Agent Gary Kemplen told Canadian Thoroughbred on April 8 that 22-year-old jockey Declan Carroll has had his paperwork cleared and is now able to ride at Woodbine for the 2022 season.
“We started talking about this last spring,” said Kemplen, one of Woodbine’s longtime top agents. “He rode his first-ever race at Woodbine for Mark Casse when he first started and he has always been interested in riding here.”
Carroll went from riding that first race at Woodbine in September 2018 to winning his first race at the Keeneland meeting that fall.
Carroll’s business exploded in 2018/2019 at Fair Grounds and after recovering from an injury he enjoyed success at Ellis Park in the summer of 2019, finishing fourth in wins.
Carroll rode at several Midwest tracks during the COVID-19 pandemic, but shifted his tack to Arlington International Racecourse for its 2021 meet, where he was sixth in the rider standings by wins.
Carroll has a strong horse racing pedigree as the son of former trainer David Carroll, who currently works as assistant trainer to Mark Casse, Woodbine’s leading trainer of 2021. His mother, Kim, also works for the Casse stable.
Declan, who recently spent time riding in Ireland, surrounds himself with plenty of horse events other than race-riding. In recent days he has visited stallion farms and some of the top horses recently retired from racing.
“He’s a real student of the game,” said Kemplen, who has known David Carroll since both were assistant trainers in New York years ago. “He will absolutely make a place for himself here at Woodbine.”
Kemplen is also the agent for top rider Gary Boulanger. The Woodbine Thoroughbred season begins on Saturday, April 16, with entries being taken Wednesday, April 13.
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