Jockey Maragh has solid week
ARCADIA, Calif. - The racing week of Feb. 1-4 at Santa Anita was very kind to jockey Rajiv Maragh.
After winning with two of his first 57 mounts at the winter-spring meeting that began Dec. 26, Maragh rebounded to win four races from 11 mounts last week.
The turnaround has left Maragh on the verge of cracking the top 10 on a tough jockey’s roster. Through Sunday, Maragh was tied for 11th with five other riders.
This is the first year Maragh has ridden in Southern California, having relocated from New York in December.
“I still have a long way to go to be where I want to be,” Maragh said in the stables Sunday morning.
“You have to start something little by little and keep on building.”
Maragh, 32, has won 1,788 races in his career, which began in 2004. He won five graded stakes in 2017, including the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga on By the Moon.
Through Sunday, Maragh was winless with six stakes mounts at this meeting, but said he is hopeful the recent success will lead to more opportunities in higher-class races.
“I’m riding a lot of horses for a lot of different trainers,” he said. “It’s something I hope to build on.”
Maragh has three mounts Thursday: Miracle March in the second race, an allowance race for California-bred sprinters; Glorious Crown in the fifth race, a maiden claimer on the hillside turf course; and Martin Riggs in the seventh race, an allowance race with a $75,000 claiming option for 3-year-olds on turf.
