Apprentice jockey Romero Maragh returns

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Apprentice Romero Maragh returned to the saddle Sunday for the first time since fracturing a pair of vertebrae in his spine in a spill here nearly a year ago. Maragh finished eighth aboard Rayo My King in Sunday’s eighth race.

Maragh underwent a six-hour procedure to fuse four thoracic vertebrae to repair injuries suffered in the frightening spill last Jan. 31.

“The morning I sat on a horse for the first time, it felt really great.” said Maragh, a graduate of nearby McArthur High School, who was the leading apprentice at the time of his injury with 19 victories, including a win aboard A Bit Special here last winter in the Wait a While Stakes.