o rere search more of his family tree and cultural background.
“I am Indigenous, it is from my Dad Norm’s side and we have Aboriginal heritage,” Loy said.
“Going down that cultural path, and being white coloured, some people have questioned me about that.
“I say I am Indigenous and some people go, ‘ well you are white’. I say ‘yeah well, I’m not black, but that doesn’t mean I’m not Indigenous’. As one of my good Indigenous friends says, you can’t be 10 per cent pregnant, you are either pregnant or you are not.
“I went down a couple of years ago to the (Aboriginal) Land Council and got my family tree and all my Indigenous papers, just for a bit of self happiness, and just to have them there for myself.”
Loy has been making positive strides in the Queensland racing scene since relocating permanently to ride primarily for Annabel Neasham’s satellite stable.
The Steve O’dea and Matt Hoysted-trained Uncommon James is the $1.95 favourite in the Darby Mccarthy and Loy is chuffed to have such an ace ride in the race named after
an Indigenous sporting great.
With the help of his cousin, Loy is committed to going on a journey of discovery to find out more about his own cultural background.
“My Aunty and my cousin are quite heavily involved in the Indigenous community around Wangaratta,” Loy said. “I have tried to get my cousin to help me over the last few years because as I’ve gotten older and a bit more mature, I wanted to really dig deeper into our background.
“I’m looking into it more with my cousin’s help, finding out where it all (Indigenous heritage) came from.
“I’m not sure what sort of programs Queensland has, but in NSW there were some really good Indigenous programs and I was offered to go and talk at some of them.”
Uncommon James is one of the most promising gallopers in Queensland, winning three of his four starts.
Loy knows about some of Mccarthy’s achievements.
The late great jockey was posthumously inducted into the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame and is about to be immortalised in film.
In one golden period, McCarthy won the Stradbroke Handicap three times with Mullala (1963), Cele’s Image (1964) and Castanea (1966) and he moved to Sydney where he won the 1969 AJC Derby (Divide And Rule) and 1969 Epsom (Broker’s Tip).
When he was riding in France for the Aga Khan, McCarthy lived in a two-storey mansion with servants – a far cry from Cunnamulla where he was born in a sandhills camp. But Mccarthy was always proud of his Aboriginal heritage and often spoke out for his people’s rights.
“Darby Mccarthy is someone I can look up to,” Loy said. “If I can even have some of his achievements in life, it would be a great thing. Hopefully this race on Saturday, named after him, is a stepping stone to some of that for me.”