Saratoga Report Exclusive: Katie Davis to Return to Riding in New York – Eyes Saratoga Meet
By William G. Gotimer, Jr.
Saratoga favorite Katie Davis is returning to New York to ride reuniting with former agent Mike Monroe.
Davis continues her career as one of the few female jockeys participating in the United States. Her return to the New York riding colony will coincide with the beginning of the Aqueduct Spring Meeting commencing April 2nd. Her efforts this winter took her to Gulfstream Park in Florida, but the full return to her New York home base will be geared towards her again riding at Saratoga this summer. (Her most recent race in New York was March 2nd of this year where she guided Sunday Girl to a second-place finish in the Correction Stakes for trainer David Duggan.)
Her return is a reunion with agent Mike Monroe, himself a long staple on the New York Racing Association circuit. Davis and Monroe teamed up in the early stages of Davis’s career when her ability to secure mounts was hampered by an antiquated New York Gaming Commission rule that prevented her from riding in the same race as her husband, fellow rider, Trevor McCarthy. While that rule has now been rescinded, the difficulty of those days is not lost on Davis who told me “I’m excited to be starting back in New York with Mike Monroe as my agent. We’ve worked together before, especially during the coupling ruling, where he stood by me and helped fight for change. I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.” Monroe is enthusiastic about Davis‘s upcoming meet, hoping to gain some momentum for her return to Saratoga this summer with New York’s trainer and owner population telling me “Katie rides with a quiet confidence that horses sense. At the end of the day, the rider’s job is to get the most effort from the horse and Katie consistently gets her mounts to exert a full effort.
Davis‘s athletic ability is matched by her sunny disposition as manifested in her willingness to engage fans, particularly young fans in and around the Saratoga racecourse. As a role model to women everywhere, Davis competes in a male dominated profession without apology and without request for concessions. That she had to fight regulators just for the right to compete underscores how persistent you need to be to pursue your goals. Davis balances her professional life as a rider with her family life with Trevor McCarthy and their four-year-old daughter and a member of the Davis family that has been so prominent in New York racing over the last decades.
To many fans, Katie Davis has become the spokesperson for the Saratoga meet. Those fans clamor for pictures, goggles, autographs and words of encouragement every time she returns to the jock’s room after a mount. Monroe expects that recognition of her hard work on the track, including a grueling morning workout schedule, will be rewarded by owners and trainers who will utilize Davis’s riding ability and determination to get the most from their horses.