Jockey Maragh moving to California

Rajiv Maragh, the regular rider of recent champions Groupie Doll and Main Sequence, is relocating to California for the start of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26.

In a phone interview Friday, Maragh said he plans to work horses at Santa Anita on Monday and Tuesday before returning to New York for mounts later in the week. He will return to California for opening day.

“Once I get settled in, I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I’ve always thought that one day I’d want to try California.”

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Maragh was at Del Mar on Nov. 26 when he rode Thundering Sky to a 10th-place finish in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes. During the trip, he was approached by jockey agent Nelson Arroyo, who suggested the move.

“Nelson approached me and put it in my mind that now could be a good time,” Maragh said. “The more I thought about it, it started to feel like something I wanted to do.”

Maragh, 32, had won 1,781 races through Thursday. Earlier this year, Maragh won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes on Irish War Cry, who was later 10th in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont Stakes.