Maragh racking up the miles

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Rajiv Maragh arrived back in south Florida following the long flight home from Dubai just in time to guide Celestine to victory for trainer Bill Kaplan in Sunday’s $75,000 Sanibel Island Stakes. He’ll stick around town another few days to ride Force the Pass for trainer Alan Goldberg in Wednesday’s $75,000 Cutler Bay Stakes before heading on to Kentucky for the opening of the Keeneland meet on Friday.

Maragh said he blamed himself in part for Main Sequence’s seventh-place finish in Saturday’s Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan. Maragh rode Main Sequence to an eye-catching victory in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida earlier in the Gulfstream meet and in three of his four Grade 1 wins during the gelding’s Eclipse Award-winning 2014 campaign.

“Naturally, I’m a little disappointed about the result on Saturday, and partially with my ride,” said Maragh. “I regret making my move a little early. He just didn’t show his best run at the end. It’s hard for me to actually know if it was really that or if he just wasn’t good enough. But from now on, I’ll know, even if they’re going really slow, to keep him back longer.”